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Originally Posted by Supple Cow
I was mulling over what I wanted to say about this, but since roachboy broke the ice, I might as well just say what I'm thinking at the moment and wait for the replies to roll in.
Placing a large burden on the populace is not a failing of democracy. Not taking responsibility for ourselves as members of a democracy is a failing of the populace. Whether it feels this way or not, doing something other than helping to run the government for a living is a privilege that comes with responsibilities. It is not a free ticket to stay uninformed and pretend that politics and the government do not exist.
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But you can't eliminate the people, you can modify the government. Ancient Greece was (to my knowledge) the only true democracy. And the burden helped ensure that the city-states failed. That is why we have a republic-so that people can not have to sholder the entire burden of government. But as things have expanded to a less and less local focus for politics and a more state-then-federal level, the people have not been able to keep up. Because to accurately evaluate your reps, you also have to know about the issues. And people don't have the time/inclination/ability to evaluate many issues to make informed opinions, and then check to see where their reps stand on issues, and then see where their reps vote on those issues. Honestly, expecting people to be informed for the most part is like expecting them to have a second full time job.