Originally posted by NeXus
explain to me why America is not supposed to be a Democracy?
In a pure democracy, minorites serve the pleasure of the majority.
The US is predominantly white, predominantly Christian, predomiantly hetero.
Now if majorities define the "morality" of governance, then if they wish to enslave the minorities, or opress them, or exterminate them ... well, that's democracy.
If you assert that individuals have some natural rights that aren't rightly abridged even by majorities, then you no longer want a pure democracy.
What the founders did was to establish a layering of authorities (local, state, federal) and a distribution of power to competing branches (legislative, executive, judicial.) All are constrained by written Constitutions that take a lot of agreement to change.
Some layers and branches have fast turnovers, some have lifetime appointments.
The whims and impulses of the populace are thus smoothed out, filtered over the long term.
When we want change, we are always impatient for the outcome, and lament the slowness of the system. But on the other hand, it prevents massive erosion of other rights when passions are inflamed.