Is imperialism contrary to the principles of American democracy? Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, the case of America’s success exemplified how democracy was indeed the superior form of government in a modern, industrialized world. During this time period, various international crises, world wars, and economic developments tested the strength of America’s democracy, for democracy in America may have passed all of these tests, but by what means? In other words, did these developments reveal any vulnerabilities and inconsistencies of American democracy? Charles Sumner, in “The Bequests of the Nineteenth Century to the Twentieth,” criticizes American democracy for entrusting the uneducated people with too much power, for Sumner views the masses in a negative light, referring to them as “a mythological product with no definition” (Sumner, 216). Forty-five years later (1946), during the birth of the Cold War, Nikolai Novikov, a Soviet ambassador to the United States, criticizes American democracy for its imperialist tendencies and monopolistic capitalism. He suggests that America’s form of governance is in reality not democratic at all, for how can a country claim to be democratic and yet seek world domination? Lastly, Servan-Schreiber, in The American Challenge, points out many inconsistencies within American democracy that are mostly aimed at imperialist expansionism and self-interested, capitalist globalization. All of these critiques of American democracy share a common foundation, an element that has sustained nearly 70 years of history (1901-1968), and that is the element of hypocrisy in American policies. All three authors elaborate upon the hypocrisy of American democracy, for this foundation for criticism branches out to a plethora of weaknesses such as imperialism, yellow journalism, and monopolistic expansion. By analyzing these critiques in a chronological order, starting with Sumner and ending with Servan-Schreiber, we can see how American democracy has been hypocritical in terms of foreign policy. By definition, democratic form of governance stands for freedom, liberty, and equality, but according to these criteria, American foreign policy in the early twentieth century was far from “democratic” and more like imperialistic. During William Sumner’s time, the Spanish-American War and Philippine Revolution were major concerns for American foreign policy. America surely did not implement a democratic policy because American troops brutally massacred Spanish troops in Cuba in order to protect their Latin American interests during the Spanish-American War (Kennedy, The United States in 1900, 4/4/02). Sumner criticizes this hypocritical action by stating, “Democracy assumes that numbers have a right in the natures of things to rule. Of course, that is entirely untrue. There is nobody who, in the nature of things, ought to rule” (Sumner, 218). Thus, Sumner condemns the American interventionist policy that incited a revolt in the Philippines and protected interests in Latin America because these imperialist actions sharply contrast with democratic principles. These two incidents at the turn of the century exemplified how American ideology was one of a “might is right” rule, where American democracy meant intervening in foreign affairs simply because America was stronger, which is contrary to the true meaning of democracy that is focused on peace and equality, not war and revolution.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 13:29:07 +0000
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