Democracy Now?
Posted by Troy Eckhardt on March 9, 2009 at 11:51 am
The United States of America is not a democracy. We are a limited constitutional federal republic, i.e a democratic republic. While we do elect some representatives in a purely democratic manner, our highest positions are not elected directly democratically, and our federal legislation is not decided democratically. I thank God that this is so, because our nation would have crumbled long ago if we were a democracy. The founding fathers feared being or becoming more of a democracy, and rightly so, because of the threat of mob rule, compromise, and an unbearable power put into the hands of the chronically uninformed.
Our founders specifically crafted our form of government such that it was not a democracy, as is made evident by the following quotations:
“[In a democracy] there is nothing to check the inducement to sacrifice the weaker party or the obnoxious individual.” – James Madison
” … in tracing these evils to their origin every man had found it in the turbulence and follies of democracy.” – Edmund Randolph
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There was never a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” – John Adams
“Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos.” – Chief Justice John Marshall
The word democracy is not found in the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. Instead, Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution, promises “to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government.” Furthermore, in their wisdom, the founders of this country put the ultimate definition of law not into the hands of the people, nor into the hands of their elected officials, but in the pages of the Constitution, and they did so as a means to protect us from the evils of democracy – namely that democracy leads easily to tyranny.
It is true that there is neither such a thing as a 100% democracy, nor a 100% republic, thus it can be argued that they are related, and perhaps even at opposite ends of a scale. Both extremes are theoretical and unobtainable. It may be more convenient to define both a republic and a democracy in terms of how they are UNLIKE the opposite extreme. We are a republic because we do not vote on anything directly except for some representatives at the federal level. Each state is an entity unto itself. Some are more democratic than the federal government in that some laws and constitutional amendments are voted on directly.
A democracy is the opposite of the rule of law. It is, instead, the rule of the people. The rule of law is stable, whereas the rule of the mob is fickle and subject to passions and whims. Due process is the creation of a republic, and a lynch mob is the creation of a democracy. How can God’s righteous minority overcome the oppression of the majority in a democracy? Without a republic it is impossible to peacefully defend the rights God has given us.
Obama specifically referred to his election as having been a democratic decision, and it most certainly was not. George W. Bush would have lost the election last term if it had been a democratic election. 100% of the popular vote could have gone for Obama, and just 270 faithless electors could have elected McCain (or Daffy Duck for that matter.)
“Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.” – H. L. Mencken
