Democracy.

Winston Churchill once said that, “Democracy is the worst form of government…except for all the other forms…” What he means by this is that democracy is flawed from the outset. It maintains a structural inability to get things done in any type of haste and harbors ill-will between officials and citizens alike. Politics confuse issues and cause strife that paralyzes nations. Dictators can get things done with one swift motion and as a government, that equals effectiveness. Yet, these decisions may be horrifically flawed and against the will of the populace. Politics in a Democracy allows people to argue about issues in a public forum, regardless of how ineffective that may be to form actual policy.

* During the early years of the American nation, Europeans gaffed at the attempt to engineer a true democracy. The democratic republic functioned on internal strife and hatred for much of its early years and it seems this sense of politics has continued now. Unlike today, however, issues of politics were fought more by individuals than groups. George Washington’s first cabinet illustrated this phenomenon. Probably the most genius ever compiled in a presidential cabinet–Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton–displayed how politics function in a democracy.

* Vice President Adams instantly grew to hate the vice presidency as he quickly learned that it maintained no actual power. Washington conferred on him in some occasions but Adams often felt jealous towards his affability; something that Adams inherently lacked. Secretary of State Jefferson became the odd-man out in the politics of the cabinet, as Washington himself leaned towards the Federalist party and Jefferson remained a stark Democratic Republican.

* The true display of internal politics came between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. They sat on the opposite fringe of belief while still both believing in democracy. Hamilton favored a monarchical democracy with a firm central figure while Jefferson favored a populist based democracy with little to no central power. A much discussed decision based on their ability to wield politics in their favor created the American financial system and the national capital in Washington, DC. Prior to their agreement, the American nation lacked the ability to incur debt and the capital remained in New York.

Politics is central in democracy. Its simply how things get done, without it, democracy would stand on stilts of ideals without a floor beneath it.