Founders Worked \u200dto\u2062 Curb Direct Democracy<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe framers \u2062of our Constitution felt quite strongly that direct democracy was something to avoid. In \u2062 Federalist 10<\/em><\/a>, for example, the Father of the Constitution \u200cJames Madison warned of \u201cthe superior force of an interested and overbearing majority\u201d on a government, or what has come to be called the \u201ctyranny of\u200b the\u200d majority,\u201d in which a majority\u200b of the population exerts great coercive power over minority factions. <\/p>\n
Again in Federalist 51<\/em><\/a>, Madison \u200bwrote: \u201c[I]n the federal\u2063 republic of \u200cthe United States \u2026 all authority\u200d in it will be derived from and dependent on \u2063the \u200csociety, the society itself will be broken into so many parts, interests, and classes of citizens, that the rights of individuals, or \u2064of the minority, will be in little danger from interested combinations of the majority.\u201d <\/p>\n
Our second president, John Adams, called\u2064 a unicameral legislative body \u2014 in which each member is accountable \u2064to his\u200d constituents \u2014 a \u201ctyranny \u2064of the majority.\u201d Adams, reflecting the opinion of that founding generation, argued<\/a> for \u201ca mixed government, consisting of three branches.\u201d The\u200c framers took various steps \u2064to disburse power among the federal government, dividing it into three competing branches: executive, legislative, \u200cand judicial. <\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
But the founders\u2019 dispersion of\u2062 governing power also goes beyond the three branches. The 10th Amendment<\/a> reads:\u2063 \u201cThe powers not delegated to the United States\u200d by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or \u200bto the people.\u201d In other words, unless the Constitution expressly grants certain \u2062powers to\u2062 the federal government, those\u200d powers exist in \u2062the states or, \u2063even more decentralized, \u2064in local communities of Americans. <\/p>\n
Later Generations Understood the Threat<\/strong><\/h2>\nA generation\u2064 after that founding generation, visiting French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville \u2062authored an extended survey of American politics and culture, Democracy in America<\/a><\/em>. Tocqueville\u2062 perceived that the \u200dAmerican political\u2062 system \u200cwas\u2063 created to resist the\u200c tyranny of the majority, \u201cwhich bases its claim to rule upon\u200c numbers, not upon rightness or \u200bexcellence.\u201d Thus, Tocqueville writes:<\/p>\n
\n
When a\u200d man\u200b or a party suffers from an injustice in the United States,\u200b to whom do you\u2064 want\u2063 them to appeal? To public opinion? That is what forms the majority. To the \u2063legislative body? It represents the majority and blindly obeys it. To \u200cthe executive power? It is named by the majority \u2064and serves it as a passive instrument. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
In other words, the executive branch, even with\u200b its \u2064disbursed powers, can be\u2062 influenced by this tyrannical tendency to reflect the opinions\u200c of the \u2064majority\u2064 of the people against minority\u200c interests at the state \u2062or community level. <\/p>\n
It \u200dwas thus only through the states and local bases of power and voluntary associations\u2062 that this tyrannical tendency could be avoided. <\/p>\n
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A century after Tocqueville\u2019s warnings, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis discussed another way to understand our \u2063nation\u2019s default desire\u2062 to resist direct democracy. Brandeis was one of the first<\/a> to describe the states as \u201claboratories of democracy.\u201d In his New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann<\/a><\/em> opinion, he explained how\u2062 \u201ca single courageous State may, if its citizens\u2063 choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel\u200b social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.\u201d <\/p>\n
State \u200dand local autonomy served as\u200d a means of testing laws and policies to evaluate their effectiveness before\u200b implementing across a diverse nation of states, localities, and subcultures. If something\u200c works at the micro level, other localities or states \u2014 and even potentially the federal\u2064 government \u2014 can\u2064 appreciate and adopt it. <\/p>\n
Constant Temptation of Direct\u200c Democracy<\/strong><\/h2>\nYet such a deliberative process of testing is\u200d slow and\u200b uneven. And we \u2062Americans are often eager for speedy solutions. Political theorists, journalists, \u200band \u2062ordinary citizens throughout American history \u2062have been frustrated by the Constitution\u2019s manifold methods of\u2063 distributing \u2062power to deter\u200c the tyranny of the majority. \u200cIf a majority of the nation\u2019s populace wants something,\u200c they posit,\u200b why shouldn\u2019t\u2063 they be\u2063 able to get it? After all, as the \u2062journalist H.L. Mencken wryly commented<\/a>, \u201cDemocracy \u2062is the theory that the common people know what they want, and\u200d deserve to get it good and hard.\u201d <\/p>\n
Such demands \u200despecially\u200d increase at times of heightened political gridlock in which the country obviously \u2063has a particular problem or set of\u2062 problems but constitutionally mandated laws and procedures thwart attempts to\u2062 resolve them. \u200dWhen we are all vexed with our politicians\u200c for failing to act in what we believe to be the \u2063interests of \u2063the nation (and\u200d its voters), it\u2019s easy to be sympathetic \u2062to that\u2064 line of thinking. <\/p>\n
Yet we \u2062must beware \u2064of this temptation, which reflects what \u2062conservative political theorist Russell \u2063Kirk calls<\/a> a manifestation of vox populi, vox dei<\/em> \u2014 the voice of the people\u2063 is the voice of God. In other words, as long as they constitute a majority, whatever the people\u2063 want becomes the law of the land. <\/p>\n
