I will start off this blog by reminding everyone that the people of the United States of America willingly elected Donald J. Trump to the highest office in the land. In the eyes of most, this would indicate that democracy has failed us here in the United States. Either democracy has failed the people, or the people have failed the idealistic system of government that is democracy. The outcome of each, however, is equally terrifying, and is embodied by the man serving as president.

Roberto Foa and Yascha Mounk believe that “the future of democracy is uncertain”. In the United States, people are becoming more and more disenchanted with the idea of democracy, with almost one out of every six individuals believing that an alternative form of government would better serve the nation. While this belief is absolutely absurd, Foa and Mounk raise an entirely valid point. Democracies are not as consolidated as they were in a different era. Furthermore, there is absolutely no historical precedent to indicate what occurs to established democracies when most of a nation’s constituents experience no improvement in the quality of living for an extended period of time. Fareed Zakaria mentions Aristotle’s opinion that “direct democracy (rule by the many) is every bit as unstable as rule by one or a few”. I completely agree with Aristotle, and believe that this is the primary reason that democracy is imperiled in the 21^st century. In theory, it would be wonderful if we could entrust the future of a nation to the entirety of its citizens, but this is simply unreasonable (illustrated once again by the individual currently representing the United States). Once this is established, however, there emerges another problem. How can we allow only a portion of the population to shape the government without discriminating or electing members who represent the views of only an elite few? Therein lies the peril of democracy.