The Worst Form of Government

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We have to prove democracy still works.

—President Joe Biden, in an Address to a Joint Session of Congress, April 28, 2021.

When did democracy ever work?

While the amount of democracy in America has increased since 1776, from “white male property owners” having the vote to “men of all races, theoretically” (15th Amendment, 1870) to “women as well” (19th Amendment, 1920) to “even poor people” (24th Amendment, 1964) to “even people under 21 (but over 18)” (26th Amendment, 1971), the system was not designed by the founders to be democratic. And modern fans of democracy would (correctly) tell you that the President and Senate are not democratically chosen. Senators were only directly elected starting in 1913 (17th Amendment¹), the President has never been directly elected, and God forbid that the Supreme Court should ever be directly elected.

When people say “democracy” in 2021, they do not mean the republic the Founders created, with its obvious flaws, any more than they mean the democracy o…