Always a student of the American political system,
I am moved to consider and to clarify the usage of the word republic
which often, and inaccurately, gets set up in contrast to the word and meaning
of democracy. Since the word republic is found in Article IV
section 4 of the Constitution, “The United States shall guarantee to
every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government”, many people point to
that language to claim that the Constitution authorizes a republic rather than
a democracy.
I assert
that the use of the word republic in the Constitution or on the lips of
the Framers of our system was not intended to be in contrast to democracy.
Rather, taking into account the context of the
day, reason would lead to an understanding of republic being set against
the word and governmental system of monarch.
What the Constitution guarantees is that there
will be a representative form of government in each State rather than a king or
queen imposing “King George III” type of tyranny as described in the
twenty-seven grievances inventoried in the Declaration of Independence.
While the word democracy
is not in the Constitution, we do have the concept embedded in the 15th Amendment…
Section
1. The right of citizens of the United
States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any
State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude—
And also, we have this in the
Constitution…
26th Amendment
Section 1
The
right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older,
to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on
account of age.
I
provide a list of Constitutional Articles and Amendments regarding democratic
election or voting at the bottom of this post,
It is Constitutionally mandated that governmental
representation is elected by the people…democratically.
Our republican form of government is achieved by a
democratic process by which the candidate with 50+% majority vote, becomes the representative,
or senator, or mayor, or any other office holder, and even the President,
though in that singular case through democratic vote of the Electoral
College. The popular vote in each state determines who gets that state’s
Electoral votes.
Aside from those basic facts, when representatives
in Congress, State Assemblies, and such vote on bills, they do so by a
democratic process, again majority vote.
Yet again aside from those facts, many states
allow referendums (correct usage according to Merriam Webster) whereby the
general electorate may cast a vote on a ballot question…a democratic process.
The twenty-seven grievances listed in the
Declaration of Independence, referring to King George III’s tyranny, establish
a very good basis for understanding what the revolution was addressing…a
monarchical absolutism with blatant disregard for basic human rights; not a
“push and pull” of partisan politics, or public policy.
The word republic, as used by Framers of
the Constitution, was set against monarchy not democracy.
It is through the democratic process of election
that the consent of the governed is achieved (Declaration of
Independence, paragraph 2).
Ours is a republic of law-makers, not appointed by
a monarch, but by democratic vote and consent of the governed.
Ours is not solely a republic. Nor is it solely a
democracy.
Ours is a democratic republic, a form of
government distinct from any resemblance to a monarchy.
And we should maintain that distinction.
Article 1, Section 3: The Senate
Article 1, Section 7: passage of laws
Article 2, Section : Regarding Electors of the
Electoral College
Amendment 14, section 2 Voting rights
Amendment 15, right to vote without
discrimination.
Amendment 17, Senators Elected by Popular Vote.
Amendment 19, the right of women to vote.
Amendment 26 – Voting Age lowered to 18 Years.
