by Tony Powell
A reader asked “Is America a ‘republic’ or a ‘democracy’, and, which is better?”
Fortunately this column presents opinions which are seldom influenced by facts!
As I See It, a ‘Republic’ starts out with a written list of basic ‘rights’ of the citizens and those rights can’t be taken away by subsequent governments.
Does that sound like the U. S. Constitution and Bill of Rights? If that’s true then the USA would be a republic – right?
So-called ‘Pure Democracy’ (also know as ‘Mob Rule’) has no legal protections for a minority.
The population gets to vote, and the government has to comply. (As in the French Revolution. “Off with their heads!”)
The USA might be called a ‘Representative Democracy’.
“We The People” vote for the representatives who are supposed to make decisions for us.
That system was ok back when we were all ‘back on the farm’ with no clue what was going on outside our own neighborhood.
Now, in 2021, we are very much aware of the conduct of our elected representatives, and the majority, is not happy with what’s happening.
The system is supposed to be ‘one person, one vote’ but, most Democrats and Republicans who I talk to want a Presidential Candidate who gets the most votes, to win.
But as shown in the last few elections, the Vote Winner can still be cheated out of the Presidency.
Apparently, Politicians in 48 States, (except Nebraska and Maine), prefer ‘Winner Take All’, so they can, and do ‘trash-can’ all the votes for a second place candidate.
The result is that, in a close race, 49% of those States voters are disenfranchised immediately.
I read that “whichever candidate receives a majority of the popular vote, or a plurality of the popular vote (less than 50 percent but more than any other candidate), takes all of the State’s electoral votes.”
That means that, often the ‘loser’ ends up as the winner.
What I see as a major issue, which is never discussed in the media, is the fact that a candidate can make whatever promises they want, just to get elected, and then, once in office, do the exact opposite.
If you run on ‘Women’s Rights’ shouldn’t you have to vote that way in Washington?
Same for the Second Amendment and Immigration Control.
Which brings us back to the original question – “Does ‘democracy’ have a place within a Republic?”
Isn’t it a fact that perhaps half of the voters in the USA are against Legal Abortions and against Illegal Immigration?
The other half is for ‘Women’s Rights’ and for Refugees?
So, what choices are there for the typical voter?
Vote for one issue and against the other?
As I See It, we need more ‘democracy’ and less ‘Executive Orders’, regardless of which ‘dictator’ is in office.
We need to restore, not just the right to vote, but the power to enforce the will of the people.
If the vast majority of Americans support both women’s rights and protection of the country from unarmed invaders, then that should be the law of the land.
For whatever reason, we continue to give our elected politicians a ‘blank check’ to use as they choose.
A better system might have them tell us “Here’s what I want to do”.
The voters would have the power to say “We’ll get back to you on that!”
‘til next time. … .
