Pros And Cons Of Republicanism

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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 …show more content…

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…

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

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