We are a Constitutional Republic, Not a Democracy
Why are Americans consistently being told "Our Democracy is in Trouble." The United States is a Constitutional Republic! But what's the difference?
Time and time again we hear that our Democracy is in trouble, and everything is a threat to democracy. Unfortunately, all those who repeat this fallacy don’t realize it is not factual, or do they? So why the deception then?
Constitutional Republic vs Democracy
Let’s begin by exploring the definitions and differences between the two. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Democracy (noun)
de·moc·ra·cy di-ˈmä-krə-sē
1a: government by the people
especially : rule of the majority
b: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections
2: a political unit that has a democratic government
3: capitalized : the principles and policies of the Democratic party in the U.S.
from emancipation Republicanism to New Deal Democracy—C. M. Roberts
4: the common people especially when constituting the source of political authority
5: the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges1
So far nothing in this seems to be an issue, a Government by the people, where the majority rules. That in itself is one of the most dangerous issues as this can be similar to a mob rule. As long as you can get the “majority” to change the process it must be right, however that completely silences the minority. So in a situation where 51 out of 100 choose Cheeseburgers, what happens to the other 49 that wanted Hot Dogs?
Let’s look at a Constitutional Republic before we answer that question. Interestingly no major dictionary site has a definition for Constitutional Republic, so we will look a the definition from the Arizona State University, Center for American Civics:
A constitutional republic means that it is one in which, rather than directly governing, the people select some of their members to temporarily serve in political office; the constitutional part means that both the citizens and their governing officials are bound to follow the rules established in that Constitution.2
Although these two may seem similar as they are based in rule by the people the one notable and key difference is that a Constitutional Republic is rooted and restrained by the Constitution. Many people today do not realize that the United States Constitution was written to constrain the Government not the people. It is our guideline of what the government is and is not allowed to do.
This is why we see more and more politicians of our time choosing to change or outright ignore the U.S Constitution that by which their power should be bound and limited too. The U.S Constitution is not a living document, it is not subject to Executive Orders, State, and/or locals laws. It is the Law of the land, and if Americans choose to Amend it, there is a process outlined in the very same Constitution that outlines this process.
Why would our Founding Fathers want it this way? We have to remember during the writing of the Constitution, Americans had just fought and won the Revolutionary War and were very skeptical of Government overreach. We can see this as discussed by the National Center of Constitutional Studies of Thomas Jefferson,
It would be a dangerous delusion were a confidence in the men of our choice to silence our fears for the safety of our rights; that confidence is everywhere the parent of despotism; free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy, and not confidence, which prescribes limited constitutions to bind down those whom we are obliged to trust with power; that our Constitution has accordingly fixed the limits to which, and no farther, our confidence may go....
"In questions of power, then, let no more be said of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."3
The intent was to be bound by the Constitution, so regardless of who is in power they are contained by the same set of rules. The issue is in our 248 year history we have come so far away from our Constitution that many Americans do not even know what is in it. Make no mistake this is by design, which is exemplified by the lack of historical teachings in school, and outright falsehoods told about or founding and the U.S Constitution. A topic which will be reviewed at a future time.
So back to our original question, why are we being told everything is a threat to our Democracy, because a democracy is not bound by the Constitution whereas a Constitutional Republic is. If the majority rules, all it would take is for a small group of individuals, to remain in power by any means possible perhaps cheating in an election. The people will remain with their notion they voted even if it is clearly evident that the representative is not representing the people they were “voted” in by.
The intent is simple by ignoring the U.S Constitution those in power have the freedom to do what they want, how they want and why they want. Our God given Constitutional mandated rights are dismissed just as are we. It is time to learn our rights and what the United States Constitution outlines so we can reconnect to our founding and stop taking for granted our rights as Americans.
Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “democracy,” accessed January 18, 2024, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democracy.
“Section 1.1: The U.S. Constitution,” Center for American Civics, accessed January 19, 2024, https://civics.asu.edu/civic-literacy-curriculum/section1#:~:text=A%20constitutional%20republic%20means%20that,rules%20established%20in%20that%20Constitution.
Susan Buelow et al., “Creation of a Constitutional Republic,” National Center for Constitutional Studies, September 16, 2023, https://nccs.net/blogs/weekly-constitution/creation-of-a-constitutional-republic.