Why We Are a Republic, Not a Democracy

[Bigun]

Why We Are a Republic, Not a Democracy

Walter E. Williams | January 19, 2018

Many people whine that using the Electoral College instead of the popular vote and majority rule is undemocratic. I’d say that they are absolutely right. Not deciding who will be the president by majority rule is not democracy.

But the Founding Fathers went to great lengths to ensure that we were a republic and not a democracy. In fact, the word democracy does not appear in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, or any other of our founding documents.

How about a few quotations expressed by the Founders about democracy?

In Federalist Paper No. 10, James Madison wanted to prevent rule by majority faction, saying, “Measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.”

John Adams warned in a letter, “Remember democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet, that did not commit suicide.”

Edmund Randolph said, “That in tracing these evils to their origin, every man had found it in the turbulence and follies of democracy.”

Then-Chief Justice John Marshall observed, “Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos.”

excerpt:  https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/why-we-are-republic-not-democracy?fbclid=IwAR0Et3LNh3N0Uqtn8a8g4xCleI1WpKqIv7Fi9HCff3MsfMOZilcpGZzAFJE

[austingirl]

I cringe when I hear people calling the US a democracy. God forbid.

[EdJames]

I cringe when I hear people calling the US a democracy. God forbid.

Have you noticed how the number of people doing it has increased over the past 10 years or so?

(And it ain't limited to Democrats.)


Great WEW article, @Bigun, thanks for posting!!

[Bigun]

I cringe when I hear people calling the US a democracy. God forbid.

I simply won't stand for it.  If someone in my presence calls the USA a democracy I will correct them immediately.  Don't care who they are.

[Bigun]

Have you noticed how the number of people doing it has increased over the past 10 years or so?

(And it ain't limited to Democrats.)


Great WEW article, @Bigun, thanks for posting!!

Happy to do it @EdJames.  It's an important thing for folks to know.

[austingirl]

I simply won't stand for it.  If someone in my presence calls the USA a democracy I will correct them immediately.  Don't care who they are.

@Bigun
I do, too.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

I simply won't stand for it.  If someone in my presence calls the USA a democracy I will correct them immediately.  Don't care who they are.

I want an Art IV, Sect 4 tee shirt.

Not because I care much for Republicans (politicians and party "elite"), but just to pick off the lefties. 

[Absalom]

Greece and Rome endured and prospered for some 13 centuries because
of the quality of their people and leadership; while we are a tad past two.
That is what matters, not the structure of governance!!!

[Bigun]

Greece and Rome endured and prospered for some 13 centuries because
of the quality of their people and leadership; while we are a tad past two.
That is what matter, not the structure of governance!!!

“Nothing is more certain than that a general profligacy and corruption of manners make a people ripe for destruction. A good form of government may hold the rotten materials together for some time, but beyond a certain pitch, even the best constitution will be ineffectual, and slavery must ensue.”

John Witherspoon, The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men, 1776

"Liberty and security in government depend not on the limits, which the rulers may please to assign to the exercise of their own powers, but on the boundaries, within which their powers are circumscribed by the constitution. With us, the powers of magistrates, call them by whatever name you please, are the grants of the people . . . The supreme power is in them; and in them, even when a constitution is formed, and government is in operation, the supreme power still remains. A portion of their authority they, indeed, delegate; but they delegate that portion in whatever manner, in whatever measure, for whatever time, to whatever persons, and on whatever conditions they choose to fix."

U.S. Supreme Court Justice James Wilson (Lectures, 1790-1791)

[libertybele]

Excellent post @Bigun -- perhaps it should be sent to some of those in Congress who continue to say we are a democracy.

[OfTheCross]

a Republic has democratic elements, no?

[aligncare]

.

[Sanguine]

a Republic has democratic elements, no?

Such as?  Give some examples of what you mean.  @OfTheCross

[OfTheCross]

Such as?  Give some examples of what you mean.  @OfTheCross

Well, our Congressional representatives are democratically elected.

[Bigun]

Well, our Congressional representatives are democratically elected.

Is that Constitutional requirement (if so please cite chapter and verse) or just how we decided to do it?  Asking for a friend. 

[OfTheCross]

Is that Constitutional requirement (if so please cite chapter and verse) or just how we decided to do it?  Asking for a friend.

Our representatives are elected via a popular vote. That's democracy isn't it?

[Sanguine]

Our representatives are elected via a popular vote. That's democracy isn't it?

Interesting technique.  Responding to the question by changing the topic back to your talking points.

[Bigun]

Our representatives are elected via a popular vote. That's democracy isn't it?

Nonresponsive to the question asked!  Try again!

[aligncare]

Voting is an act of indicating a choice between two or more candidates, or in many states an up or down vote about a ballot initiative. Okay.

So is democracy a liberal platitude? Or, just how fair minded, common sense people decide on a candidate or course of action?

[Bigun]

Voting is an act of indicating a choice between two or more candidates, or in many states an up or down vote about a ballot initiative. Okay.

So is democracy a liberal platitude? Or, just how fair minded, common sense people decide on a candidate or course of action?

Is voting Constitutionally mandated or could we just put names in a hat and blindly draw them out one by one until we reach the required number?

[aligncare]

Is voting Constitutionally mandated or could we just put names in a hat and blindly draw them out one by one until we reach the required number?

Maybe I’m not making myself clear—and will probably continue to fail to. But, I think the word democracy is used by the Left to conflate ideas from voting, to social justice, to corporate greed, and imbue it with a loftier meaning by tying the concept of democracy and fairness to patriotism and America.

...but democracy (voting) is just a common tool for making a formal indication of a choice in a voting booth. Nothing more than that.

That’s how democracy works at the state level, but it’s not how we choose a president for a republic of 50 unique, independent states, hence the electoral college.

Forgive me if I have failed again to make a clear point.

[Bigun]

Maybe I’m not making myself clear—and will probably continue to fail to. But, I think the word democracy is used by the Left to conflate ideas from voting, to social justice, to corporate greed, and imbue it with a loftier meaning by tying the concept of democracy and fairness to patriotism and America.

...but democracy (voting) is just a common tool for making a formal indication of a choice in a voting booth. Nothing more than that.

That’s how democracy works at the state level, but it’s not how we choose a president for a republic of 50 unique, independent states, hence the electoral college.

Forgive me if I have failed again to make a clear point.

I get it and agree but this constant drumbeat of trying to turn our Republic into a stinking democracy gets on my very last nerve!

"Communism needs democracy like the human body needs oxygen."

Leon Trotsky

[truth_seeker]

The Right, ought to make education AND persuassion a priority.

Persuassion means changing people's opinions.

Not something most "conservatives excell with IMO.

Convince a younger person, why Wyoming gets two Senators for their 577,000 people, just like California gets two Senators for their 40 million people.

Twenty five convincing words, or less.

The objective is NOT to win a collegiate debate, but rather gain a voter for your cause.

[OfTheCross]

Is voting Constitutionally mandated or could we just put names in a hat and blindly draw them out one by one until we reach the required number?

I don't understand what you're insinuating or asking.

I'm telling you that we elect our Congressional representatives via direct popular vote. That's democratic. Our Republic certainly has democratic elements.

Why the pushback?