We often hear the claim that our nation is a democracy. that wasn't the vision of the founders. They saw democracy as another form of tyranny. If we've become a democracy, I guarantee you that the founders would be deeply disappointed by our betrayal of their vision. the founders intended, and laid out the ground rules, for our nation to be a republic.
The word democracy appears nowhere in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution--two most fundamental documents of our nation. Instead of a democracy, the Consitution's Article IV, Section 4, guarantees "to every State in this Union a Republic Form of Government." Moreover, let's ask ourselves: does our pledge of allegiance to the flag say to "the democracy for which it stands," or does it say "to the republic for which it stands"? Or do we sing "The Battle Hymm of the Democracy" or "The Battle Hymm of the Republic"?
So what's the difference between republican and democratic forms of government? John Adams captured the essence of the difference when he said, "You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; rights derived from the great Legislator of the Universe." Nothing in our Constitution suggests that government is a grantor of rights. Instead, government is a protector of rights.
In recognition that it's Congress that poses the greatest threat to our liberties, the framers used negative phrases against Congress throughout the consititution such as: shall not abridge, infringe, deny, disparage, and shall not be violated, nor be denied. In a republican form of government, there is rule of law. all citizens, including government officials, are accountable to the same laws. Government power is limited and decentralized through a system of checks and balances. Government intervenes in civil society to protect it's citizens against force and fraud but does not intervene in the caases of peaceble, voluntary exchange.
Contrast the framers' vision of a republic with that of a democracy. In a democracy, the majority rules either directly or through its elected representatives. As in a monarchy, the law is whatever the government determines it to be. Laws do not represent reason. They represent power. The restraint is upon the individual instead of government. Unlike that envisioned under a republic form of government, rights are seen as priveleges and permissions that are granted by government and can be rescinded by government.
the framers gave us a Consitution that is replete with undemocratic mechanisms. One that has come in for recent criticism and calls for its elimination is the Electorla College. In their wisdom, the framers gave us the Electoral College so that in presidential elections large, heavily populated states couldn't democratically run roughshod over small, sparsely populated states.
Here's my question. Do Americans share the republican values laid out by our founders, and is it simply a matter of our being unschooled about the differences between a republic and a democracy? Or is it a matter of preference and now we want the kind of tyranny feared byt the founders where Congress can do anything it can muster a majority vote to do?
Walter Williams
www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/printww20050105.shtml
The word democracy appears nowhere in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution--two most fundamental documents of our nation. Instead of a democracy, the Consitution's Article IV, Section 4, guarantees "to every State in this Union a Republic Form of Government." Moreover, let's ask ourselves: does our pledge of allegiance to the flag say to "the democracy for which it stands," or does it say "to the republic for which it stands"? Or do we sing "The Battle Hymm of the Democracy" or "The Battle Hymm of the Republic"?
So what's the difference between republican and democratic forms of government? John Adams captured the essence of the difference when he said, "You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; rights derived from the great Legislator of the Universe." Nothing in our Constitution suggests that government is a grantor of rights. Instead, government is a protector of rights.
In recognition that it's Congress that poses the greatest threat to our liberties, the framers used negative phrases against Congress throughout the consititution such as: shall not abridge, infringe, deny, disparage, and shall not be violated, nor be denied. In a republican form of government, there is rule of law. all citizens, including government officials, are accountable to the same laws. Government power is limited and decentralized through a system of checks and balances. Government intervenes in civil society to protect it's citizens against force and fraud but does not intervene in the caases of peaceble, voluntary exchange.
Contrast the framers' vision of a republic with that of a democracy. In a democracy, the majority rules either directly or through its elected representatives. As in a monarchy, the law is whatever the government determines it to be. Laws do not represent reason. They represent power. The restraint is upon the individual instead of government. Unlike that envisioned under a republic form of government, rights are seen as priveleges and permissions that are granted by government and can be rescinded by government.
the framers gave us a Consitution that is replete with undemocratic mechanisms. One that has come in for recent criticism and calls for its elimination is the Electorla College. In their wisdom, the framers gave us the Electoral College so that in presidential elections large, heavily populated states couldn't democratically run roughshod over small, sparsely populated states.
Here's my question. Do Americans share the republican values laid out by our founders, and is it simply a matter of our being unschooled about the differences between a republic and a democracy? Or is it a matter of preference and now we want the kind of tyranny feared byt the founders where Congress can do anything it can muster a majority vote to do?
Walter Williams
www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/printww20050105.shtml
