Has democracy ended in the U.S.?

[Dill]

(07-03-2018, 12:43 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: Yes, we have been. Words do have meanings, and you ought to look up the definitions of democracy before stating that the United States has never been one. I can recommend some reading if you would like as a good bit of my recreational reading is on democratic theory.

You know, I think some of this "US-is-not-a-democracy" comes from the Hillsdale school of Constitutional interpretation favored by right wing talk shows.  I have heard Rush say that often, and never heard him take a call in disagreement.

Remember Madison's argument in Federalist No. 10, where he distinguishes between face-to-face and representative democracy?  That gets spun into the "we are Republic, not a democracy" claim. 

I think that spin was largely a response to the 1960s, when war protesting counter culturalists made such a media splash, and conservatives did not want to risk votes on their policies.  It is the kind of claim which is quite at odds with the current right populism, though. There certainly is a case to be made that many or most of the founders did not intend universal suffrage and expected a CIVIL and classically educated social elite to rule the country.