The Genius of Our Democratic Republic

The idea of democracy, as brought to us by the Greeks and as instituted in the United States in the 1700’s, has brought to this country much wealth and prosperity. Our democratic republic, combined with capitalism, has been responsible for the creation of the last remaining superpower in the world and a wealth creation process unseen before in history. I would like to examine the characteristics of this combination in an effort to determine why it was so effective.

Democracy is a system of government which allows the citizenry to have a say in its own rule. In the ancient city states of Greece, the community would vote on all matters with regard to the state. This required the citizenry to be engaged in the issues of the day. Because the community was relatively small compared to countries today, this was accomplished with relative ease. With the formation of countries that cover enormous land masses and a have great many more people than ancient Greece, there came three new problems:

1. Communications with the populous so that they could understand the issues;
2. Diversity of geography; and
3. Diversity of culture.

Over the years, the United States has handled the first problem very well. It has managed to keep a free press which, though not unbiased, is at least diverse enough that one can get an array of opinions by reviewing various sources. Even with the advent of television, cable and the internet, we have continued to keep the public educated as to the issues of the day. As is true with other types of media, the internet, of course, carries with it the problem of conveying false information, but on a much larger scale. Despite this, however, the U.S. has done quite well on the dissemination of information and communications front.

The issue of geographic diversity was handled very well from the beginning. By having many state and local governments, the local issues of property rights and domestic concerns such as education remained local issues. This hierarchy of governance allowed for greater efficiency in that local issues can be voted on at the local level. Inter-town or county issues can be dealt with at the state level and inter-state issues could be dealt with at the federal level. In this way, the number of issues a citizen would have to consider would be limited to his local issues, state issues and federal issues. He would not have to consider the local issues of a person in another state or township.

The problem of cultural diversity, for the most part, has been handled well by the United States up until now, with a few exceptions. With freedom of religion, firmly grounded in the Constitution, citizens could maintain their religious and cultural identity no matter their place of origin. The fact that there are 50 states and each state’s laws are different, allow a person to vote with their feet. That is to say, if they don’t like the laws of the state they are in, they can move to one with laws more in keeping with there preferences.

The fact that the country is made up of 50 independent states also has a couple of added bonuses:

• It provides a training ground for our leaders as they move from local to state to federal leadership positions;
• It promotes competition between the states, which in turn, keep, state taxes low and promotes commerce.

Joseph L. Conigliaro

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Democracy In America

This classic work by Alexis De Tocqueville draws an insightful portrait of Jacksonian America. Tocqueville analyzes the religious, social and political views of Americans of the day. "In America, men are nearer equality than in any other country in the world", he wrote of his reflections of the equality of opportunity he saw in America . Read it today: http://www.pippoproducts.com

Amazing, History Really Does Repeat Itself

It seems the country has lost it way, people just can’t decide who they hate more the democrats or the republicans. The country has lost the sprit of independence it held in the days of the expansion westward. And an era of unprecedented wealth has made the electorate lazy and ignorant. Is it your political future? http://www.pippoproducts.com

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 — July 4, 1826) was the third President of the United States (1801—1809), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of Republicanism in the United States. Major events during his presidency include the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Although born into a slave owning family Jefferson was one of the first prominent Americans to speak and write against slavery.

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Jefferson on Democracy

Not surprisingly, Jefferson’s view of democracy was closer to what we think of today as conservatism, than to what our current Democratic Party to stands for today. Jefferson, like most of the founding fathers, had a fundamental distrust of government and understood the enormity of temptation borne by power wielding politicians to perniciously manipulate government. The formation of the party itself was a reaction to the current spending policies of the day. I dare say Thomas Jefferson would cringe at what our country’s government has turned into today and at what the current Democratic Party has become.

Jeffersonian Democracy promoted a small federal government with no standing army, although Jefferson wanted to promote freedom globally. Government was to have elected representatives that would put the interests of the people above the interests of one particular person or interest. Checks and balances were put into place to keep power distributed and keep the focus of government on the needs of the people. Government was not to meddle in religion or sanction any particular religion.

