Thursday, September 15, 2011

Some are More Equal Than Others

Writing in The Weekly Standard, James W. Ceaser looks at what happened when the American Political Science Association was confronted with a concept known as democracy. An excerpt:

But this time things were a little different. A dissident group of members challenged the American Political Science Association’s governing system, asking for some modest changes to the constitution to institute competition in the selection of officers and the governing council. The dissidents billed their proposal as a small step toward democratization. Imagine, then, their great surprise when defenders of the status quo, who included some of the leading political scientists in the nation, instructed them in no uncertain terms that devices like competitive elections, labeled “procedural democracy,” counted as next to nothing in comparison to “substantive democracy.” Substantive democracy meant “diversity” as computed by race, gender, and ethnicity.

1 comment:

John said...

Ah, yes. Dissidents are always a thorn in the side of those who know better. Democracy in ancient times (no slaves, youngsters, aliens or women need apply), has been creeping forward over the centuries, foiled at every turn by yet another clutch of unhappy subjects feeling maligned and neglected. Thank goodness for separate-but-equal and noblesse oblige, huh?

I realized lately that when my mother was born the Nineteenth Amendment was still three years in the future...
No wonder she had so little interest in politics.