Can Trust in American Democracy Be Restored?

About the Book

There is a documented growing lack of trust in our government, a representative democracy, precipitated by a myriad of convoluted issues. Fortunately, there still is a general acceptance of perceived political wrongdoings because Americans are patriotic and believe their democratic government is the best in the world. The general consensus is that this is the best we can do given the characteristics of human nature and the complexity/inertia of our political system. An unfortunate aspect of this growing lack of trust is the awareness by our young people, who desperately need to believe in their country’s leaders, that they do the right things for the right reasons.

About the Author

Raymond Givonetti was born on November 21, 1936. He has a master’s degree in electrical engineering and is retired from GE Aerospace. Since his retirement, he wrote six patents (all technology independent), and they were all approved. He is also an oil painter and a golfer. Why me? This question never occurred to me until a publisher asked me what unique capabilities, background, and motivation brought me to this point. The bulk of my background was involved with systems analysis, development, and implementation of state-of-the-art test systems in the aerospace industry. Looking at a global picture and performing a top-down systems analysis is key to success and optimization of complex systems. At the outset, I had no idea where this study was headed, but I have felt for years that our political system needed optimization, and there was no mechanism external to the three branches addressing concerns of the public. It soon became apparent that most of these concerns are internal political system issues which are unlikely to be resolved because the changes impact those that are in position to make those changes. Of all the intelligent people in this country, especially those experts in political science, why me? First, the great majority of Americans is apathetic and/or believes that we have the best government in the world. It has problems, but it’s the best that can be done given the characteristics of human nature in politics. When there is an obvious issue, a typical response from the public is the rationalization “That’s politics.” Second, many of the few remaining Americans believe we are in a constant state of evolution and the political system will improve automatically. Third, it is highly improbable that this study would be performed by politicians or other political-science experts. Being immersed in a complex political system and the large number of interrelated complicated issues make it very difficult to look at the system from an outside vantage point. In fact, one publisher made this point to me. Fourth, this leaves a few people that believe that solutions do exist, but they probably will never be articulated or implemented. At the outset, the solutions implied by the study were unknown to me, and now they are obvious. However, the implementation will require the support of the media and many Americans. A necessary personal characteristic for spending close to two thousand hours on this particular work was perseverance. Just prior to this endeavor, I had completed submitting a second patent in the art field; I am an oil painter. In other words, there are many other things to do that are less frustrating than writing a book on this subject. Needless to say, my family and friends did not support working on a futile project destined for disappointment. The last personal attribute to “Why me?” is my ability to intensely focus on problems for long durations, a characteristic of an “A” personality and many migraine headaches. In conclusion, the concern for my children and all the young people of this country has motivated me to utilize these unique abilities.