Written by: Beck

As Goemagog once wrote, America is not a democracy. It is a republic. Walter E. Williams (not to be mistaken for regular INCITE commenter Walter E. Wallace) couldn't agree more.

We often hear the claim that our nation is a democracy. That wasn't the vision of the founders. They saw democracy as another form of tyranny. If we've become a democracy, I guarantee you that the founders would be deeply disappointed by our betrayal of their vision. The founders intended, and laid out the ground rules, for our nation to be a republic.

This puts me in mind of something commenter Harvey said in response to my post about fighting the Florida smoking ban. I had warned against tyranny of the majority, and he responded with an example of tyranny of the minority--a legitimate concern. He asks:

So, which way is our society to be ruled, by the complaint of "one" or the will of many ???

McQ at Q&O, commenting on the Williams piece linked above has an observation which I think nicely links the concept of a Constitutional Republic to Harvey's concerns.

Democracy, for all the almost religious fervor it carries as the supposed ultimate desire and goal of free people is much more like the saying above than not. Where democracy comes into the equation here in our Constitutional Republic is that there are democratic institutions embedded in it in which the majority has the opportunity to decide certain things ... like who they want for leaders at certain levels of government. But, as Williams points out, the power of the people in this country lies in the Constitution, not the government or the majority. [emphasis mine --Beck]

Which brings me to McQ's conclusion:

... which brings us to resisting things like Sen. Dianne Feinsteine's call to end the electoral college and make sure we understand that in reality when we call for "democracy" we really mean "Constitutional Republic" or some other form which guarantees the rights of the people from the tyranny of both the government and the majority.

Which puts me in mind of my earlier defense of the Electoral College.

The Electoral College is a good thing, regardless of whether you're a Republican or a Democrat. A popular vote would just constitute another step in the destruction of the federal system.

You see, it all fits together in the end.