Word: jeffersonian
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...infamous for such enlightened remarks as, "Did [Jefferson] dream that in 100 years or less...red-eyed Jewish millionaires would be chiefs of that [Democratic] Party, and that the liberty and prosperity of the country would be...constantly and corruptly sacrificed to Plutocratic greed in the name of Jeffersonian Democracy?" And he was not alone...
...that did not happen. And President Bush's demonizing of Saddam as the devil incarnate did not help the public understand why he was allowed to stay in power. It is naive, however, to think that if Saddam had fallen, he would necessarily have been replaced by a Jeffersonian in some sort of desert democracy where people read the Federalist papers along with the Koran. Quite possibly, we would have wound up with a Saddam by another name...
Perhaps here I betray my Jeffersonian political leanings, but I suspect that many people feel strongly that the danger of an entrenched and all-powerful judiciary lies in its tendency toward indifference and corruption. The reasons why power inspires indifference and fatuousness is a matter for political scientists and is beyond the scope of this article. Nonetheless, one should note that the legal system is often criticized for being too far removed from basic ideas of fairness and simple justice. If juries were eliminated the system would only become more arcane and technical...
...states, and perhaps something more. On one level, it appeared that the Governors were simply being freed to govern. But the repeated pledges of federal leaders and a blizzard of state-friendly legislation suggested something larger. Some thought they saw American government decentralizing itself, heading back to either the Jeffersonian ideals of local governance and part-time legislators (if you are a fan) or the social miseries of the 1920s and pollution of the 1970s (if you are not). Said Geoffrey Garin, a Democratic pollster: ``This is the opening debate over the radical Republican agenda.'' Senate Budget Committee chairman Pete...
First of all, any referendum whose results are imposed upon the Council by a majority of the population should be binding. Have you ever heard of Jeffersonian democracy? It's the kind where the majority rules. Have you ever heard of democracy? It's that funny political system where the population has the final say. By threatening to ignore students' mandates, the Council has cut out its own little oligarchy in the middle of Cambridge. The day on which the Council overturns a decision made by its constituents is the day the Council should be dissolved...