"DEMOCRACY OR A REPUBLIC? "
Democracy or Republic
In 2001, Dr. Stanley Monteith and I co-authored an article that was published in the Lake County
Record Bee entitled, America: Democracy or Republic, and what does it matter? Today, most
Americans mistakenly believe that our form of government is a democracy. In the above
referenced article, I examine that belief. I have herein included excerpts from that article that
substantiate the original intent of America's founding fathers.
Dr. Stan and I wrote, "If you asked 100 people whether we are a democracy or a republic, the
overwhelming majority would say that we are a democracy. What is more disheartening, the
overwhelming majority would not have a clue as to what a republic is."
Ancient Athens was a prosperous city-state until it became a democracy in 508 B.C. Then the
will of the majority became the law of the land, and the minority had no rights. The ruling
oligarchy manipulated the populace and plunged Athens into a series of disastrous wars. Class
warfare broke out when the poor sought to steal the wealth of the rich. Modern pundits claim
that Athenian democracy was different from the democracy being imposed on us today, but
that isn't true.
If you study the history of civilization, you will find that all civil governments have eventually
enslaved their citizens. There have only been two instances when men have been free, and on
both occasions the populace lost their freedom because they allowed evil men to corrupt their
courts. The first instance was three thousand years ago when the children of Israel lived under
God's law, and there was no formal government. In those days people could do whatever they
wished as long as they obeyed the Ten Commandments.
If there's one thing that we have learned from history, it is that we never learn from history. And
those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Our republic lasted 160 years and provided more freedom to more people than any other
government in the history of the world. During the fourth decade of the last century things
began to change. Most Americans weren't aware of these drastic changes, they were being
sidetracked by events such as the great depression, World War II, the rebellious 60s, and the
constant barrage of financial, psychological, and physical pressures, mostly due to the invasion
and expansion of the federal government into our lives.
Both William Blackstone and John Locke promoted the belief that civil laws should be based on
God's law. Those ideas were incorporated into the opening paragraphs of the Declaration of
Independence, and John Locke's phrase life, liberty, and (or) property was used twice in the
Constitution.
If you read our Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, The Federalist
Papers, and the Constitution of any state up to 1950 you'll never find the word democracy used
other than to condemn that form of government and declare that our nation is a republic.
The Bill of Rights was designed to limit the authority of the federal government. The first eight
amendments limited acts of Congress in respect to our personal freedom. Amendments nine and
ten limited acts of Congress to the issues cited in Article One, Section 8 of the Constitution.
So why is America being repeatedly referred to as a democracy when we are a republic? Is
there an intentional effort to deceive the American people into believing we are a democracy
in order to change it from a republic? Who benefits from a democracy and who benefits from a
republic?
Permanent law rules a republic. Ever-changing impulses of men rule a democracy. In a
democracy, elected officials can pass any sort of legislation they desire as long as they
persuade the majority to agree. In a republic, the law restricts elected officials as to what they
can or cannot do.
In a democracy, the majority rules, and the rest have no unalienable rights. In a democracy, the
government can take wealth from one group (the working class) and give it to others as long as
they persuade the majority to agree. If individuals did that it would be considered stealing, but
when done with government authority it is considered lawful. This form of rule leads to dishonesty,
corruption, a breakdown in law, and eventually chaos and anarchy.
Over 200 hundred years ago Professor Alexander Tyler explained why democracies fail: "A
democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until [a majority of]
the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse (freebees/welfare) from the public treasury.
From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits
from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal
policy (taxing and spending), and is always followed by a dictatorship."
Plato lived in Athens during the tumultuous years that preceded the end of that society, and he
wrote about what he witnessed in Chapter VIII of his book, Plato stated, "A lynch mob is an
example of a democracy. The majority decides who will be executed; the only negative vote
comes from the man with a rope around his neck."
Democracy has been likened to three wolves and a sheep voting on what they will eat for
dinner. On the other hand, a republic would be a society with laws that prohibit eating sheep,
and every animal would be armed to protect themselves against wolves.
Lord Acton noted, "The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather
of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections."
