The other day, our President actually said that he found the constraints put on him by the Constitution to be frustrating. He seems to be missing an important little thing. That is the point of much of the Constitution.
The Founding Fathers, a remarkable group of human beings, feared strong leaders. They also feared the emotions of the people. A combination of strong leadership. playing on strong emotions in the populace, is dangerous, very dangerous. So, they devised away to keep sanity in charge.
First, and I wish folks would get this, we are not a democracy. We are a representational republic that uses democratic voting to choose representatives. When you vote for Congressmen and Senators, you are electing representatives and when you vote for President, you are voting, not directly for a candidate, you are voting for a representative in the Electoral College, who will then vote for your candidate. This was done to prevent huge states from being overly dominant. Yes, it produces the occasional anomaly, like Trump, but on the whole, it works well.
Now, the constitution sets up checks and balances. The Judicial, Executive, and Legislative Branches each has their function and each watches the other. In essence, it prevents any one group from becoming overly dominant. As a result, we govern by conversing, arguing, and ultimately, reaching compromises. No body gets everything they want, nor should they. A Texas rancher and a New York stock broker have very different interests and to accommodate every one is not possible at the Federal level. That is why the Fathers left a lot of issues up to the States.
The system set up by our Constitution is absolutely brilliant and I am very glad that Trump feels frustrated. He is supposed to; that's how things were set up. Let's keep things that way.
We do not want a Nation where the emotions of the population converge with the plans of a strong leader. The World saw that about 80 years ago in Germany and things did not end well.
Showing posts with label representative republic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label representative republic. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Thursday, July 21, 2016
America - We Are Not a Democracy
It seems that many of my fellow Americans have forgotten their history and civics lesson (do they even still teach civics in school?). We are not now, nor have we ever been a democracy. We are a representative republic. Now, I am a fanatic about using the English language properly but, this time, I am not just being picky. There is a huge difference.
In a true democracy, the eligible citizens vote on everything. In Athens, the birthplace of democracy, the citizens, in those days that meant property owners, gathered, debated and voted on all civic issues. The majority won and their will was law, at least in theory. In practice I am not sure things went that smooth but that was the idea.
In a representative republic, local citizens elect representatives who then gather, debate and vote on issues. The majority wins and their will is law, again, in theory. This is the form of government the USA has.
Why? Well, if you read the Federalist Papers and some of the extant letters of our Founding Fathers, you discover that they were scared to death of a true democracy. They, being elite, felt that the elite should govern. Their idea was that the citizens would vote for which of these elitist snobs they thought would best represent their interests. Their was never a real belief that all citizens would vote, just the land owners. Blessedly they lost control of that and before long, all Americans could vote. Well, not women or slaves or Native Americans bur at least it was a start in the right direction.
So, when you hear some politician or some pundit on a news program droning on and on about preserving 'our democratic ideals' realize that either they are woefully ignorant and should be ignored or they are trying to con you. or both.
By the way, I don't get the fuss about the play Hamilton. Ignoring the fact that I loath hip-hop, Alexander Hamilton was, as evidenced in the Federalist Papers, an elitist pig, the worst of the lot. At least Jefferson gave some credit to those he considered his inferiors. Hamilton, blessedly didn't get his way or we might now have a monarchy.
In a true democracy, the eligible citizens vote on everything. In Athens, the birthplace of democracy, the citizens, in those days that meant property owners, gathered, debated and voted on all civic issues. The majority won and their will was law, at least in theory. In practice I am not sure things went that smooth but that was the idea.
In a representative republic, local citizens elect representatives who then gather, debate and vote on issues. The majority wins and their will is law, again, in theory. This is the form of government the USA has.
Why? Well, if you read the Federalist Papers and some of the extant letters of our Founding Fathers, you discover that they were scared to death of a true democracy. They, being elite, felt that the elite should govern. Their idea was that the citizens would vote for which of these elitist snobs they thought would best represent their interests. Their was never a real belief that all citizens would vote, just the land owners. Blessedly they lost control of that and before long, all Americans could vote. Well, not women or slaves or Native Americans bur at least it was a start in the right direction.
So, when you hear some politician or some pundit on a news program droning on and on about preserving 'our democratic ideals' realize that either they are woefully ignorant and should be ignored or they are trying to con you. or both.
By the way, I don't get the fuss about the play Hamilton. Ignoring the fact that I loath hip-hop, Alexander Hamilton was, as evidenced in the Federalist Papers, an elitist pig, the worst of the lot. At least Jefferson gave some credit to those he considered his inferiors. Hamilton, blessedly didn't get his way or we might now have a monarchy.
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