Angela Rapier
Ideal Democracy
English Comp
9/19/14
Ideal Democracy
Carl Becker is an American historian known for his work on early American history and
the 18th-century Enlightenment. Most of his writings had some focus on the government and the
way it was being ran. His early work focused on the beginnings of the United States and how
they used democracy. In 1932 he wrote, “Everyman His Own Historian which focuses on the
theme of historical relativism, which is the way he writes most of his pieces. Historical
relativism is defined as, “the claim that each historical age had different conceptual frameworks
such that there are no universal truths but only truths that are correct for a particular age”
(Lawhead). Basically what is being told here is that certain events in history would only make
sense with some background information given. In other words, looking at the prohibition, one
would have to understand what was going on during that time period for it to make sense. In
Becker’s writing he uses pathos and ethos to get his audience to understand why democracy is
such an important subject, he also uses past examples to relate how democracy had always been
relevant in society. Becker uses multiple forms of rhetoric in his speech to get his point across.
Carl Becker’s “Ideal Democracy” piece begins with him trying to explain why and how
he should lecture at the University of Virginia about democracy. His audience is college
students, which he then talks about how the decision was the made easier because the University
of Virginia was founded by Thomas Jefferson. So he decided to go off the ideas of Jefferson’s
beliefs. He then go into talking about democracy, and how it is such a familiar word, yet no one
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can put a set definition to it, it just means different things to people. Becker’s purpose for his
lecture was to make obvious democracies nature, and he then proceeds to compare it to other
forms of government that existed at that time. Becker defines democracy as, “…a government of
the people, for the people and by the people” (Becker, 148). So according to Becker democracy
is a form of government in which the people have a say in the rules and regulations.
Becker chooses to look at democracy in a positive eye, and also how it needs to flourish.
Becker uses examples of how democracy flourished. He discussed how the Greeks first used the
term, that since then, “the essential test of democratic government has always been this: the
source of political authority must be and remain in the people and not in the ruler” (Becker, 149).
The Greeks were actually the first people to use democracy, the chose their rulers just like a
president is chosen in the United States, they had to vote. At the end of the paragraph he raises
the questions asking what the reader thinks about other forms of government saying democracy
won’t last and it has no future. He leaves the reader thinking about what he has just talked about.
Becker discusses that even though ancient cities were using democracy, and not until just
recently in his lifetime did democracy start flourishing in small states. He gives the main reason
of the happening as the major lack of communication over such large areas. It was hard to figure
out people’s interests and similarities and decide what they all agreed on. The part of his speech
is where he really uses logos the most. He gives reasoning to all of his thoughts and backs them
up with some kind of fact or proof to make it creditable. He then goes on to say, “the United
States would today be divided into many small republics maneuvering for advantage and
employing war and diplomacy for maintaining an unstable balance of power” (Becker,151). It is
here that Becker uses realism to show what would happen if democracy never came about in the
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United States. The country would be majorly different then it is today. He points out that there
would be a lot more wars, and fighting because there would be an unstable balance in the power,
and basically it would be a place of chaos.
In this piece it Becker says, “Any type of government—monarchy, aristocracy, polity—is
good provided the rulers aim at the good of all rather than at the good of the class in which they
belong” (Becker, 154). In saying this is seems that Becker thinks that if the ruler, or person in
charge does not have the best interest of everyone, not just himself, then the government will fail
no doubt. Becker often talks about and relates back to Aristotle and what he said. One can
interrupt that Becker strongly agreed with what Aristotle had to say since he quoted him multiple
times in his speech.
Becker gives three conditions that are essential to success of democratic government, and
they are, mobility, ease of communication and measure of economic security. If a community is
on the verge of falling apart, democracy will not flourish, it will fail. Becker discusses how the
farmers in the early Roman Empire were not wealthy but their sense of equality gave them a
sense of economic security. Here he is explaining how if there is no equality it is hard for a
democracy to flourish. There are multiple parts to how a democracy can grow, and they are all
needed or it will not work out. The way he speaks about democracy makes all the difference.
