Is America a Democracy?

If you pay attention to the mainstream media, you frequently hear the exasperated cry of the left warning that the actions of certain parties and groups threaten our democracy.  The usual suspects blamed for these threats are Republicans, Trump supporters or anyone who thinks differently than the Democrats.  In other words, if you do not support the Democrat agenda, you are either an anarchist or an uneducated bumpkin who is unable to think for oneself. Of course, their goal is to create fear and form the opinions of those who need the Democrat talking points to even have an opinion. It would be funny if not so sad.  Funny because the “intelligentsia” is showing its ignorance, sad because so many people follow what the left says without a second thought.

Is America a democracy?  No!  Our Forefathers had wisdom and foresight, from studying other governments around the world and witnessing democracies that did not work, to take America in a different direction.  In fact, Thomas Jefferson called democracies “mobocracies” and John Adams said,

“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”  

https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1942

Instead, our Forefathers launched a Constitutional Republic, which was very different from any government ever formed in 5000 years of humankind.

If we are to understand the importance of the decision to create a Constitutional Republic verses a democracy, we need to understand the differences between these two and their impact on the American citizens.  It is true that both of these governments are representative governments, but how they represent citizens generates the issues.  In a pure democracy, the majority makes and controls laws by vote.  50.1% always wins over 49.9% resulting in the minority having no voice.  In a republic, representatives chosen by the people make the laws but those representatives answer to the people. In a constitutional republic like America, they answer to the supreme law of the land, the U.S. Constitution, which the framers built on God’s moral law found in the Bible.  The U.S. Constitution ensures that every citizen, whether in the majority or minority on any particular issue, enjoys a voice through their representatives.  Selfishness and personal ambitions rule a pure democracy while laws rule a constitutional republic. 

I used the term “pure democracy” several times above, so I must clarify.  Even though the United States is a Constitutional Republic, we do mix in democratic activities, such as voting and in some cases ballot initiatives to create laws directly by the people.  However, in a pure democracy, citizens vote for laws and then their representatives implement those laws.  For example, if the majority votes to approve murder, the anti-murder minority has no power to push back and the elected governmental representatives only have power to implement the new law, which in this example, makes murder lawful.  Extreme example, agreed, but you get the point.  In a pure democracy, man’s self-will and anti-God bias can easily replace laws built on God’s unchanging moral law.  Man sets himself up to determine right from wrong.  This explanation makes Jefferson’s term “mobocracy” more relatable.

Our Forefathers did not create this government on their own.  When we read their writings, we discover that they relied on God’s wisdom, which they called Divine Providence in their debates as they wrote the Constitution.  They also knew the government they created would not work for any people who were not moral or religious. Quoting John Adams once again, he said,

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1936

And the story goes that when the Constitution Convention ended, Elizabeth Willing Powell of Philadelphia asked Ben Franklin,

“Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”

Franklin replied,

“A republic, if you can keep it”.

https://www.professorbuzzkill.com/franklin-republic/

I firmly believe we can keep “it” if we are willing to turn to God, as our Forefathers did, and ask Him to return America to us by us returning to Him.  2 Chronicles 7:14 says,

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”  (ESV)

Keeping America and the God-given freedoms He imparts is a matter of your heart and my heart.  Our decision will make the difference.