The Founders were divided on several issues.
One, "what kind of government do we want to be?" The founders decided on a federal presidential constitutional representative republic. But what does that mean?
Federal - A federation is a government arrangement in which power is distributed between a central government and states, which are sometimes called provinces in other nations.
Presidential - The chief executive is a president, appointed by election. This was in contrast to how executive were appointed in the colonies prior to the revolution: the governors were appointed by the King of England.
Constitutional - The structure and function of government are determined by a constitution, which cannot be arbitrarily changed or abolished. "The government is based on a body of laws applied by just procedures, as opposed to arbitrary rule by an elite group whose whims decides policy or resolve disputes." (pg 29)
Representative Republic - a sovereign state or country which is organized with a form of government in which power resides in elected individuals representing the citizen body.
It is important to note that the United States is NOT a democracy, and was never intended to be a democracy.
The word "democracy" is nowhere to be found in the Declaration of Independence, or in the U.S. Constitution, nor was it a tern the founders used. Ancient Athens, a few other Greek city-states, and the Roman Republic had a direct democracy in which [every single citizen] assembled to discuss and pass laws and select their officials. Most of these Greek city-states and the Roman Republic degenerated into mob rule and then resorted to dictators or rule by aristocrats. When this nation was founded, democracy was used to describe unruly groups or mobs, and a system that encouraged leaders to gain power by appealing to the emotions and prejudices of the people." (Magleby, pg 22)
James Madison, in The Federalist, No. 10, wrote "Such democracies [as the Greek and Roman]...have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives, and they have been violent in their deaths."
"Madison feared that empowering citizens to decide policy directly would be dangerous to freedom, minorities, and property and would result in violence by one group against another." (Magleby, pg 22)
In short The Founders did not "wish to foster mob rule by providing too great a provision for democracy". (Magleby, pg 8)
The Founders did not want a pure democracy, because pure democracy had never worked in the past.
Thomas Jefferson believed education was essential to self-government "Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government". He has made countless statements along these lines.
Many people criticize the Constitution, calling it discriminatory in regards to voting rights. However, The United States Constitution did not originally define who was eligible to vote, allowing each state to determine who was eligible.
Most states originally limited voting to white male property owners. This is not because the Founders were racist elitist chauvinists. This is because many Founders felt similarly to Madison and Jefferson: education was essential to self-government, and a pure democracy would degrade to mob rule unless the citizens were educated. And at that time white male land-owners were the only citizens who were educated. This "discrimination" was not out of hate or by accident, it was by design. Jefferson felt that certain demographics needed to be more educated before being allowed to participate in self-government: "to render...them safe, their minds must be improved to a certain degree"because "...they cannot approve what they do not understand."
The Founders, however, in their wisdom, provided for Constitutional amendment in order for the scope of self-government to be widening. When females gained the right to vote 1920, many women in the United States were well-educated, the majority of them having at least finished their secondary education. When blacks received the right to vote under the 15th Amendment in 1870, it was under the hope that they would become educated at the schools established by the Freedman's Bureau. (Unfortunately there were systematic blocks put on both the voting and education of blacks for nearly a hundred years after that...but that's another topic altogether).
The expanding of voting privileges has gone hand-in-hand with increased education among the previously excluded groups. This is how the Founders intended it.
Robert Dahl, in his book How Democratic is the United States Constitution? points out that the US has become increasingly democratic throughout the years. Direct primary, direct election of Senators, the initiative, referendum and the recall--all added in the last century--empower the average citizen and increase democracy.
The increased democracity of the United States has also gone hand-in-hand with increased education within the United States. This is how the Founders intended it.
So to sum up democracy:
The Founders did not want, and never intended the United States to be a pure democracy.
Because the Founders believed education to be key to self-government, and they purposely limited democracy in the original constitution; with the intent that democracy would be expanded as educational opportunities increased.
Even though democracy has been expanded, and the Founders intended this, the United States should not devolve into a pure democracy. This was never the intention.
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Another issue discussed at the Constitutional Convention was the separation of power. The Framers separated power in two ways: first, between the three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. Second, between the federal government and the states.
Madison further points out in The Federalist, No. 10, that human nature is to pursue our own self-interest. To try and create a government that defied this nature would be futile. So instead, through the separation of power, self-interest would be harnessed to prevent corruption and tyranny. For example: it is in the self-interest of the legislature to use the checks they have on the president, and vice-versa.
(Note: this is also how capitalism works. Self-interest is harnessed to improve society.)
It was also important to separate powers between the national government and the states. At the time of the Constitutional Convention, state identity was much stronger than it is now. It was important that the national government not do anything that would hinder the values and morals of a particular state.
US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis called states "laboratories of democracy". "If they adopt programs that fail, the negative effects are limited; if programs succeed, they can be adopted by other states and by the national government."
I personally am a huge fan of the state powers. I think most people would agree that the morals and values of Utah are much different than those in California, or in Texas. But because of the separation of national and state powers, Utahns can pass laws that reflect their values, and Californians can pass laws that reflect their different values. It's beautiful; and I personally don't understand why someone would be opposed to such a thing.
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There was a third topic of discussion at the Constitutional Convention. We've all heard of the separation of power. But have you ever heard of the separation of representation? (Probably not, because I defined this political theory myself recently after a vast study of political science).
The powers were separated among each of the three branches of government, but there was one thing yet to be determined: who would these branches represent?
Some felt the people should be represented. Some felt the states should. Others thought the Constitution and the Law held precedence, otherwise order could not be maintained.
