Theis On Democracy Analysis

Theis’ core underlying assumption is that democracy was created to promote civic engagement; throughout his writing he referenced quotes such as “Democracy cannot flourish where chief influences in selective subject matter of instruction are utilitarian ends narrowly conceived for the masses…” and “participating in democracy helps build participatory ethic and character.” Both theses quotes are used to persuade the reader that America has strayed from its foundation of active participation in democracy to our current selective and passive haphazard form of civic engagement. Theis then continues to explain how our education and rational choice framework of political science are to blame for the popularization of the passive behavior and do not reach the real underlying problems that
manifest themselves into policy. Theis states, “Political science has caused the marginalization of citizens in a political system where they should be front and center.” The reason why I believe that Theis’ underlying assumption is false is because our democracy in its creation of the constitution was founded on the power and control of a few, the white and wealthy.
In the creation of America, the founding fathers stole, murdered and destroyed many poor and diverse communities sucha s the Native Americans, whose land they stole, the Africans who they enslaved, women who they did not allow to vote or own land and lastly, poor immigrants who they disenfranchised shortly after their arrival. Theis seems to have a romanticized view of how our so called “democracy” was created and who it was intended to benefit. “Liberty and justice for all” is a lie continually sold the world to cover up the truth of our political system and who it disproportionally benefits from it. Democracy was not created to have the majority of people participate in it. Democracy continually benefits the wealthy and harms the marginalized. An example of American democracy working against civic engagement would be the 14th Amendment to the
Constitution. If our democracy was created to promote the civic engagement of all and not just wealthy white people than this amendment would have never been necessary. Also the 19th Amendment in 1920 which gave women the right to vote would not have been needed if our democracy was setup to benefit all or even the common values of the majority. Theis’ idea that, fixing America’s political science and adopting a deliberative process to engage in politics will result in a significant increase in democratic participation, is false and a complete load of crap. The reason I oppose these ideas is because they are insultingly naïve. Theis’ ideas are dangerous because they erase the truth of the foundation of the American political system and completely disregard the motivation for the foundation of American politics.