The health of American democracy, as measured by those who study it most closely, has settled into a diminished state – stabilizing after a sharp decline last year, but still well below the levels recorded at any point before the start of Donald Trump’s second term, according to a new survey released on Tuesday.
The findings, by the nonpartisan democracy-tracking project Bright Line Watch, which surveys hundreds of US scholars at American colleges and universities, suggest that the erosion of norms detected after Trump’s return to the White House last year has hardened into a new baseline. The public also holds a dim view of American democracy, the most recent survey found, but are sharply divided along partisan lines over how well the system is functioning.
we never had direct democracy anyway which is the only democracy that should be considered “democracy” when average people think of the term.
more than half of us don’t know what a constitutional republic is.
Is it… A form of democracy wherein the populous uses a selection of elected representatives and a framework of a near immutable law set to guide the representatives in governing for the best interest of all citizens?
Indeed. So clearly you’re in the group that knows. Now the real question is… How big is each group?
Considering the intention of the public education system to improve the understanding of the populous has been degraded to the point where basic civics is not taught and we’re lucky if graduates are even functionally literate, I’d say that people who understand what our government is supposed to be and what it’s supposed to do is fairly small.
And unfortunately, that’s the whole fucking point. A uninformed population is an easily manipulated population.
yes, but i’m arguing that democracy being applied in other methods is not understood by the average American. they assume it means how i defined it which is why i think it’s the only version most people are discussing that aren’t politically minded.
Funny enough, this is basic civics that should have been taught in middle school