George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and John Adams answered this key question. They were serious, clear, emphatic, and unanimous:
Our government is not a Democracy, it is a Republic, and, like all republics, it is fatally flawed.
At the end of the Constitutional Convention, Washington wrote his nephew and said he hoped the new government would be ratified even though it was flawed. He said that the flaw could not be corrected then, but perhaps future generations, with experience, might be able to make the needed changes. But we have ignored Washington’s warning, and we are in trouble. Global warming, pandemics,the gun lobby, or nuclear war, can destroy us.
Also at the end of the Convention, as delegates were saying their goodbyes, a lady asked, “Dr. Franklin, do we have a monarchy or a republic?” He replied, “Madam, you have a republic, if you can keep it.” Why did she omit, “democracy?”
Because 18th century history books taught that democracies lived short lives, died violent deaths, and did not respect private property. Why would anyone ever want a government like that?
In Federalist 10, James Madison, by comparing the pros and cons of democracies and republics, explained why the Framers chose a republic and rejected democracy. The rest, as they say, has been endless confusion.
Today, most Americans are convinced that our system of government is a democracy. Unfortunately, most Americans are dead wrong, and the error is destroying our nation.
Madison defined a democracy as a system in which all the people meet in person to conduct the business of the nation.
This is clearly not our system, so it should not be surprising to learn that the Framers rejected it. America is not a democracy: of any kind, shape, or form.
Madison defined a republic as a system in which the entire government is delegated to a small number of men elected by the rest.
This a concise, perfect description of our system of government. The Framers deliberately chose a republic, and deliberately rejected a democracy.
So, what is the flaw of every republic, including ours?
In a 1796 letter to Thomas Jefferson, John Adams perfectly described the flaw and its effects:
“Corruption in elections has heretofore destroyed all elective governments.”
Our government is an “elective government.” Democracies, according to the Framers, are not elective governments,” but republics are.
The flaw does its damage by enabling certain kinds of men to get political power which they use to indulge their selfish interests.
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, And George Washington described some of these men, and Madison also described how they form destructive groups.
In Federalist 1, Hamilton said:
Of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people; commencing demagogues, and ending tyrants.
In Federalist 10, Madison said:
Men of factious tempers, of local prejudices, or of sinister designs, may, by intrigue, by corruption, or by other means, first obtain the suffrages, and then betray the interests, of the people.
Madison also described how these men organized themselves into groups he called “factions.”
By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.
The Framers were describing men who were troublemakers, who were inclined to do evil, who were not trustworthy. They would lie to get what they wanted, and they were without personal integrity. They were cunning, they would lay traps for the unwary, and they had no conscience. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Later, near the end of his second term—after eight years of watching the flaw in action—President Washington published his Farewell Address, and said this about the men who form and control factions (emphasis added):
They [factions] are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people.
It is reasonable to ask two questions:
- Are all men cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled?
- Where do these cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men come from?
The answer to the first question is clear. Our history is undeniable. Cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men have dominated our civilization. Some who have ruled in my lifetime are Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany, the brutal, murderous princes of Saudi Arabia, and Vladimir Putin of Russia. There are many such villainous men throughout history. But there are billions more who are not cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled. It is easy to see, we humans come in two varieties.
What force produced these two varieties? Evolution by natural selection, which has two sides—on one it creates new life forms; on the other, it destroys them all. It has ruled our species since the beginning. It is mindless, purposeless, relentless, merciless and amoral—it is a force of nature. It has produced two living varieties of our species—tyranni who are aggressive, selfish, and work against the common good, and democrati who are timid, unselfish, and work for it.
Tyranni, such as Donald Trump, naturally, irrationally, work against the common good. Democrati, such as Jimmy Carter, naturally, rationally, work for it. These varieties are locked in a relentless, Darwinian struggle for survival. This struggle is cyclical.
The Cycle of Human History
• Tyranni naturally, aggressively, selfishly push forward to take power.
• Democrati naturally, timidly, unselfishly step back to let them pass.
• Tyranni naturally use their power to indulge their selfish urges.
• Innocents (tyranni and democrati alike) suffer and die unnecessarily.
• A great commotion occurs—from elections to wars.
• Tyranni-outs seize power from tyranni-ins.
• Innocents continue to suffer, but under new rulers.
• And the cycle renews.
But because Nature has been so bountiful, because democrati greatly outnumber tyranni, and because humans are so resilient and so creative, this brutal process could not stop progress—very costly progress, often needlessly tragic and unevenly distributed, but progress nevertheless—of that there is no doubt. However, we are now dangerously near the end. Nature’s bounty is nearly exhausted. She can no longer heal our self-inflicted wounds, she cannot replenish what we take from her—she cannot forgive our greed.
Without the assistance of Nature, we humans are finally on our own. Our millennia of adolescence are over. It is time to grow up. We can no longer afford to indulge our selfish urges—we cannot afford to just do what comes naturally: act reflexively, act without thinking, play political games instead of doing the hard work of facing and solving the immense problems we have created for ourselves. If we continue to follow the instinctive natures given to us by evolution by natural selection we will go the way of countless other species—we will decline, even become extinct—and it will be sooner rather than later.
Tyranni have done much harm to our societies over the millennia. They naturally seek power and wealth. Large institutions have power and power leads to wealth. It is usually beyond the ability of a single tyrannus to gain control of a large institution. He must have allies. Recognizing this fact, tyranni are prone to form groups in pursuit of power and wealth. They work together to dominate those who do not belong to their alliance, while they intrigue against each other as each seeks to become the ultimate ruler, the supreme tyrannus. Such groups of power-seeking tyranni are factions, and they have been commonplace throughout world history. Once they gain power, once they control a large institution—from state legislatures to Wall Street banks to national governments—they irrationally push their power as far as it can take them—even if it leads to the destruction of themselves and the institutions they control.