The Sadly Misinformed American

By Sam Huntington

In the too-often feeble minds of many Americans, Abraham Lincoln is not only a historic leader but also a great defender of democratic virtue. He accomplished this by describing our government as being “ … of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Thanks to under-educated teachers who turn our children’s minds into mush, this is what most people today think about their relationship with the government of the United States.

Now, here we are again, approaching a general election, and the advocates for democratic action are out and about with their inane demands and pernicious claims: Power to the People!  Republicans are trying to keep minorities from voting by demanding they have a voter identification card!

Some people even demand that we abolish our founding institutions, such as the Electoral College, or block certain high court nominees because they believe in strict Constitutionalism.  It is deceitful as hell, but it works.  The Seventeenth Amendment is proof of that.

People who claim that the United States isn’t democratic enough have a different idea about how the country should be run — something like Russia, France, or China. They demand that we respond to the will of the majority so that they can better control the minority, and that’s all fine and dandy unless you are part of the minority.

Those who demand more democracy and less republicanism argue that responding to the majority’s will demonstrates that people value their politics very highly.  But anyone who makes that argument is very, very wrong — and foolish — because, contrary to catchy slogans and clever electioneering, the government of the United States was never intended as a democracy.  Some of our cleverest philosophers steadfastly opposed democracy because it is easy for the majority to become tyrants over the minority.  The institutions of a Republic were particularly designed to safeguard Americans from the anti-democratic designs of those who demanded democracy.  Pure democracy is patently dangerous to a free people.  Please note:

1. Real liberty is not found in the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments,” Alexander Hamilton wrote.  “If we incline too much to democracy, we shall soon shoot into a monarchy or some other form of dictatorship.”
2. Thomas Jefferson lamented, “ … a democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51 percent of the people may  take away the rights of the other 49.”
3. James Madison argued that democracies “ … have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have, in general, been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”
4. John Adams concluded that democracy “ … never lasts long.  It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself.  There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”

Despite what many of today’s activists would have us believe, the anti-democratic institutions of the American Republic are just as vital now as they were over 200 years ago.

For example, the Electoral College ensures that individuals elected to the presidency have the support of not only the population-heavy coasts but also broad support throughout the entire country.  The function of the Electoral College is to respect and represent the states as sovereign entities within our federal system.

Likewise, each state is represented equally in the U.S. Senate, irrespective of population, size, or prestige. The Senate was even more effective as a check upon democratic extremes before the ill-advised enactment of the Seventeenth Amendment (1913), which subjected Senators to direct election by voters rather than individual state legislatures.

Of all our institutions, the United States Supreme Court is the least democratic.  The court’s members are given lifetime appointments by presidents elected by the Electoral College, subject to no democratic oversight or election.  Justices are called upon to decide cases and controversies according to what the law demands, not according to their personal preferences or preferences or the passions and prejudices of the electorate.

President Lincoln understood the role of U.S. institutions in tempering democracy’s excesses and ensuring deliberation, balance, and stability.  In his address of 1856, he noted, “Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution.  That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.  And not to Democrats alone do I make this appeal, but to all who love these great and true principles.”

The advocates for increased democracy would do well to remember Mr. Lincoln’s warning.  Their demand for more democracy may stem from genuine concern and a desire for “progress.” Still, in seeking to undermine less democratic institutions of the American system, they demonstrate a mind-numbing misunderstanding of our unique system of government.  This would not be possible were it not for under-education and unqualified classroom teachers in American public schools. In the United States of America — the people rule, but only through institutions designed to protect the individual and minority from the tyranny of the majority.  Stop listening to what Democrats tell you.  They are pursuing an un-American agenda.  Our Republic, as our founding fathers designed it, is worth protecting and preserving.