I don't know what Peirce thought about this, but I see democracy as an ontological term that covers all governance and is the standard by which all goverance should be evaluated. I do not believe it relates to size of population or other demographic benchmarks. It has to do with the rights of the individual and the needs of all. These are in tension. It makes little sense to argue about this because I am certain that my view is not germane to a Pierce forum. As to the notion that the US is not a democracy but a republic, that is a favorite from the 50s when Robert Welch proclaimed it. That would set up a binary betwixt democracy and republic. Fine but again not germane, at least to the context I am using. It would of course make me happy to see democracy widened in its meaning to embrace everything about it that makes it universally desirable as a polity, fit to the situations where it is embraced.
Books http://buff.ly/15GfdqU On Sat, Nov 19, 2016 at 7:54 PM, Jon Alan Schmidt <jonalanschm...@gmail.com> wrote: > Stephen, List: > > I would suggest that democracy IS majority rule, and thus that the United > States is NOT a democracy. Instead, it is a republic; in particular, a > federal republic, with numerous checks and balances intended to prevent the > concentration of power in any one person or institution--including, most > notably, the majority of the population. > > Regards, > > Jon Alan Schmidt - Olathe, Kansas, USA > Professional Engineer, Amateur Philosopher, Lutheran Layman > www.LinkedIn.com/in/JonAlanSchmidt - twitter.com/JonAlanSchmidt > > On Sat, Nov 19, 2016 at 6:36 PM, Stephen C. Rose <stever...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> Edwina, List >> >> To take only one point, I emphatically hold that democracy is much more >> than majority rule. We have just had an election which we would have to >> denote undemocratic if that was the case. As a polity I favor a >> constitutional democracy such as the we we have in the US. In addition to >> not being rule by a simple majority, democracy is a skein of things, among >> them rights, a mode of personal behavior, an ideal for all social and >> community polities and an itemization or index of precious rights such as >> we have in our Bill of Rights. I do not mean to minimize your project which >> has intrinsic interest relevant t the topic. But the definition as majority >> rule is on its face inadequate to express what democracy is in a system or >> ethics. >> >> Books http://buff.ly/15GfdqU >> >
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