Democracy shouldn’t be the default for student government

Shawn Barry/ Contributing Writer

Direct democracy which is the rule by the people, and representative democracy which is practiced by the United States of America and most of the world, are not the only forms of government. These should not be the only forms that the student led government for FIU should practice.

Now, no one is saying that democracy should have died in its cradle in Greece, almost two thousand years ago. Although, many Persians would disagree with you, I would be the first to admit that a government like the one they had in Persia would be ideal.

 Aristotle, a Greek political philosopher, pointed out that there are three types of government known as the monarchy which is rule held by one, aristocracy which is rule held by few, and polity which is rule held by many.

Then there were the abuses of power which turned into tyranny, oligarchy, and anarchy.

Install a dictator, or host a king, have a group of people take over and make all the rules for a year. Try socialism, communism, oligarchy, any other form of government. Just pick one of them as an experiment.

It’s cheaper to run a monarchy, balance is still provided to the government, transfer of power is easier, it’s more efficient and you can be a knight. Now, how can you say no to being a knight?

Many brilliant minds have contributed to the formation of government theory that has created the three branches of people led government; democracy, socialism and communism.

Thomas Hobbes, Baron de Montesquieu, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Karl Marx, Gaetano Mosca, Vilfredo Pareto, and the sociologist Max Weber, to name a few alternative thinkers.

Democracy works but it might turn out not to be the best for a college’s government. Not every voice needs to be heard. Although you shouldn’t ignore your populous. Don’t want an “off with their heads” French Revolution, but there’s no way to know without trying the other options.

Of course if they do fail, in the short term, no harm, no foul.

Forget the bipartisan donkey and elephant scheme that our country follows. I urge the student government to try something new and experiment with other forms of government.

Can’t wait to see the results.

DISCLAIMER:

The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

Cartoon by Guido Gonzalez – PantherNow

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