America has never been a true democracy and is not one today. The word democracy does not appear in the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, or in any state constitutions. The Founders recognized from their knowledge of Greek and Roman history that majority rule was not a sustainable political system and founded America as a constitutional republic. They wisely based the American republic on the rule of law, limited government, the separation of powers in the government, consent of the governed, individual rights, and the concept of federalism, among other political ideas.
What Does The Word Democracy Mean?
The word democracy comes to us from two Greek words. Demos meaning people and Kratos meaning power. In simple terms, democracy means “the rule of the people” or “majority rule.” The rule of the people or direct democracy is only feasible when the citizens of the political entity (town, village, or community) can congregate, discuss, and vote on the social, economic, and political issues before them. At present, the most successful democracies in the world are the 26 cantons in Switzerland, the total population of which is approximately 8.7 million people. Direct democracy is not suitable for any large political entity, and it is certainly not useful for the 330 million citizens in America.
What We Have In America Today Is A Representative Democracy
What we see in today’s America is not the constitutional republic the Founders gave us but a corruption of our political system that I would describe as a representative democracy. In a representative democracy, we vote for representatives to act in our stead. However, I do not believe our Senators and Representatives represent us well and do not act in our best interests. We no longer have a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” We have a ruling class that reaps the benefits of the political system while We the People suffer their foolishness and wrongheaded shenanigans.
One major newspaper in our country often opines that “democracy dies in darkness.” That newspaper is entirely wrong because their op/ed writers have an incomplete understanding of our nation’s history. Our constitutional republic is on life support, and no one in Congress seems to notice or care, nor does this newspaper.
America does not need majority rule. What we need is our constitutional republic back and men and women of honor and integrity as our elected representatives. All concerned American citizens should want the same and to work collectively to achieve those ends.
I will end with two quotes for readers to ponder:
“The essence of freedom is the proper limitation of government.”—Unknown
“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.”—Ascribed to Benjamin Franklin. He probably did not say this, but he should have because it is witty, profound, and true.
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