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7.7: Vox Populi, Vox Dei?

  • Page ID
    287380
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    Machines take inputs and convert them into outputs. The American political machine takes public opinion as its input and converts it into government policy. Most Americans prefer this arrangement, at least in theory. To some, it seems like the most effective method of governing a country. To others, it is a moral obligation, and it would still be the right thing to do even if it weren’t particularly effective.

    Americans’ faith in democracy can be summed up by the Latin phrase vox populi, vox Dei: “The voice of the people is the voice of God.” We frequently cite polling data with an air of finality, as though they were judgments issued from some almighty being. Whenever politicians pursue unpopular agendas over the public’s stated objections, there is a sense that our democracy is in some way being diminished.

    Of course, the will of the people is not almighty in America. Many crucial government decisions are made by political and legal experts, insulated from public influence. Often this is done for the public’s benefit. After all, public opinion has many shortcomings. Our opinions are inconstant, and not always for good reason. We are uninformed or underinformed on many important issues, and it shows. Many government policies that start out popular turn out unsuccessful or even disastrous. The principle of “garbage in, garbage out” warns us not to be surprised when the machine that is America produces shoddy outputs from poor-quality inputs.

    Vox populi differs from vox Dei in at least two respects: the public is neither all-powerful nor all-knowing. As an indirect democracy, America is structured to channel the uninformed and fickle force of public opinion into effective government action. It attempts to balance letting the people decide how they are ruled with trusting experts to occasionally go against the public’s wishes when appropriate. How well it achieves this goal is—like so many things in American politics—a matter of opinion.


    7.7: Vox Populi, Vox Dei? is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.