"It has been observed by an honorable gentleman that a pure democracy, if it were practicable, would be the most perfect governmentö (Bailyn, Part Two, 1993, p. 768). Alexander Hamilton made that statement on June 21, 1788, while unfavorably comparing pure democracy to the republic proposed by the Constitutional Convention. The statement holds true, though: Many people, honorable or otherwise, still consider pure democracy to be the most perfect form of governmentùand the most impossible form, at least on a national scale. As the new millennium dawns, however, new technology such as the Internet could place pure democracy within reach. ô[P]articipation in government by all persons, regardless of condition or residence, could be rendered possible in the very near futureö (Cohen, 1971, p. 278). While pure democracy may become practical, is it desirable? This paper will examine pure democracy, analyzing the benefits and detriments of pure majority rule with an emphasis on the writings and ideas of the framers of the American constitution.
Hamilton and his allies won the battleùthe U.S. is a republic (representatives of the people run government) rather than a democracy (the people themselves run government). Nonetheless, Americans often describe their country as a democracy, though the word never appears in either the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. Democracy does exist in the U.S.ùin small-town Vermont, where all of the village's adult residents gather for twice-yearly meetings to decide all of the town's business. Indeed, this is more pure democracy than even the Greeks could manage, and they invented the concept.
The word democracy comes from the Greek demos, for ôpeople,ö and kratos, for ôrule.ö Greek democracy involved only a handful of the people; slaves and women, for example, were excluded from the decision-making process. No matter its exclusivity, the notion of Greek democracy has reso...