Acemoglu and Robinson's Democracy Model
Acemoglu and Robinson's democracy model aims to explain the transition of a non-democratic nation to equality. This trend reflects the interaction between elites who choose non-democracy and regular citizens who support democracy.
Elites and Political Authority
Elites have de jure political authority and, if unchecked, can develop policies that benefit only them through political institutions. However, if citizens form a majority, revolutions can be used to attain democracy. The elites protest about justice in order to prevent the masses from gaining political and economic power and voting rights. For example, the United States is a wonderful match for Acemoglu and Robinson's democratic model.
The United States and Income Disparities
In the United States, there have been increasing gaps between the rich and the poor and the trends are worrying despite the current democracy. There have been higher disparities in incomes, and wages and the model show that the masses will use freedom to vote and redistribute wealth and profit from the rich (Acemoglu and Robinso 19).
Representative Democracy in the United States
The U.S. practices direct rule by the people where a few representatives are elected to represent a majority of the citizens. The citizens do not have direct powers regarding voting and lawmaking. Hence, it remains to be a representative democracy and not pure democracy. The major parties are the Republicans denoting law and a popular mixed government, and the Democrats who consider direct voting, the bill of rights and liberties to be supreme values of a democratic society. Therefore, to achieve democracy, there have been constant revolutions fighting for equality through activist groups.
Work Cited
Acemoglu, Daron, and James A. Robinson. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty. Profile Books, 2012.
