The framers of the Constitution instituted seven significant principles in it, which served as a foundation for their new nation. Of the seven, republicanism is the most vital and essential principle. This is established through its ability to prevent tyranny of the majority, reflect the changing values of the masses through representatives, and perhaps most significantly, the ideology that the government is based off of the consent of the people, and so can be dissolved if it is the wish of said people. It promotes the idea of popular sovereignty and the power of people over the government.
The idea of republicanism prevents the tyranny of majority that can be found in completely democratic systems. Tyranny of the majority is defined as the
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power the majority of people can hold over a minority group in a direct democracy, leading to the minority being completely repressed in favor of the interests of the majority. One of James Madison’s most compelling arguments in favor of the Constitution was that “it is of great importance in a republic, not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers; but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part” (Federalist #51).
Madison compared the tyranny of the majority to the oppression of a tyrant monarch, something all too familiar to the American people. However, in essence it was not at all an exaggeration. The same way the British monarchy denied Americans of rights such as property and liberty, the all powerful majority could also take these away. One example could be that in a town of 100 people, there are 49 supporters of gay marriage but 51 opposers. In a direct democracy, gay marriage would be illegal in that town. Now, look at this on a larger scale, if the entire United States was based off a system of direct democracy, and the same proportion of support to a opposition existed. In this situation, the rights of the minority group are being denied. Legally, in a pure democracy, the majority is allowed to do this, as the law is majority rule. In order to prevent this, republicanism allows the election of representatives who make decisions for the people. They represent the beliefs of the people of their state or district. The use of the bicameral system in the United States is immensely important to republicanism, as in the Senate, all states get equal …show more content…
representation, while in the House, states are given representation according to population. This keeps large states from having too much control over small states, while still giving larger populations more representation. Another way that republicanism keeps the majority in check is through the electoral college. When citizens vote, they don’t actually vote directly for their preferred Presidential Candidate. Rather, they vote for a board of electors who debate and then decide to appoint their votes to a candidate. This means that the candidate who wins the popular vote might not win the presidency. The Al Gore/Bush election of the year 2000 is one example of this occurrence. Some states require that electors vote in representation to the outcome of the popular vote, but many don’t. This prevents the majority from electing a president who might be harmful to the nation. The idea of elections themselves is also another important aspect of Republicanism. Elections serve the purpose of choosing a leader who would represent the views of the people. However, the views of the people are always changing. For this reason, the framers decided that “...the Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years” (Amendment XVII). Similarly, the House representatives are elected every two years. This is because the men behind the Constitution wanted representatives to be depictive of the current needs of citizens. This also prevents one representative from becoming too invested and forgetting the importance of the will of the people. They need to be re-elected by their district every two years, and so cannot make decisions to his or her benefit if it contradicts the beliefs of the district. In addition, term limits in Presidency prevents a monarchy from taking hold. George Washington, the first President, was offered the role of king, and he refused. Instead, he served two terms, and then retired. This set an important precedent that was not broken until Franklin D. Roosevelt, who won four elections. After his death, the 22nd amendment was passed, saying “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” This set the unspoken law into stone, preventing any tyranny that may occur in the future by a President who grows too powerful. Republicanism is based on popular sovereignty, or the power of the people over the government.
It borrows from the ideology of Thomas Locke, who wrote that the consent of the people was necessary for a government to operate, and that it was a social contract. The Declaration of Independence, which reflects a lot of influence from Locke, states that “Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it.” This highlights the idea that if a government becomes oppressive, the people have a right, or rather, a responsibility, to overthrow it. Since the government relies on the people to rule, the people can uprise against a despotic government. Again, this is the idea of popular sovereignty- the people above the government. While the constitution does not explicitly give people the right to overthrow the government, the values of Republicanism suggests that the people can do
so. Republicanism is an extremely important principle, and our nation has molded around its foundations. Our government would have long since fallen apart without it, or converted into the very monarchy that they had fought to be independent of. It has shaped the very course The United States took through history. Its values have led to much success and growth, whether in Rome, or the United States, or any of the other hundreds of countries that use it as a model of government.
