The key to democracy is a system of government by discussion. A good discussion can draw out wisdom which is attainable in no other way.

–A.D. Lindsay (Hudson 145)

Direct involvement of every citizen in our government is impossible because of the vast size of our nation. This necessitates the employment of representation to have an effective government. Representatives should be voices for all citizens. There are several challenges, however, preventing this from being a completely effective system. A major problem confronting our system of representation is what has been termed by William Hudson as "trivialized elections." Interest in elections has continually waned among voters (145-155). As noted previously, the number of people that bowled in 1993 was thirty percent greater than the number of people that participated in the 1994 congressional election. The United States has one of the lowest voter turnout rates among democratic nations. Only 54.2 percent of those eligible to vote in the 1996 presidential election voted, and only 65.9 percent of eligible persons were registered to vote ("Table 23"). The figures for the 1994 congressional election were even worse, as only 45.0 percent of those eligible voted. Of 18-20 year olds, those who will be the leaders in the near future, only 16.6 percent voted in the 1994 congressional election ("Table 22"). Representatives cannot truly reflect the population if such a low percentage of it actually votes. Persons either value their right to vote less than ever before or fail to realize the importance of elections.

Special interest groups (SIGs) are another hindrance to the system of representation. While they serve a positive purpose in preventing the tyranny of the majority, they can go too far and cause minority opinions to overshadow the needs or wants of the majority ("What’s"). As special interest groups become more prevalent and society becomes more interdependent, organized minorities will gain the ability to overpower the majority (Green 504). While they play an important role in the political system, special interest groups should only have a limited amount of influence. Currently, they contribute large quantities of money to candidates, elected representatives, and political parties, in the form of hard and soft money. This may allow them to exert undue influence on elected officials ("What’s").

For American democracy to continue to work effectively, these problems of representation must be resolved. Citizens may be encouraged to vote if radical individualism is decreased and the polls are made more accessible. Also, limits need to be placed on the currently unregulated soft money donations by special interest groups. This would prevent small factions from overshadowing majority opinions through excessive contributions of money to elected representatives (Hudson 305-308). These changes would allow the system of representation to be more efficacious.

A More Perfect Union was created by ThinkQuest Team 26466: Eric Barr, Taylor Rankin, and John Baird.
This website is a ThinkQuest entry focusing on the various facets of American democracy.
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