Pros And Cons Of American Democracy

Democracy is a system of government where all citizens have the right to vote for their leaders and representatives. An informed electorate is one of the fundamental values in a democracy. One of America’s Founding Fathers Thomas Jefferson said “An enlightened citizenry is indispensable for the proper functioning of a republic. Self-government is not possible unless the citizens are educated sufficiently to enable them to exercise oversight. It is therefore imperative that the nation see to it that a suitable education be provided for all its citizens” . This means that every democracy, and especially the American democracy, must have an educated citizenry able to make informed decisions about their political leaders.
Unfortunately, practice has shown that an informed citizenry is not always possible, especially not in a country the …show more content…
Somin argues that political ignorance is rational; that, for individuals, the benefit for devoting more than minimal time and effort to learning about politics are vastly outweighed by the costs. Moreover, people have little incentive to inform themselves about politics, mostly due to the fact that one single vote has slight chances of changing anything. One informed voter in a sea of uninformed voters is unlikely to have much effect. Due to the fact they feel their vote will not bring about change and make a difference, American voters allow themselves the luxury of voting uninformed or based on biases.
However rational political ignorance may be for individuals, it is still very harmful for American democracy and society as a whole. Not bothering to learn about politics can be a rational decision for one voter, but it has great negative consequences for the society. A poorly informed electorate will vote against their own interest; it will be open to manipulation by elites; and will fail to hold officials to