Why
Did Our Founders Choose a Republic?
At the conclusion of the Continental Congress, Benjamin Franklin was asked, “Well, doctor, what have we got—a republic or a monarchy?” “A republic,” he replied, “If you can keep it.”
Why did our founding fathers make America a constitutional republic? For that matter, what is a republic? We are so used to being told that America is a democracy. I fear many have forgotten how our government is supposed to work . . . and why its republican structure is so brilliant.
James Madison, known as the father of our Constitution, defined a republic as “a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices . . . for a limited period, or during good behavior.”
What’s the Main Reason we have a Constitutional Republic?
Our founders choose a republic because they recognized man’s sinful nature.
“But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary . . . . In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
James Madison, Federalist 51
A monarchy or dictatorship effectively controls its citizens, but it doesn’t control itself very well. It can easily become a tyranny. Pure democracy allows the government . . . and individual rights . . . to be controlled by a majority of the people. However, this quickly descends into mob rule—in other words, a tyranny of the majority.
The founding fathers wanted ordered liberty. So, they wrote a constitution that structured our government as a republic. It derives its authority from “We the people,” but the process of making laws is mediated through elected representatives who are free to consider what is best for the whole country.
How Our Republic Protects Ordered Liberty
Elections aren’t the only safeguards the founders established. In some cases, they even rejected direct elections. With the Electoral College, the president is indirectly chosen by the people through elected delegates from each state. And until the 17th Amendment in 1913, U.S. Senators were elected by the state legislatures rather than the people directly.
They also split the legislative branch into two chambers to make it harder to pass laws that might be popular, but hasty and misguided. While feelings ultimately rule in a pure democracy, reason rules a republic. Our bicameral legislature undergirds this principle. Senators have longer terms and represent entire states rather than districts. The founders brilliantly composed a system allowing for both short-term concerns and the long-term good of the people to be weighed and balanced.
To add another layer of protection, the powers of the federal government are limited and separated from the powers of the state governments. This makes America a federal republic. Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution guarantees that each state has “a Republican Form of Government.”
Why all these layers, separations, and checks and balances? Remember that the founding fathers recognized that human nature is corrupt. But it’s not enough to restrain our government . . . we must also be restrained. Our constitutional federal republic restrains a majority of the population from easily tyrannizing the rest of the people.
“[L]iberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty as well as by the abuses of power . . . .”
– James Madison, Federalist 63
Why Not a Democracy?
A direct (or pure) democracy where citizens make the laws themselves, cannot provide what the founders sought: ordered liberty. History shows that such governments devolve into mob rule—a tyranny of the majority. Our unique republic, however, protects liberty and provides order so we can live in freedom.
I am cautious of anyone who says our “democracy,” rather than our constitutional republic, is in danger. When the refrain comes from movements that claim to advance freedom, but actually abuse it, I know that ordered liberty is in danger.
How can we counter such movements? We must learn to understand and defend our constitution and founding principles. We must also elect virtuous people to office, at all levels of government . . . people who understand human nature and how our system of government is meant to preserve God-given rights. People who will serve their citizens without sacrificing principle to public opinion.
Thank you for using iVoterGuide to find such candidates. Together, we will work to keep our republic.