Majority should rule and individuals are free to do what they want as long as it is not hurting other people’s rights. Republicanism is about the people. He talks about how the “Indians of Mashpee were able to manage their own resources, hold annual meetings, and elect some of their officers” (Pg.53). They had the freedom to do what they wanted, but this did not last very long because “Massachusetts repealed the law and restored the guardian system after the Revolution” (Pg.53). The colonies never had full republicanism due to the fact that they had slavery. Slavery prevented the slaves from having their opinions heard so therefore; in the end there was not full
Constitutional monarchies like the UK have combined the best aspects of democracy, monarchy, and aristocracy in hopes of removing tyranny, anarchy, and oligarchy. In the United States we give power to an elected body of many individuals, however, we retain power as citizens and individuals of this country through our right to vote for these elected officials. The power of a citizen outside of politics is fixed based on their ability/inability to vote. However, certain politicians have done specifically what Madison hoped this Constitution would prevent. They have created “democratic” factions through a populist perspective that has put certain people in a position of power by appealing to the common people. They have divided our society leading in comparison to the way in which other democracies as Madison explains have
James Madison once said,” All men having power ought to be distrusted.” Through these words, Madison made the statement that not all government officials use their authority for good; some abuse that power and use it to gain more for themselves rather than vesting it within the people. This issue may lead to tyranny. Tyranny is when all powers belong to only one person or group. In May of 1787, the Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia to draft a better constitution. One of the topics that concerned many was how the constitution would guard against tyranny. Madison and the other delegates wanted a Constitution that would be strong enough to unite the states and the people together without letting there be one person or group gain too much power. They achieved this in several ways. Today, the U.S. Constitution guards against tyranny by including a separation of powers, federalism, and the fair representation of states.
Madison differentiates between a Democracy and a Republic and later on decides on a Republic as his choice of government. A Republic is a type of government run by representatives who are elected by its citizens. Madison states that “however small the Republic may be, the Representatives must be raised to a certain number in order to guard against the cabals of a few; and that however large it may be, they must be limited to a certain number, in order to guard against the confusion of a multitude.” This means that the Republic should have a certain number of representatives large enough to overpower any outsiders, but not too many where-as nothing could be accomplished due to disagreement.
However the federalist lost out to a new Republican government. Federalist saw a government that would be defined by expansive state power and public submission to the rule of elites however; Jefferson (a republican) said the American nation drew energy and strength from the confidence of a reasonable and rational people. “Once the legitimate party prevailed, Madison and his allies believed, the “monocratic” crisis would end, parties would be rendered unnecessary, and the high-minded decision of enlightened natural leaders would, at last, guide the nation.” (Wilentz, pg. 65). A strong central government would be one with checks and balances to keep fairness as well as branches to represent different parts of government. A strong government would also help to prevent riots and chaos in America when people did not like the decisions made. However, it still upheld the ideals of a weak central government where fairness of the people was in place. Incompletion the formation of the Republican opposition in the 1790’s continued the legacy of the American Revolution through inclusion of all Americans and fairness in the
...he other hand, Madison discusses the topic of liberty in that it is what fuels factions. He says that removing liberty is one of the only ways to destroy a faction. He proceeds to state that this is not probable, and that factions can not be destroyed, but we must control their consequences in order to have a stable government. Madison believes that the Constitution preserves man's liberty by fairly representing them in a central government.
The republicans view almost always proved to be a disaster but the republicans believed that if a republican government could succeed anywhere, it would be within the virtuous communities of the United States of America. The republicans felt that replacing a monarchy government with a republican government would give the people many more rights and freedoms. Many people thought that it required too much public integrity for the people to govern themselves and live independently. It would require the people to obey laws and maintain order with the absence of monarchy forces.
