The Mechanics of Our Republic
Sadly, over the 2016 national election cycle…
through all of the rhetoric, speeches, debates and tweets…
I never heard the word Republic uttered…
lots of the word democracy… but no Republic..
Do you believe that we are a Republic?
Remember The Pledge of Allegiance?
As a Babyboomer, I remember standing and saying it everyday in school…
so there’s no doubt in my mind.
Here is John Wayne’s stirring rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Republic… the Most Important Word
The single most critical word to understand is Republic. A Republic and a Democracy are identical in every aspect except one… In a Republic the sovereignty is in each individual person. In a Democracy the sovereignty is in the group. In our Constitutional Republic, the people are all equal in stature, they are respected and treated as such… so laws are essentially advisory, not mandatory. Each sovereign individual was expected to act responsibly… guided by their conscience, our Constitution and Common Law.
In a true Republic, there is no need to micromanage people with thousands of petty directives, trying to externally control them. In a true Republic, the Sovereigns are internally guided through conscience… they know there place – as equal authorities – respectful of each others freedoms and their own responsibilities.
In America’s specific situation… our Constitutional Republic is actualized through spokespersons acting on behalf of the Sovereign people identified in the Treaty of Paris, 1783. And, the most important thing to remember is that in this Republic form of government, all voices were heard and considered… the essence of the words consensus and compromise… because all were equal and important. Contrast this with a democracy, where sovereignty is vested in the group… where the majority rules… and where only the voice of the majority is heard. There is no individual sovereignty in a democracy. The people are subject to Group Rule, where 51% controls everyone’s life… and all the laws are mandatory.
How should our Constitutional Republic actually work?
So what does that look like on a daily basis? Why did the founders unanimously support the idea of their Constitutional Republic being exercised this way? In order to make it clear, I will introduce a principle that I call the 15% – 85% LEADERS/FOLLOWERS concept. I’m sure this has been called by various other names through unrecorded and recorded history, as it has been around as long as there have been groups of people. This concept acknowledges basic human nature and natural hierarchy.
If you’ve ever been in a situation where a group of people are pulled together, a few naturally rise to the top and take an active role in the group’s best interest. That is the 15% – 85% LEADERS/FOLLOWERS concept in action. Somewhere along your life journey, I’m pretty sure that you’ve experienced this… whether in the military, college, fraternal organizations, church groups, civic organizations… anywhere where people assemble and interact.
So, what was so attractive about this to the founders?
The founders were astute men, coming from all walks of life and having a keen awareness of how people act… of human nature. Additionally, through lots of study of the ancient civilizations, they quickly realized that the scattered attempts at democracy always failed… they failed quickly and violently. Why?
Because it goes against the natural law of human nature to expect all of the participants in a given society to be involved… even for their own generation… with little or no hope of succeeding generations staying involved.
The founders realized the only hope that their grand experiment of human collaboration had to survive into successive generations was to accommodate as naturally as possible their natural human tendencies. The Leader/Follower concept was supported by historical precedent… it had worked before… and worked well. The other equally natural vehicle they used was religious practice, knowing that the colonists had that as a bedrock common bond. They understood that religious practice called on a belief of something larger than themselves, something intangible… what they knew as Faith.
At the end of the constitutional convention, Ben Franklin, when asked,
“What kind of government have you created for us?” He answered…
“A Republic, if you can keep it.” Sadly, history clearly shows us that
successive generations of Americans did not understand it well enough to keep it.
By introducing this concept of sovereign-controlled indirect rule, and calling on their fellow colonists to trust in God and their higher purpose, this totally unique concept was born into a tumultuous time, fraught with every reason not to trust one another. These exceptional, faith-driven and farsighted men conceived and brought to fruition the most unique form of government ever, even up to today. Let’s look at how they applied the LEADER/FOLLOWER concept in their planning and design.
This LEADER/FOLLOWER concept was applied to the creation and organization of the original republic government through how the elected official was chosen. Again, knowing the tendency of the 85% to not be well informed and/or not involved, they structured a system that required a minimum of participation by the majority of citizens.
In the original Constitution… which has been dramatically altered through Political Party rule changes… the only person that the people were originally responsible for choosing was their district representative… to be clear, the only election was for Federal Representatives. These were in fact local elections in each district, so there were no national elections in the original Republic.
Federal Senators were chosen by each states’ legislatures. They chose the two senators that would represent their state – and states’ issues – in the Federal Congress. If, at any time, the state legislature was not pleased with their senators representation or votes, the state had the right of cancel the vote and recall that senator!
That was changed by the 17th amendment in 1913 as a result of a 30 year backlash against perceived government ineptness… the so-called Populist Revolt (See ‘Stop calling it a Federal Government’ for more details about this critical change.) This period was also considered the birth of the Progressive Era.