And this is what was determined:
I. The President represents THE LAW.
II. The Senate represents THE STATES.
III. The House represents THE PEOPLE.
IV. The Supreme Court represents THE CONSTITUTION.
To go deeper:
I. The President, as the executive, is to execute the law. The words are literally conjugations of the same root.
II. The Senate was intended to represent the States. "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof," (Article I, Section 3, Clause 1, US Constitution). They have been weakened slightly in this role due to the change of direct election of Senators by the 17th Amendment; however, they still fulfill this role, as there are an equal amount of Senators from each state, thus balancing representation.
III. The House was intended to represent the people. "The House of Representative shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of several States," (Article I, Section 1, Clause 1, US Constitution). They are chosen directly by the people. They are elected every two years, forcing them to be more accountable to their constituents. Number of Representatives per state is determined by population, thus people are represented above states.
IV. The Supreme Court represents the Constitution.
Marbury vs. Madison in 1803 established the precedence of judicial review, as determined by John Marshall. "Given that Article VI provided that the Constitution is the 'supreme Law of the Land', and judges took an oath to uphold the Constitution, any law in conflict with it could not withstand the Court's review." pg 60.
In the third presidential debate, Hillary Clinton made an interesting statement: "the Supreme Court should represent all of us." By this statement, Hillary shows that she has no understanding of the Constitution, or the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court does NOT represent the people. They represent the Constitution.
This is important because it is the Constitution that is the "supreme law of the land" and protects all of our rights. If the Supreme Court represented the people, instead of the Constitution, they could change their interpretation of the Constitution based on the ever-changing whims of popular opinion.
Some felt the people should be represented. Some felt the states should. Others thought the Constitution and the Law held precedence, otherwise order could not be maintained.
And this is what was determined:
I. The President represents THE LAW.
II. The Senate represents THE STATES.
III. The House represents THE PEOPLE.
IV. The Supreme Court represents THE CONSTITUTION.
To go deeper:
I. The President, as the executive, is to execute the law. The words are literally conjugations of the same root.
II. The Senate was intended to represent the States. "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof," (Article I, Section 3, Clause 1, US Constitution). They have been weakened slightly in this role due to the change of direct election of Senators by the 17th Amendment; however, they still fulfill this role, as there are an equal amount of Senators from each state, thus balancing representation.
III. The House was intended to represent the people. "The House of Representative shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of several States," (Article I, Section 1, Clause 1, US Constitution). They are chosen directly by the people. They are elected every two years, forcing them to be more accountable to their constituents. Number of Representatives per state is determined by population, thus people are represented above states.
IV. The Supreme Court represents the Constitution.
Marbury vs. Madison in 1803 established the precedence of judicial review, as determined by John Marshall. "Given that Article VI provided that the Constitution is the 'supreme Law of the Land', and judges took an oath to uphold the Constitution, any law in conflict with it could not withstand the Court's review." pg 60.
In the third presidential debate, Hillary Clinton made an interesting statement: "the Supreme Court should represent all of us." By this statement, Hillary shows that she has no understanding of the Constitution, or the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court does NOT represent the people. They represent the Constitution.
This is important because it is the Constitution that is the "supreme law of the land" and protects all of our rights. If the Supreme Court represented the people, instead of the Constitution, they could change their interpretation of the Constitution based on the ever-changing whims of popular opinion.
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Last, but not least, the Founders were huge fans of limited government. They believed that the purpose of government was to protect freedoms, but once government passed a certain threshold, it started doing just the opposite: limiting freedoms.
It is interesting to note that right after the Framers wrote a Constitution deciding the function and form of their future government, they wrote 10 amendments limiting that government. They started limiting the government before it was actually a government! Now if that doesn't tell you they believed in limited government, I don't know what does.
It is interesting to note that right after the Framers wrote a Constitution deciding the function and form of their future government, they wrote 10 amendments limiting that government. They started limiting the government before it was actually a government! Now if that doesn't tell you they believed in limited government, I don't know what does.
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There were many other things that they Framers intended, but I chose what I thought were the most important for the American citizen to understand.
1. The US is not a democracy. The success of self-government hinges on education of the governed. The US has become increasingly democratic in conjunction with becoming increasingly educated.
2. Harnessing of the human nature to pursue our own self-interest through separation of powers between
a. The branches of government and
b. The national government and the state government
3. The separation of representation within the branches of government
a. Most notably that the Supreme Court represents the Constitution, not the people
4. The Founders intended government to be limited
**THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF A FOUR-PART SERIES**
1. The US is not a democracy. The success of self-government hinges on education of the governed. The US has become increasingly democratic in conjunction with becoming increasingly educated.
2. Harnessing of the human nature to pursue our own self-interest through separation of powers between
a. The branches of government and
b. The national government and the state government
3. The separation of representation within the branches of government
a. Most notably that the Supreme Court represents the Constitution, not the people
4. The Founders intended government to be limited
**THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF A FOUR-PART SERIES**
Sources:
The United States Constitution.
David Magleby, Paul C. Light & Christine L. Nemacheck, Government by the People. 2-72, 386-413.
James Madison, The Federalist, No. 10.
Robert Dahl, "How Democratic is the US Constitution?", 5-27.
Thomas Jefferson, "The Writings of Thomas Jefferson", Memorial Edition (Lipscomb and Bergh, editors) 20 Vols., Washington, D.C., 1903-04. 2:207, ME 3:211, 7:253.
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