In a democracy, laws can be changed at any time by the vote of the majority, and the majority
can always be compromised or bribed with promises from the public treasury.
John Adams, the second President of the United States, warned: "Remember, democracy never
lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy that didn't
commit suicide."
Oscar Wilde wrote: "Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people, by the people,
for the people."
When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is
going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work
because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning
of the end of any nation.
So why do so many people believe we are a democracy? Because they have not been
educated correctly, they have been intentionally deceived and, there has been a well- financed
and well- orchestrated effort to convince them that our elected officials can do whatever they
wish as long as a majority of them agree on a course of action. The exact opposite is true. Our
Founding Fathers believed in the rule of law and hoped to prevent future generations from
voting themselves into slavery, which is why they created a republic, and not a democracy.
Men have always established governments for protection. Our founders knew that laws to protect
the lives, liberty, and property of citizens were necessary, but once those rights were secured,
additional laws only restrict men's freedom. They knew that liberty and limited government were
synonymous, and that tyranny and total government were synonymous, so they constructed a
system to limit our government. They also knew that there was no effective way to limit the
misuse of power in a democracy, so they established a republic, where men would be ruled by
law rather than by the will of the majority.
Thomas Jefferson warned, "In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man,
but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."
Over 200 hundred years ago, Professor Alexander Tyler explained why democracies fail: "A
democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until [a majority
of] the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse (freebees/welfare) from the public
treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most
benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose
fiscal policy (taxing and spending), and is always followed by a dictatorship."
James Madison, wrote, ". . . democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and
contention; 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."
"Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. What has
happened once in 6000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the
American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world." Daniel Webster
Thomas Jefferson anticipated the destruction of our republic. He wrote: "It has long been my
opinion that the germ of dissolution of our federal government is in the Constitution of our
Federal Judiciary; an irresponsible body, gaining a little today and a little tomorrow, and
advancing its noiseless step like a thief, over the field of jurisdiction, until all shall be usurped
from the states, and the government of all be consolidated into one. To this I'm opposed;
because, when all government, domestic and foreign, in little as in great things, shall be drawn
to Washington as the center of all power, it will render powerless the checks of one government
on another, and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we
separated. It will be as in Europe, where every man must be either pike (on the top) or gudgeon
(on the bottom). "
The opening phrase of the First Amendment to our Constitution proclaims: "Congress shall make
no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
Astonishingly, this has been rendered to be a "separation of church and state." Thus, the
Federal Judiciary is now deciphering the law to its advantage rather than assert what the law
clearly affirms.
Benjamin Franklin warns, "Man will ultimately be governed by God or by tyrants."
"It is when people forget God that tyrants forge their chains." Patrick Henry
As the Bible specifically addresses humanity's behavioral-traits and provides agape/love as the
solution, which is to safeguard the spiritual betterment of others and includes a selfless giving
without expecting anything in return, the Constitution also addresses human behavioral-traits by
restricting transgressions with laws.
If you we are honest, the Bible and the constitution have been obsolete in America for more
than 40 years.
© 2011 - Al Duncan - All Rights Reserved
E-Mail: Al Duncan
Al Duncan is the author of The Master Plan, which is now being revised.
He is also compiling a booklet of about 60 short articles for publication
and future availability. Until recently, he wrote a weekly column for a
local newspaper, the Lake County Record Bee, distributed by Associated
Press. The readers were basically secular and unaware of the New World
Order, so his articles were written hoping to educate the reader on this
subject. However, Al realizes that NewsWithViews attracts an informed
reader, who is seeking to expand his or her understanding of the truths
behind the daily events, and how these truths can best help them meet the
challenges ahead.
"Al is the fourth generation of Real Estate Brokers and for the past eight
years he has owned Al Duncan Real Estate, Inc. in Clearlake, California.
For the past seven years he has been on the financial committee,
participated as a Sunday greeter and head usher at Lake County Bible
Fellowship in Lakeport, California."
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E-Mail: Al Duncan
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The above article approved and provided by Al Duncan and entered by WACG