The president was chosen by the Electoral College, which does not even remotely resemble what exists today. The Electoral College was another genius creation of the divinely directed founders. This was set up to mirror the number of representatives currently seated in the Congress, which again mirror the citizen’s representatives. First and foremost, they could not be involved in any way with the government, either directly or indirectly. They were chosen from the best and brightest business and community leaders in their respective states and districts. They were men of proven integrity who could not be duped by political tricks, innuendo or silver tongues.
Purposefully Methodical Commonality
What do all three of these original methods for choosing their federal office holders have in common?
They were all indirectly chosen by three distinct and separate groups which provided the best chance of selecting statesmen… not politicians. Because they had faith in the indirect (republic) system that was created; and in the people who rose to fill those positions… they put the 15% Leaders concept in action. The 85% Followers, who have no interest in doing this, were briefly called upon, to choose their Federal Representative. The States, which represents a still larger cross section of people, chose from a different perspective… and the Electoral College represented the largest cross section of people chose from yet another perspective. Through these various separate means and perspectives, the citizens’ rights and perspectives were preserved and protected. Of course, the founders also built in safety measures in case unscrupulous people were chosen, in the forms of recall or impeachment. The founders always made sure that the people were ultimately in a position to make the final choice.
So what has changed in our human nature since the 1790’s?
Have we Americans defied our ancestral past and evolved into a nation of active political participants? …where an almost complete majority are actively involved in our daily governmental process? No, not even close. If anything, we’ve gone the other way, all thanks to the tireless efforts of the two major political parties.
The Founders banished the political parties… they strongly and clearly warn us to not allow the political parties to re-emerge, but sadly –after only one generation– they reappeared, and have worked tirelessly to control every aspect of the citizen’s lives, making the citizens dependent on their largess, which incidentally is completely derived from the citizens. Effectively, the political parties have placed themselves in the position of gatekeeper to the government.. so that today, the American people cannot directly access or manage their government!
Sadly, the political parties have replaced Statesmen with Politicians. Georges Pompidou, a former French Prime Minister aptly describes the difference between the two… “A statesman is a politician who places himself at the service of the nation. A politician is a statesman who places the nation at his service.”
The political parties have only one perspective… their own… and it may or may not conform to the people’s views. We see this time and again. Their intervention in our unique process has changed and lessened all American citizen’s quality of life.
Political parties are in direct conflict with Individual Sovereignty.
Political Parties encourage group related democracy. A republic form of government does not need political party representation to perform its functions.Political parties are the worst form of indirect representation, as the only interests represented are those of unspoken and hidden people who seek monetary and social control of the population. Think Special Interest Groups and PAC’s. (See Washington’s Farewell Address.)
The skeletal remains of the founders’ precepts exists in name only today… they have been altered through amendment and modified through Political Party rules so that they benefit the two major political parties, NOT the sovereign citizens.
Origins of the use of the word Democracy
The use of the word democracy cannot be found in any of the original and founding documents. It is an outgrowth of the Progressive movement… which – as previously stated – took hold after the second Civil War. Calamity was the calling card that spurred this group method of control… calamities like wars, conflicts and the Great Depression. These events also gave birth to the direct referendum commonly known as Initiatives. Progressive Era politicians showed their impatience for our Constitutional 3 branch system and worked diligently to find ways of usurping these powers from the legitimate sovereign people.
Today, political party operatives toss around the word democracy primarily to further polarized groups that incite exclusion and create division. The aftermath of the 2016 presidential election showed how effective they were… and the turmoil that was created by it… the perceived minorities – mostly the millennials – were frightened and violently acted out.
And the saddest thing is that, in actuality, we are the farthest thing from a democracy that could exist. If we truly were a democracy, citizens would be constantly involved at every level… they would know about the many issues facing the country and the current legislation dealing with them. We are anything but that.
Another Sobering Consequence…
Another consequence of the incessant use of the word democracy, is that it makes the 85% Followers… who would not normally feel compelled to be actively involved… feel guilty for their natural tendency of non-involvement.
Imagine being constantly reminded of something you should be doing, but are not… how would that make you feel? Feelings of failure, separation and isolation become commonplace… to the point where many become so sensitive to the issue that they shun any involvement… as evidenced today by the huge number of people that do not participate. Who wins in that situation? Not the country… but certainly the political parties, as this is another way to create division and control.
We have a lot to re-learn, if we have any hope of resurrecting this once grand experiment in human collaboration. To me, it seems that the real question is…. where are the 15% Leaders in all three generations?… and are they interested enough to learn about our potentially powerful Republic?… of our unique Sovereign Heritage? The next several years are critical to this and will tell the tale.
Right now, it looks to me like…
Americans have abdicated their Sovereign Responsibilities…
which has suspended our Constitutional Republic…
and are purporting to be a progressive Democracy…
while actually allowing a functioning oligarchy.
(Oligarchy Definition: A form of government in which the supreme
power is placed in a few hands; specifically the Political Parties.)
So… Hopefully…
now you understand why the word Republic is so important.
