What does it take to maintain an egalitarian democracy? I think some of the issues we are facing today have to do with dealing with the mechanics of a democracy:
It's expensive
Assuring the equal treatment for all is expensive. This means an implicit agreement by the majority to endow the education, health and general well being of all.
I don't think the founding fathers ever took the cost of a democracy into account. Especially since at the time a majority of the country weren't considered full citizens. And things like health, education and a safety net were not major expenditures.
Diversification
Democracy always slides into diversification. Has this been the fundamental friction in the democratic process in the U.S. ? In that when we open the process there is a new sub-group that diversifies the whole. The bite back being that the diversification lessens the power of the established groups and the current establishment tries to limit liberties in order to maintain the status quo.
Can a democracy be anything but egalitarian?
Libertarianism is not democracy. It is not possible to run a democracy without having the goal of inclusion simply because without inclusion there is no participation.
I think that these are the type of core issues that are really driving the current political climate.
