Democracy Gone Awry

By Melissa August, Amanda Bower, Rhett Butler, Daren Fonda, Sora Song, Heather Won Tesoriero, Victoria Rainert, Joel Stein

In a desperate effort to get with the times, the Miss America Pageant announced it will incorporate Survivor-type elements into this year's show. Contestants who don't make the finals will get to vote on who should wear the crown. Is this any way to run a pageant? As viewers of the summer's reality shows can attest, the democratic process hardly means the best man, or beauty queen, comes out on top. In fact, it's usually just the opposite:

WEAKEST LINK Who says? To cut down on competition, contestants more often kick off the strongest link--like George Wendt

BIG BROTHER Even Monica, rear, admitted that the wrong resident got the boot when popular Krista was voted out of the house

MURDER IN SMALL TOWN X Stacey, whom everybody liked, was "killed" last week, while cold Kristen gets to keep playing. A crime

TODAY SHOW Viewers are helping to plan a couple's wedding. So why did they pick that tacky invitation with the pair's photo?