America: The Makings of a Kakistocracy

Of all the governments that could be used to describe the United States, democracy is probably the first word that comes to many people’s minds. However, I’ll argue that this word comes nowhere close to describing the current political landscape of America. Instead, the word more fitting for our current government is “kakistocracy.” It is a government in which the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens leads, and I believe America currently fulfills both of these requirements. Although, before I describe why America is a kakistocracy, I need to first dismiss the idea that it is a democracy.

In our current political system, representatives are elected to speak on behalf of the public. This is called a republic and it is what the founding fathers wanted America to be. According to the article, “The Founding Fathers Never Intended to Create a Direct Democracy,” George Friedman, an expert in geopolitics, writes that the founding fathers wanted to separate passions from the law. Instead of being swayed entirely by the public, representatives should instead strike a balance between public opinion and national policy. When important topics arise, the public is usually encouraged to contact their local Senator to vote on these issues. In a direct democracy, it is the people who vote on the laws and not their representative.

To further press the fact that America is not a democracy, according to the 2016 American Values Survey, more than six in ten Americans said that neither political party represents their views. During the presidential election, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both had extremely low ratings. Less than half of America viewed the candidates in a positive light with Hillary at 41 percent of the population and Donald at 33 percent. However, what is important to note here is that these were our final candidates for the election. It does not sound democratic that candidates that can become so unpopular amongst the majority of the people can still go so far in the elections.

On the contrary, what it does sound like is a republic turned kakistocracy. As I’ve said before, America fulfills both of the requirements of a kakistocracy. For example, consider our current president. It is not hard to see that he is an unqualified and unprincipled person. According to information gathered by Vox, an online news network, Donald Trump is the only president in US history that lacks both political and military experience prior to becoming president. He was able to beat a 227-year long streak, as every president before him has had either political or military experience. Generally, people with more experience can create quicker and easier solutions to problems. Although an argument could be made on the value of intuition, I would argue that intuition is not enough to lead a country.

Of the two qualifications for a kakistocracy, the lack of principles in a leader may be the most important. Thomas Jefferson once wrote that morality formed the foundation of society saying that, “Man was destined for society. His morality therefore was to be formed to this object.” Whilst everyone’s principles are different, I am confident in saying that the majority of people hold some of the same principles. The most common principles would be honesty, respect, and humbleness. Our current leadership, does not uphold these principles. He frequently lies, such as claiming that, “We have signed more legislation than anybody.” He constantly makes inappropriate remarks including one particularly crude comment involving a woman’s genitalia. On the topic of being humble, the president has said, “I think I am actually humble. I think I’m much more humble than you would understand.” This situation is shockingly ironic.