Resistance

Blog – Think of the Declaration of Independence. What is the role of resistance in democracy?

Resistance obviously played a major role in the forming of this democracy we live in. Resistance plays a major role every time a government changes, no matter what form it may be: authoritarian, anarchy, anarchism, democracy, autocracy, oligarchy, republic, plutocracy, kleptocracy, dictatorship, corporatism, etc. In democracy, specifically, resistance plays a major role in the system of checks and balances. Resistance helps a government from going down the road of groupthink, a mode of group thinking that impairs decision-making because the desire for group harmony overrides a realistic appraisal of the possible decision alternatives (my psychology book). The unfortunate part of democracy however, is that like any type of government, as it strengthens, it stiffles further resistance. Imagine somebody trying to resist today's government in America. It would not turn out very well. Major resistance is not a viable option in large, absolute governments in today's world.