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.