William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

Resolving con ict: democracy and American political values 21

rules are not written down—these norms constitute America’s political culture, or a

collective idea of how a government and society should operate, including democracy,

equality, and liberty.^19

Democracy

The idea of democracy means that policy disagreements are ultimately resolved

through decisions made by citizens, such as their votes in elections. In the simplest

terms, “democracy” means government by the people. As put into practice, this

typically means representative democracy rather than direct democracy—that is,

the people elect representatives who decide policies and pass laws rather

than determining those things directly. There are some examples of direct

democracy in the United States, such as the New England town meeting and the

referendum process, through which people in a state directly determine policy.^20

But for the most part, Americans elect politicians to represent us, from school

board and city council members at the local level, to state legislators and governors

at the state level, to U.S. House members, senators, and the president at the

national level.

Democracy is not the only way to resolve conflict, nor do all societies have as

strong a belief in democracy as in America. One mechanism used by authoritarian

governments is to suppress conflict though violence and limitations on freedom.

Some governments, such as those of China and Russia, control political outcomes

while allowing relatively free markets. The Iranian government is a theocracy, in

which religious leaders have a veto over the government’s policy choices. Part of

the reason why these governments have remained in place over time is that their

citizens have less of a preference for democracy—given their experience with corrupt,

incompetent legislatures and bureaucracies, they favor, for example, a strong leader

who can implement policy change without needing consent from elected officials and

civil servants. However, authoritarian leaders stay in power through violence and

suppressing freedom.

In contrast, democracies resolve conflict through voting and elections rather than

through violence or coercion. When the second president of the United States, John

Adams, turned over power to his bitter rival, Thomas Jefferson, after losing a hotly

contested election in 1800, it demonstrated that democratic government by the people

had real meaning. Democracy depends on the consent of the governed: if the views of

the people change, then the government must eventually be responsive to those views

or the people will choose new leaders. It also means that citizens must accept election

results as authoritative—you have to obey the laws passed by a new Congress, even if

you voted for the other party’s candidates.

Liberty

To the Founders, liberty was a central principle for their new government: they

believed that people must have the freedom to express their political views, with

the understanding that conflict may arise between different views expressed by

different people. The Bill of Rights of the Constitution, discussed in Chapter 4,

outlines the nature of those liberties: the freedom of speech, press, assembly, and

religion, as well as many legal and due process rights protecting individuals from

government control.

norms

Unwritten rules and informal

agreements among citizens

and elected officials about how

government and society should

operate.

democracy

Government by the people. In most

contexts, this means representative

democracy in which the people elect

leaders to enact policies. Democracies

must have fair elections with at least

two options.

liberty

Political freedom, such as the

freedom of speech, press, assembly,

and religion. These and other legal

and due process rights protecting

individuals from government control

are outlined in the Bill of Rights of the

U.S. Constitution.

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