Direct\u200c democracy thus not only represents a threat to freedom, but it is a political order that rejects hierarchies\u2062 both natural and\u200b spiritual. Although these hierarchies are sometimes abused, they serve as a\u2064 cautionary brake upon the whims of the masses, which \u2014 as many \u200crevolutions have \u200cdemonstrated \u2014 can be quite \u200bviolent and\u200d destructive. Just look at the French or\u2064 Russian Revolutions, which ended up terrorizing those they claimed\u2063 to represent. Millions of dead across the world reveal the problem with direct democracy.<\/p>\n
This\u200b is the reason for \u2063state representation rather than\u2062 proportional \u2063representation in the lower House, a Senate consisting \u200cof equal representation by state, the filibuster, the Electoral College, and powers relegated to the states vis-a-vis the 10th Amendment. All of \u200cit is an attempt to slow the destructive force\u2064 of vox populi,\u2064 vox dei<\/em>. <\/p>\n
As that great French observer of American politics Alexis de Tocqueville observed: \u201cIf ever freedom is\u2062 lost in America, that will be due to the \u2026 majority driving minorities to desperation\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n
Let\u2019s \u2064do\u200d everything\u2064 we can \u200dto avoid that scenario.<\/p>\n
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rnrn <\/p>\n
How does the dispersion of power in the Constitution, particularly \u2064through\u200d the \u206210th Amendment, help prevent the tyranny of the majority?<\/h2>\n
Address pressing issues, the allure of \u2063direct democracy becomes even stronger. However, it is essential to understand\u200c the dangers and pitfalls of\u200b relying solely on direct\u2063 democracy.<\/p>\n
The framers of the Constitution were well \u200baware of the potential dangers of direct democracy. In\u2064 Federalist 10,\u200c James Madison warned against the tyranny of the majority, where the interests\u200d of minority factions could\u2063 be easily overrun by the will of the majority. John\u2064 Adams also cautioned against the\u200b tyranny of\u2064 the majority, advocating\u2064 for a mixed government with three branches to disburse power and protect the rights of individuals or minorities.<\/p>\n
The dispersion of power in\u2064 the Constitution goes beyond the three branches of government. The 10th \u200dAmendment emphasizes that powers not delegated\u2063 to the federal government are reserved to the states or the\u200d people themselves. This decentralization of power allows for \u200ba \u200cdiversity of\u200d opinions\u200b and\u2063 experiments\u200d at the local and state\u200c level, mitigating the influence of a single majority over the entire nation.<\/p>\n
Alexis de Tocqueville, a French aristocrat who studied American politics, understood the need \u200cto resist \u200cthe tyranny of the majority. He observed that\u200d relying on public opinion, the legislative body, or the executive power alone would result in policies \u200bthat reflect the majority’s interests, potentially disregarding the rights and interests \u2064of minority \u2062factions. Tocqueville highlighted the importance of\u2063 states and local communities as a means to counterbalance this \u200btyrannical \u200ctendency.<\/p>\n
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis further\u2062 underscored the value of state\u2063 sovereignty\u200d as “laboratories of democracy.” States \u200dcan\u2062 serve as testing grounds \u2062for new laws and policies,\u2062 allowing for experimentation and evaluation of their effectiveness before \u200cimplementing them at a national level. This approach ensures that policies are tailored to local\u200b needs and preferences.<\/p>\n
However, the allure of\u200b direct \u2062democracy remains strong. We often crave quick solutions to complex problems, \u2064and the idea that \u2063the majority should be able to get what they want can be tempting. But as history has\u2064 shown, \u200bdirect democracy can\u200c lead to the suppression of minority voices and disregard\u200b for individual rights.<\/p>\n
In times of political gridlock and \u200dfrustration with politicians’ inability \u200bto address pressing issues, calls \u200dfor \u2063direct \u200cdemocracy may intensify. However, it is\u200b crucial to recognize the potential dangers and unintended consequences of bypassing intermediary institutions and relying \u200dsolely on the will of \u200cthe people.<\/p>\n
Rather than advocating for direct democracy, we should focus on improving our existing democratic processes and institutions. This \u2062includes encouraging civic engagement,\u200b promoting transparency, and holding elected officials accountable. By actively participating in the democratic process and working towards constructive and inclusive dialogue, we \u2064can\u200b ensure that our \u200bgovernment remains true to \u2064its core principles of protecting individual rights and safeguarding against the \u200ctyranny of the majority.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
American democracy is fracturing,\u201d cautions Dan Balz, Chief Correspondent of the Washington Post. In his recent column, he proposes solutions to mend it, such as proportional representation, reducing Senate influence, and abolishing the Electoral College. These suggestions share a common goal: eradicating any intermediary obstacles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":658,"featured_media":2139160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2139159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2139159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2139160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2139159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2139159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2139159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}