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I don't get democracy

Johnny Harris

3,258,544 views

What IS democracy??
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The word ‘democracy’ gets thrown around a lot, but everyone seems to mean something different when they say it. What IS democracy? What does it actually mean?

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Special thanks to:
Danielle Allen, Harvard University
Elizabeth Anderson, University of Michigan
Michael Coppedge, University of Notre Dame
Archon Fung, Harvard Kennedy School
Helena Rosenblatt Dhar, CUNY Graduate Center
Alice Siu, Stanford University

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-- VIDEO CHAPTERS --
00:00 Intro
3:14 Electoral
14:11 Liberal
22:34 Egalitarian
26:00 Participatory
31:14 People are stupid
37:01 Deliberative
44:47 The Cube

About:
Johnny Harris is an Emmy-winning independent journalist and contributor to the New York Times. Based in Washington, DC, Harris reports on interesting trends and stories domestically and around the globe, publishing to his audience of over 5 million on Youtube. Harris produced and hosted the twice Emmy-nominated series Borders for Vox Media. His visual style blends motion graphics with cinematic videography to create content that explains complex issues in relatable ways.

press -
NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/op...
NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion...
Vox Borders: Inside Hong Kong’s cage homes
NPR Planet Money: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/10721...

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20 Comments

@johnnyharris Creator 3 weeks ago Pinned

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@bubbaowww590 3 weeks ago

“Democracy is 4 Ben Franklins and a Churchill voting on what fake quote to say.” --Socrates

@chmax73 10 days ago

Switzerland here: Yes we have direct democracy and yes we vote 4 times a year on many topics. But the fantastic thing here, is that the law text must be written in such a simple way, that anyone have to be capable to understand it. Additionally, together with the voting documents, you get one or more documents explaining exactly what you are voting, including the arguments for the Yes and No parties. Without counting the “Vote App” where also a video in all official languages (German, French, Italian and Rumantsch). So we know what we are voting for 😊

@shandelldieko5929 3 weeks ago

The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood he was one of them.

@bensmith4376 2 weeks ago

One important piece I think is missing from this discussion is the distinction between democracy as a method of popular government and the constitutional republican structure of the United States.

The American system was not designed around democracy alone. It was established as a constitutional republic, drawing heavily on classical republican ideas of representative government, divided power, checks and balances, federalism, and the rule of law.

That distinction also matters when discussing individual rights. In the American founding tradition, our fundamental rights are not understood as gifts granted by the Constitution. They are natural rights that preexist government. The purpose of constitutional government is, in significant part, to secure those rights and limit the government's ability to violate them.

That is why divided power is so central to the American system. The Founders were concerned not only with making government accountable to the people, but also with preventing rulers or even a political majority from exercising arbitrary power over individuals and minorities.

So while the United States certainly contains democratic institutions and can be described broadly as a liberal democracy, I think describing it only through the lens of “democracy” misses something essential: American self-government was deliberately constitutional, republican, representative, and limited.

@TheLinesOfPower 3 weeks ago (edited)

Maybe the biggest weakness of democracy is also its greatest strength: it gives power to people who can be ignorant, emotional, selfish, and wrong.

But the alternative is trusting that someone else is somehow wiser, less selfish, and less dangerous with that power.

“Democracy is not the belief that people are always right. It is the belief that no one should be trusted to be right forever.”

Maybe democracy survives not because people always make good decisions, but because it gives them a chance to admit the bad ones — and change them.

Definitely something I’ll explore further and share my own take on it in the future.

@nomansskywalker660 3 weeks ago

“Don’t believe everything you read on the internet” - Abraham Lincoln

@ChrisSiglMusic 2 weeks ago

Swiss-American guy here:

In switzerland, we receive a full brochure explaining every single point of view on each point being voted on. It explains it so simply that everyone can figure it out in 10 minutes. So happy about this system. US voting seems like i’m not even making a change at all.

@commonman-rs9zl 2 weeks ago

Okay putting the content totally aside (which is brilliant as well)

Just the sheer effort gone into production of the making of this video. props, camera angles, the studio with lights and maps. Simply impressive
huge inspiration for me

@Sharath_Chandra8 3 weeks ago

USA then : WTF is a Kilometre?! 🦅💥🇺🇸

USA now : WTF is a Democracy?! 🦅💥🇺🇸

@RyanXBenjamin 3 weeks ago

After procrastinating on YouTube all day, finally decided to sit down and study, and Johnny decides to drop a 50 min banger

@lereauxx 3 weeks ago

Maybe democracy is all the friends we made along the way

@werewolfpreyan 2 weeks ago

"Politicians are not aligned with majority of people...they are a different elite.."- Johnny (43:34)). This statement is itself such a big irony about the Representative Democracy (electoral).

@wazabi456 3 weeks ago

Swiss guy here, just to respond on the "I dont know what I'm voting about". I guess it's a cultural thing, but most people I talk to, actually are interested in the topics we vote about. We read about it and take the time to reflect on the consequences. I think it's about exercing our rights and duties. I'm also capable of recognizing when I have no opinion on the subject and subtract myself from voting.

@genoobtlp4424 2 weeks ago

„People are idiots“ is surprisingly true, but never forget the second part: „including (or especially) me“

@tenow 3 weeks ago

2:29 Democracy is when you can eat a Succulent Chinese Meal

@anthonychua3209 13 days ago

As a Filipino, one problem I see in our brand of democracy is our passiveness when it comes to political concerns. Probably politicians here abuse the fact that the voices of ordinary citizens don't matter anyway, or Filipinos simply don't care about politics or the value of a healthy political discourse, so the Philippine society just let this far-from-ideal attitude towards politics exist. This kind of mindset also keeps the doors open for rampant corruption and political abuse because we feel democracy wouldn't give us the inherent power to express our opinions and play an active part in the political process.

I give a huge thanks to this channel for informing me about the notion of deliberate and proactive and participatory democracy.

@DreeveePlays 2 weeks ago

I think Flock Cameras is a perfect example of our failed democracy. Almost 90% of the pop dont want them but our politicians keep signing more contracts