Cato Institute co-founder Ed Crane has always been of the view that “democracy” must be extraordinarily limited. It should be a device for removing highly objectionable people from national offices like that of the President, but not much more.
As Crane explained it long ago in Forbes, Americans should go to bed early on election night. That’s because the less we have reason to care about or know about who occupies the White House, the much better off we all are. Legislation should largely be state and city local so that individuals can choose their policy bliss, including taxes and spending.
Crane’s insights into democracy’s myriad demerits, along with Cato senior fellow Roger Pilon's own skepticism, came to mind early and often while reading Washington Post editorial page columnist Shadi Hamid’s 2022 book The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea. Hamid’s thorough, and multipartisan look at the merits and demerits of democracy was an informative and at times fascinating read despite occasional disagreements with the author.
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