To me it means that those who are afraid of democracy want a select few to rule over the citizens of the republic. And that means diminishing my right to vote and participate in our government and your right to vote and participate in our form of government.
At first, I noticed how the "anti-democracy types" (ADT) seem to always turn Democratic Party into “Democrat Party.” And, then I started having conversations with conservative voters and they would always interrupt me when the conversation (seemingly always) veered/or steered to our American form of government. This is where they seem to always demand that we use their terminology “Constitutional Republic.” And so, I would use it that way for a while, because it caused less consternation. At some point I realized “they”, (and I’m not quite sure who “they” are,) other than those attempting to steer the conversation toward erasing the word “democracy” and/or the word "democratic" from our collective vocabulary.
While erasing the word “democracy” from the political lexicon has not yet been totally successful, their reframing efforts have worked in many ways. I doubt (hope) total erasure will ever become permanent, if they are successful, they will be able to erode the importance of the idea of democracy itself. I am focused enough here (without being cynical) to believe they want to weaken the Democratic Party’s base. I'm sure this is true, but its only my opinion. I’ll let you have your own opinion of whether that is happening and whether it is warranted.
I wanted to learn if support for the idea of democracy is seen ONLY by voters as rhetoric of the Democratic Party and is therefore despised by conservatives or those who align their political beliefs with the Republican Party. What meaning and effect would that truth have on the evolution of "The American Experiment"?
After writing and then reflecting on the previous few paragraphs I went out into the real world and asked individual adults what they had to say about the idea of democracy. I wanted to move away from the battle between the bipolar world of one party verses the other.
The goal in my effort is to learn if the answers I would hear, would reflect the actual meaning of the word democracy or if I would hear a regurgitation of the rhetoric of one, or the other mainstream political parties.
Does the meaning of the word "democracy" depend on who you ask?
Stay tuned for my observations as I continue to ask this question.
