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America is the “land of the free,” “home of the brave,” and “one nation under God” that is the example for the world on what a democracy should look like…or is it? We have a system of government that “guarantees” even a vote in a remote Texas town will count…so they say. We have created a balanced government with safe guards in place to ensure no one gains too much power…or have we? We have a two party system that ensures the democratic process will work…don’t we? An American is suppose to vote Democratic or Republic and that is democracy in the eyes of many. Unfortunately, that is not the intent of democracy.

The freedom of democracy must be based in the liberty of the vote and not the alliance with the party. The freedom of democracy is suppose to be more about the election than the campaign. The freedom of democracy is suppose to involve accountability in government. This freedom has a foundation based in the democratic reality that someone in office that is not living up to the job can be voted out. Why isn’t it working then? How did we end up with a Republican house, senate and president. For the past six years, democracy in its simplest form actually failed.

Democracy is literally defined as “a form of government for a nation state, or for an organization in which all the citizens have an equal vote or voice in shaping policy.” Does the current state of government live up to this benchmark? American government was structured to create accountability, but has been reduced in recent years to a competition for power instead of a voice for the people. A two party system is flawed and leaves little room for the true essence of the democratic process to work. In a two party system, there is not a lot of leverage for the voter to align with the candidate of choice. Republicans and Democrats a like are criticised for voting for individuals “on the other side.” It creates an underlying intimidation to “choose sides” instead of opening opportunities to choose the right candidate.

True balance in the American form of democracy can only come from voters that make no alliance and choose to make choices based on the individual. What am I talking about? The most powerful segment of voters in America is the “swing voters,” also know as Independents. They are wooed by both parties in every election because they can literally cause an election to lean one way or the other in favor of either party. The strength and future of democracy rests in the hands of the swing voters. Why are more Americans declaring Independent? An Independent voter capitalizes on one of the greatest aspects of democracy…freedom of choice without intimidation and political peer pressure.

The recent rise of Democratic control over the house and the senate, in my opinion, was a direct result of Independent voters. Many individuals that voted Republican in the past had to vote Democratic for the election results to turn out the way they did. America’s democratic flaw was exposed for six years under an imbalanced Republican majority in every level of Government. Was there balance? No and we have seen the negative results of this type of leadership. The other flaw with the two party system is the philosophy of representation. I believe the original intent of the frame-workers of the constitution was for the party to lose significance and the representation to take precedence was the office was obtained. Simply put, the balance in government now must come from Independent voters. Voters that require complete accountability of both parties. If any candidate is not living up to the creed “government by the people for the people,” they must go.

The only way for Americans to balance the flaws of the two party system is to not put their alliances with either party when it comes to the voting process. What are the effects of Independent voters now? According to Wikipedia.com, approximately 38% of Americans identify as Independents. In addition, according to a September 3, 2006 Washington Post article, A Nation of Free Agents, by Marc Ambinder: “Independent voters comprise about 10 percent of the electorate, but the percentage of persuadable independents has shot up to about 30 percent. In the 27 states that register voters by party, self-declared independents grew from 8 percent of the registered electorate in 1987 to 24 percent in 2004, according to political analyst Rhodes Cook. Consistently, about 30 percent of U.S. voters tell pollsters they don’t belong to a party.”

Independent voters are maintaining the real intent of the democracy and as their influence grows, more balance will return in the democratic process of elections.