It appears that Becker is trying to make democracy seem like something that has been in
the works for many years, since the beginning of its time. He also talks about how democracy
today is very different then it’s earlier forms. When democracy first came about it was all about
the people and what was best for them. It was not about the leaders and what they wanted, it was
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truly about what was in the best interest of the community. Today democracy is more for the
leaders, and they do not care what is in the best interest of the community.
Every piece of writing is in some kind of genre. It can range from fiction, to narrative to
fairytale, it just all depends on the style of writing. Becker’s “Ideal Democracy” would fit into
the genre of speeches and informative. This whole piece is on the speech that Becker had to give
to a college class. He is informing them on democracy and what it truly means and where it first
came from. He also gives insight to what would’ve happened if democracy did not work out in
the United States, he gives the piece a sense of realism. Another example of when Becker uses
realism and when he says, “Democracy is in some sense an economic luxury…” (Becker,152).
Democracy is just that, a luxury. Becker is basically saying that democracy is something you do
not need to have to be successful but it helps a lot. It is considered a luxury because not everyone
has it, and it seems to make the economy more sound and secure. Becker also discusses how
countries like Europe are losing their wealth, and with that happening their democratic
government is losing power and not working as efficiently as it was in the past. In other words
money is everything and without it a country or a government will fail.
In Becker’s speech he continues to quote Aristotle and his beliefs and talks about the
Greeks and their government. “For if the citizens of a state are to judge and distribute offices
according to merit, they must know each other’s characters; where they do not possess this
knowledge, both the elections to offices and decisions in the law courts will go wrong”
(Becker,153). This can be interrupted as, if the people in office were not elected because of their
good merit, but instead by their empty promises, the whole government will fail no doubt.
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When Becker begins to get to the end of his speech he brings up how the liberaldemocratic political theory changed the way the world viewed democracy. He talks about how
now the voice of the people is the voice of God and all authority comes from it. This can be
interrupted as, democracy has taken a turn for the worse in the past few decades. Now anything
that is done in office is for the benefit of the people in the office and very little benefit for the
people. He talks about how we need to bring it back to the way it used to be when it was for the
people.
Becker closes his speech with the quote, “…a discord between democracy as it was
ideally projected and democracy as it actually functions today” (Becker, 160). In my opinion this
is the part that ties his entire speech together and is when it makes perfect sense. His entire point
of giving this speech is to show that democracy is not like it once was. It has fallen apart over the
years. He tells us that we need to go back to our roots, and what democracy was all about in that
beginning, “ of the people, for the people, by the people” and not “of the government of the
people, by the politicians, for whatever pressure groups can get their interests taken care of”
(Becker, 148).
Works Cited
Gill, N.S. "How Democracy Helped Solve Ancient Greek Problems." About. Web. 19 Sept. 2014. \
Becker, Carl L. Modern Democracy / by Carl L. Becker .. New Haven: Yale UP ;, 1941. Print.
Lawhead, Willliam. "Glossary." The Philosophical Journey | . Web. 19 Sept. 2014.
Reflection Questions
1. How would you explain what rhetoric is?
I would explain rhetoric as effectively and persuasively writing a piece using different figures of
speech to get the point you are trying to make across. Basically you want to write in a way that
people will agree with what you are writing about, not the opposite. For example, you would
write differently to a group of middle school students then you would a group of college
students.
2. Why is it important to know about rhetoric and how what you learned about rhetoric can you
use in your writing?
It is important to know about rhetoric because it can improve your way of writing and help you
become a better writer. Rhetoric can also help you to get your point across in you’re writing. If
you want to persuade an audience to agree with what you are saying you have to write in such a
way to get them to want to agree with you and listen to you. By using what I have learned about
rhetoric recently I can use it to make sure my writing sound persuasive and I can write with a
certain tone in my writing.
3. What is a discourse community?
A discourse community is defined as, groups that have goals and purposes and they use
communication to achieve these goals.
4. Why is it important to know about discourse communities and how can you use what you
know about discourse communities in your writing?
It is important to know about discourse communities especially when thinking about whom you
are going to be writing to because when you are writing a persuasive paper you are doing the
same thing that they are. You are trying to get your point across in your paper and you are using
a form of communication to do so. Now knowing about discourse communities I can use the way
that I write communicate and persuade a specific group or community to agree with what I am
saying.