With its opposition to the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798 the then Democratic Republican Party made clear it’s stance that freedom of speech and freedom of the press were bedrock democratic principals and necessary for a healthy republic. Jefferson understood well that disclosure of our representatives’ words and actions, as well as criticism thereof, is vital to keeping them honest and about the peoples' business.

Fast forward to 2009:

Judges legislate from the bench; the government is the largest employer in the country and employs almost 50% of the workforce; there are an estimated 30 million illegal aliens here; the government is taking over banks and deciding what businesses should exist and which shouldn’t; in the past year the government has decided to spend more than 1.5 trillion dollars on anything they want.

Before the existence of the United States of America, it was thought that a large democratic republic like the United States could not exist because the people’s diverse interests and geographical disparities would be too great. The Roman republic first became an Empire and later fell to the Huns. Are we about to go the same route?

It may be impossible for man to be able to maintain a democratic republic. Karl Marx stated, “within a republic are sewn the seed of its own destruction.” Are we tasting the fruits of those seeds now? Will man always condemn himself to slavery because of his own, greed, avarice and slothfulness?

It appears the great experiment is coming to an end, although it does not have to. It can go on if we remember who we are and where we came from. If we can fill our minds and hearts with the dreams of our founding fathers, if we can love our country more than self and treasure the gift of freedom above all else, then we have a chance at keeping our democratic republic.

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Announcing the beginning of the end of the USA

The Roman Empire grew from a republic and finally fell because of its decadence. This is a road well traveled. Are we on that road?

History Of Republican Party Blog

What Do Democrats Believe in Anyway?

According to dictionary.com, the technical definition of Democrat is “a member of the Democratic party.” This is not exactly helpful, especially if you are new to politics and trying to figure out where you fit in the political spectrum. At the risk of sounding partisan and getting the political bloggers on my back, the basic difference between Democrats and Republicans is that Democrats want bigger government while Republicans want smaller government. Obviously there are plenty of ways to incorporate both philosophies into a political belief system, so don’t think that this article is going to favor the Democrats over the Republicans. We only want to explore what makes Democrats…well, Democrats!

It might be hard to believe with all of the partisan bickering happening in Congress, but Democrats were, once upon a time, members of a party called the Democratic - Republican Party, which was founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. The Democratic Party officially separated from the Republican Party when Andrew Jackson was elected.

That’s all fine and good, but what do Democrats really believe? We can’t speak for individuals within the Democratic Party, but the party defines itself as believing in the following:

Raising the minimum wage
Investing in and favoring renewable energy over oil
Lower taxes for the middle class
Higher taxes for the wealthy (currently defined as those who make more than $250,000 per year)
Public funding for Welfare, Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security
National/Universal health care
Lower pharmaceutical costs
Protection of the environment
Lower costs for Higher Education
North American Free Trade Agreement
Central American Free Trade Agreement
Adjusting the Alternative Minimum Tax
Equal Opportunity regardless of gender, age, race, orientation, nationality or religion
Making gay marriage legal
Pro-Choice legislation
Stem cell research
Ending the war in Iraq
Reversing Unilateralism
Decolonization of Puerto Rico (if Puerto Rican citizens want that)
This is simply a quick laundry list of what Democrats believe in as a party. All of these points have paragraphs of complicated policy behind their headlines (which we do not have time to explore in this article). Within both political parties there are members who do not agree with every facet of a party’s political platform.

The 2008 election has caused the balance in Washington to tip toward the Democrats’ side of the aisle. Americans have elected a Democratic President and both the House of Representatives and the Senate will have Democratic majorities when everyone has been sworn in to session. Many Republicans worry about how this will shift the balance for laws and policy in the United States. It is important to remember that you cannot paint all Democrats (or all Republicans) with the same brush. It is also important to remember that being “liberal” and being “a democrat” do not always mean the same thing. In the last few decades the “liberal” brush has been used against Democrats and it is important to remember that liberals can be found in the Republican, Constitution, Green and Libertarian parties as well!

For more information on politics, visit http://www.democratsmicroblog.com and http://www.republicanmicroblog.com

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