Myth and Democracy.

Autor/in	Lecuona, Rafael A.
Titel	Myth and Democracy.
Quelle	(1975), (17 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Citizen Participation; Civil Liberties; Democracy; Democratic Values; Motivation; Mythology; Political Science; Politics; Relevance (Education); Social Problems; Social Reinforcement; Social Responsibility; Social Sciences; Social Structure; Voting + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? 'Citizen participation; Citizens'' participation'; Bürgerbeteiligung; Demokratie; psychologische; Motivation (psychologisch); Mythologie; Staatslehre; Politikwissenschaft; Politische Wissenschaft; Politik; Relevance; Relevanz; Social problem; Soziales Problem; Soziale Verantwortung; Social science; Sozialwissenschaften; Gesellschaftswissenschaften; Sozialstruktur; Abstimmung
Abstract	This paper is about myths in general and the "myth" of Democracy in the United States of America in particular. Myths have a number of definitions among which legendary stories containing some elements of fact but wholly untrue can be cited as the basis for the establishment of commonly accepted beliefs. Myths can be functional in the sense that they serve a specific purpose or purposes. Among these, the binding together a political system such as ours may well be a vital function of the Democratic Myth in our society. Democracy, in its classical sense (where majorities rule; each member of the society participates in decisions affecting his life; opportunities for advancement are equally distributed; and so on), appears to be the inner faith to which our society looks inwardly for solace and comfort. Most of the time, however, the principles of such a system (democratic) are nowhere honored, either because they are impractical or simply impossible. That being the case, one wonders whether the Democratic Myth ought to be exposed for what it is, a Myth, or preserved and reinforced in homage to its utilitarian function. The true democrat must wrestle with the dilemma of either exposing the Myth in the belief that by so doing our society matures, or to the contrary, deny the existence of any myth and go on to play a democratic game in which rules are written but not practiced. To the extent that the Democratic Myth is incongruent with the realities of our democratic system the author suggests that it be discarded as inoperative. (Author)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC