A concept that I found particularly interesting in these readings–and one that many people have touched on in their blogs–was the distinction drawn between democracy and liberalism and Zakaria’s assertion that the two do not necessarily go hand in hand. Zakaria says that “liberal democracy seems to be one of the many exits on which the democratic experiment could end,” and while I had not previously thought of democracy in this way, I very much agree with this statement. As Illing puts it, “[democracy and liberalism] are often conflated,” and I think that this is especially true in the United States; traditionally–or at least until recently, according to the World Values Survey referenced in Foa’s and Mounk’s article–I think that Americans have held this kind of exceptionalist pride in our presidential democracy and its seemingly inherent emphasis on individual rights and checks on majoritarian power.<\/p>\n
However, it is the presidential system–something which Americans have in the past taken great pride in–that, ironically, seems to be a major cause of Americans’ disillusionment with democracy as a whole. Foa and Mounk cite several reasons for Americans’ declining faith in democracy: “stagnating incomes” and the resultant decline in American optimism, “rising income inequality,” and the increasing importance of “paid influence and campaign spending.” Although each of these is both valid and interesting, I think that the largest threat to American democracy is immobilism, a concept discussed in Scott Mainwaring’s essay. Generally, I think that immobilism gives rise to polarization, which, as we’ve discussed in class, is another significant threat to democracy. As Mainwaring explains, immobilism results from the seemingly beneficial “balance and separation of powers” inherent in a presidential democracy, from the dual sovereignty of both the president and Congress. I believe that this in turn leads to frustration, placement of blame, and polarization, which then results in greater immobilism, thus creating a vicious cycle that is difficult to break.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A concept that I found particularly interesting in these readings–and one that many people have touched on in their blogs–was the distinction drawn between democracy and liberalism and Zakaria’s assertion that the two do not necessarily go hand in hand. … Continue reading