Power,+Principles+and+Consequences

LM As is explained by __The Founding Fathers: An Age of Realism__, in stead of creating a harmonious accord between social and economic classes of post-revolutionary America, the founding fathers laid - through the Constitution - the foundations of US democracy with something else in mind. As Hofstadter argues, the Constitution was created to direct the warlike energies of the selfish aristocracy, of the spurious mob, and of the angry lower class against one another. In effect, the Constitution aimed to create a constant mutual -destruction between social factions, such that their perpetual defeat of one another would prevent the failure of American democracy. The Constitution was composed to avoide two specific flaws the founding fathers percieved in past democracies. The first fundemental problem attributed to direct majority rule was that absolute majority rule constantly sets the stage for governmental schitzophrenia and suicide. Because in a purely democratic world everything is subject to the whims of the present majority, constant political fluctuation and turbulence is created when the current ruling majority dictates all output of government. For example, when the balance of power is tilted to far towards the wealthy aristocray, democracy becomes a medium for selfish downhill oppression. Conversely, when the prolitariat gains control, an equally selfish redistribution of land and wealth is unreasonably demanded. Perhaps the most self-defeating part of staunch democracy arises as follows: after one of the aformentioned groups gains control, it is oscilatingly defeated by the minority as the former majority moves towards elitism, and so on. If the wealthy exploit their powers of majority too much, then the prolitariat and lower class will launch a rebellion, whereas when the prolitariat and lower class politically whipe out the upper class, there is an inherent emergence of a new upper class created by a natural concentration of selfish power. In light of this Hobbesian circularly destructive pattern, the founding fathers chose to take a creative approach to fabricating centralization. In order to stem this abuse of America's democracy, the founding fathers wove the tapestry of American powers with threads of many colors. They spread the powers of government out across so many types of rule, they created a system so self-defeating, that no governmental avenues of exploitation could be found by abused by a majority. Commonly, we now optimistically call this phanominon "checks and balances," even though it is really a imposed equalibrium amongst the vicious self-interests of social stratas. This "checks and balances" system goes on to also prevent potential abuses of government by margnialist, racist, or extremist religious groups. The second part of direct democracy that the framers took issue with was much more finite. As Thomas Hobbes had described, there is a natural tendency of man to concentrate on himself and to pursue what is most in his interests. Knowing this. the founders gauged that effective democracy required effective participation in it. If a policy of universal sufferage was adopted, then our nation would plunge into the hands of ignorant and impulsive individuals who could not calculate overall responsibility for their decisions. To avoid this second form of democratic calamity, the Constitution was made to demand that one must own property to vote. Using property as the measure of one's efficacious example of success, now only Americans that had an ability to make responsible choices (for these people had exhibited their successful awareness of decision making and personal responsibility) could take part in weighing nation options. Some historians topically asses it was hypocritical for the founding fathers to have heralded the arrival of true democracy with the adoption of a Constitution that limited participation in govnerment to the land owning class. Infact, it was a brilliant move whose goal was to create a stable and long lasting foundation for the United States government. As is visible through almost 225 years of internal peace, the founding fathers' vision of an effcetive American democracy was successful.