Constitutional Principles: Representative Government

0:00 America the world’s greatest democracy and if we say we believe in democracy the power of our democracy American democracy democracy democracy democracy this is a democracy usual rhetoric and language of our public officials uh and within the media is uh the language of

0:24 democracy the constitutional principle of Republican government means that the people select representatives to make and carry out laws are the American people fit to govern themselves to rule

0:45 themselves to control for the British colonists living in North America in the 18th century Republican government was the only theoretical alternative form to monarchy when the colonies separated from England the American people would begin an experiment in self-government what form would that government take Dr

1:05 Franklin you’ve just come from the Constitutional Convention what have we got a republic or a monarchy though many refer to the United States as a democracy this is not accurate the United States is not a democracy but rather a constitutional republic constitutional republic uh would be a

1:26 republic that bounded government that limited government uh and for the American people of the revolutionary period a go a constitutional government would have been a government that would have respected uh the rights of the people and afforded certain protections for those rights and we we need to link those two things otherwise it becomes

1:48 then too easy to uh fault the system for not being purely Democratic well it wasn’t intended to be a pure democracy it’s impossible to know everything the founders believe and wanted and they didn’t all feel the exact same way about most issues but they all wanted to establish a system that would best protect Liberty and they saw that

2:09 democracy was just as dangerous to Liberty as monarchy the majority could not be trusted with people’s rights any more than a monarchy could be direct democracy had been tried through history and it repeatedly failed arguing against the direct election of the president by the people at the Constitutional Convention Elbridge gar said the evils we experience flow from the excess of

2:30 democracy the people do not want virtue but are the dupes of pretended Patriots writing in The Federalist Papers James Madison observed in 1787 pure democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property and have in general been as

2:51 short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths Republican government was one way the founders worked to correct the problems that would come with a majority rule system most had concluded that a Republican government required a small territory as well as a virtuous citizenry in order to work while Madison knew that a virtuous citizenry was needed he turned the small

3:11 territory idea on its head a large or extended Republic he asserted would better protect Liberty the people he said would naturally divide themselves into groups which he called factions factions would have different interests different beliefs and different desires these many different factions over a large exed Republic would prevent a majority of citizens coming together to

3:33 oppress a minority a further check on the power of the majority would be the election of Representatives rather than directly governing the people would vote for people to represent their interests Madison wrote in Federalist 39 we may define a republic to be a government which derives all of its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people and is administered by persons

3:55 holding their offices during pleasure for a limited period or during good behavior so if the US is not a democracy why do we often hear the phrase majority rule does the majority always rule should it it’s okay it’s a democracy uh I don’t need or I didn’t need you know 100% uh to Prevail I only needed 50% plus one

4:17 are there some things a majority cannot do even if everyone in that majority wants the same thing how would you know what those things are enemies we know as Abraham Lincoln said in the Getty Berg address that the United States of America has a government of the People by the people and for the people and we also know that

4:38 John Adams warned in 1814 remember democracy never lasts long it soon wastes exhausts and murders itself there never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide some have compared a democracy to two wolves and a sheep voting on what to eat for dinner democracy alone is not enough to protect everyone’s rights something more is

4:58 needed a study of the Constitution reveals the founders heated this warning and took many measures including Republican government to ensure the blessings of liberty for posterity