Too old and tired for democracy?

But there is not a grain of evidence that primitive government was despotic and tyrannical. It may have been, of course, for it may have been anything or even nothing; it may not have existed at all. But the despotism in certain dingy and decayed tribes in the twentieth century does not prove that the first men were ruled despotically. It does not even suggest it; it does not even begin to hint at it. If there is one fact we really can prove, from the history that we really do know, it is that despotism can be a development, often a late development and very often indeed the end of societies that have been highly democratic. A despotism may almost be defined as a tired democracy. As fatigue falls on a community, the citizens are less inclined for that eternal vigilance which has truly been called the price of liberty; and they prefer to arm only one single sentinel to watch the city while they sleep.

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But the spirit that endures the mere cruelties and caprices of an established despot is the spirit of an ancient and settled and probably stiffened society, not the spirit of a new one. As his name implies, the Old Man is the ruler of an old humanity . It is far more probable that a primitive society was something like a pure democracy. To this day the comparatively simple agricultural communities are by far the purest democracies. Democracy is a thing which is always breaking down through the complexity of civilization. Anyone who likes may state it by saying that democracy is the foe of civilization. But he must remember that some of us really prefer democracy to civilization, in the sense of preferring democracy to complexity.

--The Everlasting Man, Chapter 3, G.K. Chesterton

One of the great Christian writers of the 20th Century, G.K. Chesterton wrote The Everlasting Man as a critique of H.G. Wells' An Outline of History and as a history of Western Civilization. (It is also a remarkable apologetic for the Christian faith.) In the early chapters of the book, Chesterton spends a great deal of time highlighting just how little we actually know about prehistoric peoples. We find a tooth or a piece of pottery, and the imaginations of archaeologists, psychologists and biologists join together to weave an intricate picture of the society and culture that must have produced the two artifacts.

This is a gold mine of contradictions and incompetencies that Chesterton mines, but one of the points he brings to light is this notion that prehistoric societies must necessarily have been despotic. We are all familiar with the image of the Stone Age village submitting to the will of the strong man with the club. We assume that the path to democracy is a path of enlightenment and evolution that marks the progress of true civilization. Chesterton argues that this, however, is not the case.

True democracy is kept close to the people, bringing the entire community together to vote on any business effecting the community as a whole. Once we move beyond the community into more complex structures and layers of government, complexity, specialization, and distances necessarily erode the ability to govern by pure democracy, so the people send representatives to vote for them. The people of the local community are already starting to be removed from the process. So Chesterton's point that democracy is the enemy of civilization is well taken. The more complex a civilization becomes, the less democratic it can be.

What I find particularly insightful in Chesterton's analysis, however, is his contention that despotism is the by-product of a tired democracy. "As fatigue falls on a community, the citizens are less inclined for that eternal vigilance which has truly been called the price of liberty; and they prefer to arm only one single sentinel to watch the city while they sleep." We can see that this has happened throughout history to various civilizations, Athena and Rome the obvious two that come to mind. Rather than something human societies evolve out of, Chesterton observes that despotism and dictatorship is something that human societies evolve in to. Indeed, the more civilized a society becomes, the more susceptible to despotism it becomes.

I can't help but think of the Star Wars prequel movies. Although fiction, the story line that plots Senator Palpatine's orchestration to consolidate power illustrates a lot of truth about the human condition. The Republic has become brittle. Various factions are out only for their own interests and have no regard for the greater good. Morality has no place in the hedonistic environment that governs day-to-day interactions. People grow tired of the inability of the Senate to get anything done, so they gladly hand over power "temporarily" to the strong-man who promises to make everything right. Except once the emergency passes, temporary somehow becomes permanent. The Republic has somehow become an Empire.

It is a slippery slope indeed, and the people must be ever vigilant to keep such a nightmare scenario at bay.

It is natural to inquire as to the health of the American Republic. While it is silly, as some try (even if only for polemical reasons), to claim that President Bush is a dictator or monarch, it is undeniable that the institution of the presidency has been strengthened at the expense of congressional and judicial powers. Not only this, but power has been consolidated at the federal level at the expense of state and local governments and the civil and religious institutions of society continue to atrophy from neglect, abuse, and apathy. The stage is being set for one who is patient and crafty to orchestrate, through the presidency, the establishment of a dictatorship.

Perhaps the only reason we have been spared such a fate this long is because of the unique way in which we elect our Presidents (for the benefits of the electoral college, see my post on the direct election of the President.) The United States has been blessed with a remarkable cadre of exceptional and godly men to serve as president, even if they have been most guilty of gathering up power for the office of the presidency. We can only hope and pray that the people will continue to remain vigilant to protect the Republic and constitutional principles that we claim we are committed to.