Paine’s belief is that the government only purpose for existence is to judge based on property, liberty and protect the lives of people. He believes that everyone would be happier to follow the rules if they themselves set the rules and should have a system to represent them. Republican ideology states that it is against the raise in centralized power. Paine draw on the republican ideol...
The dangers of faction can somewhat outweigh the good. The framers of the American Constitution feared the power that could possibly come about by organized interest groups. Madison wrote "The public good is disregarded in the conflict of rival factions citizens who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community." However, the framers believed that interest groups thrived because of freedom, the same privilege that Americans utilize to express their views. Madison saw direct democracy as a danger to individual rights and advocated a representative democracy to protect individual liberty, and the general public from the effects of such inequality in society. Madison says "A pure democracy can admit no cure for the mischief's of faction. A common passion or interest will be felt by a majority Hence it is, that democracies have ever been found 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."
...e protection of individual liberties as well as the expression of self interest were of the highest importance when creating the Constitution and a new system of government. The idea of separation of powers along with checks and balances, coupled with an encouraged environment of expression eventually led to the ratification of the Constitution with a Bill of Rights in 1791 and the birth of dual federalism.
In this excerpt from Democracy in America Alexis Tocqueville expresses his sentiments about the United States democratic government. Tocqueville believes the government's nature exists in the absolute supremacy of the majority, meaning that those citizens of the United States who are of legal age control legislation passed by the government. However, the power of the majority can exceed its limits. Tocqueville believed that the United States was a land of equality, liberty, and political wisdom. He considered it be a land where the government only served as the voice of the its citizens. He compares the government of the US to that of European systems. To him, European governments were still constricted by aristocratic privilege, the people had no hand in the formation of their government, let alone, there every day lives. He held up the American system as a successful model of what aristocratic European systems would inevitably become, systems of democracy and social equality. Although he held the American democratic system in high regards, he did have his concerns about the systems shortcomings. Tocqueville feared that the virtues he honored, such as creativity, freedom, civic participation, and taste, would be endangered by "the tyranny of the majority." In the United States the majority rules, but whose their to rule the majority. Tocqueville believed that the majority, with its unlimited power, would unavoidably turn into a tyranny. He felt that the moral beliefs of the majority would interfere with the quality of the elected legislators. The idea was that in a great number of men there was more intelligence, than in one individual, thus lacking quality in legislation. Another disadvantage of the majority was that the interests of the majority always were preferred to that of the minority. Therefore, giving the minority no chance to voice concerns.
In conclusion, Madison thinks the human nature is ambitious, and the fixed outcome of human ambitions is people create factions to promote their own interests. In the case of preventing corrupt or mischief by factions, he believes majority and pure democracy is not a solution. The method he advocated is a large republic with checking system. He converts human ambition to provide internal checks and balances in government. His point of view stimulated the approval of the proposal of the United States Constitution.
The Founders built certain protections for individual rights into this country's founding documents. The United States Constitution was one such document. In particular, such protections guard Americans who hold minority viewpoints from those who side with the majority. For example, the First Amendment protects the right of free speech to ensure that people who hold unpopular views have just as much freedom to express those views as do people who tend to agree with the majority. The United States Constitution, therefore, was intended to protect the individual rights of Americans from a tyrannical government and majority. However, today, the Electoral College does not represent the vibrant democracy into which the United States has grown.
In Federalist No. 10, James Madison stresses that “measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.” Madison philosophized that a large republic, composed of numerous factions capable of competing with each other and the majority must exist in order to avoid tyranny of majority rule.# When Federalist No. 10 was published, the concept of pluralism was not widely used. However, the political theory that is the foundation for United States government was the influential force behind pluralism and its doctrines.
According to Classical Republicanism the major purposes of government are promoting the common good which focuses on the public spirit and what’s best for everyone, moral education which makes sure that kids get all of the information they need to live good lives and lastly they believe in civic virtue which deals with the involvement of citizens in society. John F. Kennedy states, “Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.” This quote portrays how we are all human, and how we should all be treated equal, we are all important, we all breathe the same air and if we keep on focusing on one person more than another then there will be