How come our government doesn't function like a democracy supposed to?

Answer 1

b/c it's actually a representative democracy. you have to vote for people who make the laws.

Answer 2

I think the spirit of the question is more like why doesn't our government seem to respect the will of the people. I see many answers to that, but primarily because of corruption in the entrenched politicians who have little interest in taking on any sort of meaningful reform which might decrease their power. The politicians are most interested in making the other party's people look bad and little else at the moment. It's all about power and not about serving their constituents and our country as a whole.

I true democracy can often lead to legislative gridlock, gridlock even worse than what we are seeing now. If 49.9% of the people want something one way and 51.1% want it the other way, you have half the people pissed off. So you decide that it should take 60% or more to pass anything and not only are you no longer a true democracy, you're hopelessly gridlocked most of the time, nothing gets done and everyone is pissed off. It's a different dog with fleas.

The first thing we have to do is slap the hell out of of the politicians in D.C. so they think a little more about working for us rather than just screwing over the other party.

Answer 3

what an interesting group of answers to a poorly worded question.
So anyway ...
America's democracy is based on Greek democracy -- which involved highly educated citizens sincerely discussing the ways of the world (think Socrates, Aristotle, Plato). The framers of the US constitution had no conception that the US they were creating would one day be 50 states home to 100+ million people.
How should a democracy function? Highly intelligent individuals should sternly question how things work. Why doesn't it function that way? In America, cash $$$ is king. Instead of rational discussion, we've traded dollar values. Can I buy a senator please?
The solution? Government must be reduced. Democracy requires conversation, not intrusion. Get the government out of your life.

Answer 4

Its not meant to function like a democracy any more. Democracy is just an empty show now. As you see by a year of neglect of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, Government is not supposed to do anything any more, people are perfectly happy if all it does is build lots of prisons and fill them up and start wars.

Answer 5

Because as several answerers have pointed out, ours is not a democracy, it's a republic. Pure democracy would have been pretty hard to implement after the Revolution, and it'd be damn near impossible now.

Also, a pure democracy amounts to majority rule, or "mob rule" if you prefer that term. The idea of the rule of law is to protect the rights of everyone, whether they're in the majority or not.

Answer 6

It's not a true democracy. Never was. It's a federal republic.

Answer 7

I don't think you would want to live in a true democracy. We really do need to have representatives for us. We just have to do a good job in voting. We really do need to get past this Liberal / Conservative labeling. I guess it's fun and entertaining, but it really is destructive.

Answer 8

if you mean the united states it is a republic not a democracy.

Answer 9

Well, for one thing, we are a democratic republic, not a democracy.....

Answer 10

How come our government doesn't function....period. Bastards haven't done a goddamned thing except vote themselves pay raises and bigger staffs to use for reelection.

We should drag these assholes out into the street and horsewhip them.