The Stupidity Theory of Politics

If x is the population of the United States and y is the degree of imbecility of the average American, then democracy is the theory that x times y is less than y.

H.L. Mencken

Of the thousands of book, essays, treatises, and other such works devoted to the somewhat oxymoronic subject of political science; nowhere within the resultant millions upon millions of pages will you find a more concise summary of the subject than with the 110-odd pages of Robert Dahl's 1963 classic (and thus completely overlooked) Modern Political Analysis. On page 2 of this remarkably readable book, Dahl poses six questions that he considers the most important to be answered by the study of political science. These are (in order of appearance):

1. What is politics and how do we distinguish politics from other aspects of human life?

2. What do political systems have in common and in what ways do they differ?

3. What is the definition and role of power and authority within political systems?

4. How do men (and women) behave in political systems?

5. What conditions make for stability, change, or revolution in political systems? What is required if peace is to be maintained and violence avoided? What are the prerequisites for a stable democracy to be maintained?

6. What sort of political system is best and how should we evaluate political systems?

Dr. Dahl's book, written in the days before the awareness that stupidity is one of the fundamental forces of nature, does not take into account the influence of stupid people (or their intangible product, stupid ideas) on political systems.

1. What is politics and how do we distinguish politics from other aspects of human life?

Dahl considered the definition of politics and political systems to be of such importance that he made the following statement the first paragraph of the first chapter of Modern Political Analysis:

"Whether he likes it or not, virtually no one is completely beyond the reach of some kind of political system...Politics is one of the unavoidable facts of human existence."