America’s Democracy Is Still Growing Up
Commentary by Pete Haug
“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness …“
Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
The birth was difficult. A new nation, “conceived in liberty,” promised much.
Yet most of the signatories of our Declaration of Independence were landed white male slaveholders. Women were disenfranchised. Governance in place at that time was “conceived in rebellion.” It retained “characteristics of the revolutions peculiar to an adolescent, albeit necessary, period in the evolution of human society.”
Nonetheless, for two-and-a-half centuries, those words have moved humans worldwide to embrace ideals barely comprehended by their authors. It took 87 years for those ideals to sprout. Abraham Lincoln described the original “conception” as “a new nation … dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
Lincoln acknowledged “the great task remaining,” but predicted “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Black lives, other lives, began to matter. The life, liberty and pursuit of happiness promised by those words began to be recognized.
A Working Democracy
Those founding ideals established the most ambitious experiment in self-governance ever attempted. Our Constitution was “the world’s first formal blueprint for a modern democracy.”
But almost immediately after Washington’s presidency, the system began to fray. Partisanship flourished. Yet the peaceful transfer of power in 1800, despite a divisive presidential election, demonstrated that the American republic had “pioneered a successful working democracy.”
Since then, the world has taken notice.
Alexis de Tocqueville observed, “The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.”
More than a century later, Winston Churchill commented, “No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed,” he continued, “it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time. …”
Not a Pure Democracy
What the world has “noticed” is not a pure democracy, but rather a constitutional democratic republic. Constitutional governing principles establish separation of executive, legislative and judicial powers. People elect representatives to perform governmental functions. Legislatures create laws that adhere to constitutional principles.
Similarly governed “democracies” are growing. Fifty-seven percent of countries with populations above 500,000 are democracies.
They’re even ranked by an index that describes how well they’re functioning.
Although we established the first modern democracy, we’re not at the top. Some nations are improving the model. Certain characteristics, such as low voter participation or polarization, contribute to our current lower ranking.
The recent upheavals we’re enduring are growing pains. Efforts are being made to repair our faults, yet opposing efforts undermine our democracy. We’ve weathered internal conflicts before and emerged stronger.
We’re a work in progress, adolescents striving for maturity.
A World-Wide Awareness
The 1800s were a time of spiritual ferment, not only in America and Europe, but elsewhere. In Persia, Baha’u’llah, founder of the Baha’i Faith, wrote to “the Presidents of the Republics of the entire Americas.” He bade them, “bind with the hands of justice the broken” and “crush the oppressor.”
In 1912, Baha’u’llah’s son ‘Abdu’l-Baha traversed North America for eight months giving unnumbered talks, often several a day, at places of worship, at universities, and in private homes.
While sharing his father’s teachings, he “extolled the American continent” as “the land wherein the splendors of [Baha’u’llah’s] Light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled.”
He further “singled out the Great Republic of the West” and declared that its people were “indeed worthy of being the first to build the Tabernacle of the Most Great Peace and proclaim the oneness of mankind.”
He promised that this nation was “equipped and empowered to accomplish that which will adorn the pages of history, to become the envy of the world, and be blest in both the East and the West.” Perhaps most importantly, Abdu’l-Baha affirmed that America “will lead all nations spiritually.” Somebody’s gotta do it!
To help us get started, ‘Abdu’l-Baha’ left this “Prayer for America.” Please feel free to use it:
“O God! Let this American democracy become glorious in spiritual degrees even as it has aspired to material degrees, and render this just government victorious. Confirm this revered nation to upraise the standard of the oneness of humanity, to promulgate the Most Great Peace, to become thereby most glorious and praiseworthy among all the nations of the world. O God! This American nation is worthy of Thy favors and is deserving of Thy mercy. Make it precious and near to Thee through Thy bounty and bestowal.“
