Americans Aren’t Practicing Democracy Anymore(Barfy atlantic pos, but)

theatlantic.com ^ | 9/15/2018 | Yoni Appelbaum

[rktman]

Editor’s Note: This article is part of a series that attempts to answer the question: Is democracy dying?

Democracy is a most unnatural act. People have no innate democratic instinct; we are not born yearning to set aside our own desires in favor of the majority’s. Democracy is, instead, an acquired habit.

Like most habits, democratic behavior develops slowly over time, through constant repetition. For two centuries, the United States was distinguished by its mania for democracy: From early childhood, Americans learned to be citizens by creating, joining, and participating in democratic organizations. But in recent decades, Americans have fallen out of practice, or even failed to acquire the habit of democracy in the first place.

[Publius]

Tocqueville discovered that America's secret to success was its civil society. When something needed fixing, people formed a committee and fixed it.

The New Deal killed off America's civil society by having government take over functions normally handled by civil society. Today when something needs fixing, people form a committee to petition the government to fix it. This is what went wrong.

[sparklite2]

That old trope again? A republic is a subset of democracy, a form of it, not a sui generis.

[YogicCowboy]

Yes. Democracy - mob rule - is actually a common occurance in history.