Political Dynasties in a Democracy: Why Political Families Exist and Persist in the United States of America (original) (raw)

In its pursuit of liberty and determination to prevent the rise of a political monarchy, the United States’ developed a highly democratic system of government that may have inadvertently fostered pseudo-aristocratic tendencies in enabling an oligarchy. The political dynamics and lived experiences of its ostensibly democratic development appear at odds with the nation’s founding principles. In America’s úber-democracy, voters elect almost every conceivable public office; yet the democratic process often contradicts its egalitarian foundations. One such contradiction is the prevalence of political elites within the public sphere, and the hegemonic role of America’s political dynasties. The existence and prevalence of political families speaks to the enduring power of pedigree in a society that supposedly apportions democratic authority based on merit. The persistence of political families in a democratic country raises concerns about imperfections in popular representation. My research focuses on twelve US case study families with at least four successive generations in the direct line elected to state or federal office. I will outline what I have found thus far that accounts for the perpetuation of these families throughout the decades; why political dynasties so entrenched in American politics; and what causes one dynasty to ultimately decline, only to have their place taken by another. This examination aims to understand why certain families are able to succeed in public office, generation after generation, and what this ultimately tells us about the value of class merit in American democracy.