Republic versus Democracy

Republic vs Democracy

It’s helpful to address the confusion that has been spread about the political spectrum. Many have been led to believe that the political spectrum place groups such as communist on the far left, fascists or dictators on the far right, and political moderates or centrists in the middle. However, a MORE ACCURATE political spectrum will show government having zero power on the far right and to having 100% power on the far left. At the extreme right there is no government; the extreme left features total government under such labels as Communism, Socialism, Nazism, Fascism, princes, potentates, dictators, kings . . . any form of total government. Those who claim that Nazis and Fascists are right-wing never define their terms. This amounts to spreading confusion. Towards the middle of the political spectrum can be found the type of Government limited to its proper role of protecting the rights of the people. That’s where the Constitution of the United States is. Those who advocate such a form of Government are Constitutional Moderates.

Many Americans would be surprised to learn that the word Democracy does not appear in the Declaration of Independence or the US Constitution. Nor does it appear in any of the Constitutions of the 50 States. The founders did everything they could to keep us from having a Democracy.

James Madison rightly known as the Father of the Constitution wrote in essay 10 of The Federalist Papers: “. . . democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property, and in general have been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”

Alexander Hamilton agreed and he stated, “We are a Republican Government. Real liberty is never found in the despotism or in the extremes of Democracy.”

Samuel Adams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, stated, “Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself.”

A true Republic is one where the Government is limited by law, leaving the people alone.

America's founders had a clean slate to write on; they could have set up an Oligarchy, in fact there were some who wanted George Washington to be their King, but the founding Fathers knew history and chose to give us the rule of law in a Republic, not the rule of the majority in a Democracy.

Why?

Let's demonstrate the difference in the setting of the Old West:

Consider a lynch mob in a Democracy: 35 horseback riders chase one lone gunman; they catch him, and they vote 35 to 1 to hang him. Democracy has triumphed and there is one less gunman to contend with.

Now consider the same scenario in a Republic: The 35 horseback riders catch the gunman and vote 35 to 1 to hang him, but the Sheriff arrives and he says, "You can't kill him, he's got his right to a fair trial!"

So they take the gunman back to town. A jury of his peers is selected, and they hear the evidence and the defense and they decide if he shall hang. Does the jury even decide by majority rule? No, it has to be unanimous, or he goes free. The rights of the gunman are not subject to majority rule, but to the law. This is the essence of a Republic!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFXuGIpsdE0&list=PLB6EB4D72C22473EE&index=5