This semester, one of my college students proposed an interesting topic for his paper. As a recent immigrant from Pakistan, he wanted to write an essay that argued “Pakistan is not a democracy.” I approved the topic because the student was clearly invested in it, and because it is a topic that matters. In class one day, as I was demonstrating strategies for proving definitional claims, we used his topic as an example in class. As we worked together to define the essential characteristics that all democracies share, it became clear that Pakistan did not match those characteristics. But I was troubled by my growing realization that, by any rigorous and accurate definition of democracy, the contemporary United States don’t match either.

I have long been a critic of American governance. And I have long been a critic of democracy. But until this year, I had still operated under the assumption that the United States, despite various forms of corruption and turmoil, remained a democracy. Sadly, I no longer believe this to be the case. Skeptical readers might scoff at this assertion. After all, we have elections. We don’t have a king. How could anyone say that we don’t live in a democracy? Some readers will remind me that America is an indirect democracy or a “democratic republic,” insisting that each citizen isn’t intended to wield real political power. These distinctions aside, I argue that the United States doesn’t qualify as any kind of democracy, if the term is rigorously defined.