A Democracy Too Large is Not a Democracy

When you work for a corporation, you often have input as to how things are done. But once the decision is made, you are expected to get to work supporting it and not speak against the plan. There are a lot of good things about corporations, such as the need to keep both feet based in reality and sell what is desired and do it competitively. But one thing they are not is democracies. Management tells you what is expected and you do it. No vote is taken. If you really want to be an outspoken critic, it might be better to find work elsewhere.

Some governments, by contrast, are democratic. However, within a government, like the corporate organization, you have managers and workers reporting to them. Decisions are passed down and the people are expected to follow them. While a good manager may listen to those that report to her before a decision is made, there is no such promise to do so and no vote is taken. The work being done within the government is not by democratic process.

Now let us explore government size at the hypothetical limit. If the government grew to 100% of the size of the economy, say by nationalizing every business, there would no longer be a democracy. This is because when all the people work for the government, they have a conflicted situation, needing to work uncritically for their managers while supposedly having the political freedom of dissent against government policies.

Today, the US government's size is around 37% and growing. Is loss of democracy a concern at this size? Most definitely. As polls show, a voting block as large as 37% is a very significant sector and has the potential to swing any vote except a landslide. Even more concerning is the limited freedom of expression of this group, comprising more than a third of the population, which becomes a further damper on the democratic dialog. Certainly they would have more valuable viewpoints if they did not sense the pressure to stay within the political agenda.

When should we worry that the government itself will swing voting in all but the largest landslides? At up to 37%, it is already happening and affecting voting results everywhere. When was the last time you saw a vote that just did not make sense to you? As if a block of voters just didn't have both feet based in reality? Then perhaps you've seen it too. As they grow further, it becomes even harder to un-ring this bell, harder to reverse policies set increasingly by the government that thrives on its own growth. When to be concerned about how large the government is? Begin now.