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As evidenced by the Federalists Papers,* most of the founders wanted America to be a democracy. But, the fears of some, that democracy would turn into mob rule caused them to ultimately create a representative republic which, having some aspects of democracy, was the next best thing.
Democracy is a political system in which the true will of the majority of the governed becomes the supreme law of the land.
This sounds great, until we realize it means that 50.1 % of the population decides how the other 49.9 % live. Thomas Jefferson, for one, detested democracy for this reason, because it invariably devolved into tyrannical rule and subjugation of individual freedoms of the few by the many. It also negates the concept of individual rights, replacing it with the slippery idea of government-supplied 'privileges' in favor of the "common good". The word 'democracy' is not mentioned anywhere in the Declaration of Independence or US Constitution.
A constitutional republic, on the other hand, recognizes that rights are inalienable (i.e., they come from God and not Man) and thus cannot be revoked save by due process of law. For example, the US constitution did not create our rights but rather affirmed them. In a republic, the primary purpose of government is to protect the inalienable rights of life, liberty and property for its citizens.
These men established an enlightened form of government whose powers were narrowly defined. Government was specifically limited to a handful of finite responsibilities. This was to prohibit those with power from immediately beginning to expand upon it and thus encroach on individual freedom. The Founders were so concerned that power would be usurped from the States (and by the extension, from the people themselves), that they drafted the first ten amendments (AKA Bill of Rights) to specify the unalterable rights never to be modified or limited by any future government of the Republic. Recent history will demonstrate whether this still holds true.
Unfortunately, the gradual transformation of our nation from a constitutional republic to that of a simple majority democracy has led many Americans to believe it was "meant to be that way". This is no doubt why the Founders specifically required that the President swear a solemn oath "to protect and defend the constitution from all enemies, foreign or domestic." It was, and continues to be, the single most important responsibility of any US leader.
*Definition:
The Federalist Papers were a series of newspaper essays written by the authors of the constitution, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison. They wrote these pieces in an effort to explain the how and why of the Constitution to enable the general publics understanding and thus facilitate its ratification. The Federalist Papers are in a sense an “instruction manual” written by the authors of the Constitution.
Democracy is a political system in which the true will of the majority of the governed becomes the supreme law of the land.
This sounds great, until we realize it means that 50.1 % of the population decides how the other 49.9 % live. Thomas Jefferson, for one, detested democracy for this reason, because it invariably devolved into tyrannical rule and subjugation of individual freedoms of the few by the many. It also negates the concept of individual rights, replacing it with the slippery idea of government-supplied 'privileges' in favor of the "common good". The word 'democracy' is not mentioned anywhere in the Declaration of Independence or US Constitution.
A constitutional republic, on the other hand, recognizes that rights are inalienable (i.e., they come from God and not Man) and thus cannot be revoked save by due process of law. For example, the US constitution did not create our rights but rather affirmed them. In a republic, the primary purpose of government is to protect the inalienable rights of life, liberty and property for its citizens.
These men established an enlightened form of government whose powers were narrowly defined. Government was specifically limited to a handful of finite responsibilities. This was to prohibit those with power from immediately beginning to expand upon it and thus encroach on individual freedom. The Founders were so concerned that power would be usurped from the States (and by the extension, from the people themselves), that they drafted the first ten amendments (AKA Bill of Rights) to specify the unalterable rights never to be modified or limited by any future government of the Republic. Recent history will demonstrate whether this still holds true.
Unfortunately, the gradual transformation of our nation from a constitutional republic to that of a simple majority democracy has led many Americans to believe it was "meant to be that way". This is no doubt why the Founders specifically required that the President swear a solemn oath "to protect and defend the constitution from all enemies, foreign or domestic." It was, and continues to be, the single most important responsibility of any US leader.
*Definition:
The Federalist Papers were a series of newspaper essays written by the authors of the constitution, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison. They wrote these pieces in an effort to explain the how and why of the Constitution to enable the general publics understanding and thus facilitate its ratification. The Federalist Papers are in a sense an “instruction manual” written by the authors of the Constitution.
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