Republic vs. Democracy

http://www.freedomproject.com/blog/7-republic-vs-democracy (Excellent discussion on the topic with exceptional quotes from many founding fathers — all on one easy to read web page.)

http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/fed/blfedindex.htm (Links to the Federalist Papers from About.com)

http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/AmericanIdeal/aspects/demrep.html (A site frequently referenced around the internet with a detailed discussion of Democracy vs. Republic that cites some of the Federalist Papers.)

{The distinction between a democracy and a republic is explicit. Republican governance is where sovereign rights are vested in the individual, and are defended by all those possessing such equal rights. Democracy is where the majority determines who has what rights, if any, at any point in time. }

“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!” (Attribution Unknown, misattribution to Benjamin Franklin) The moral: Majority rule can only work where the individual still has rights.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands …

The United States of America is a “Democratic Republic” or “Representative Republic.” It is not, nor was it ever contemplated as, a democracy, by the founding fathers.

“The nearer any government approaches to a Republic, the less business there is for a king.” Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 10 Jan 1776

“Others, again, more rationally, define a republic to signify only a government, in which all men, rich and poor, magistrates and subjects, officers and people, masters and servants, the first citizen and the last, are equally subject to the laws. This, indeed, appears to be the true and only true definition of a republic.” John Adams, Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States, 1787

“We are now forming a Republican government. Real liberty is neither found in despotism or the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments.” Alexander Hamilton, Debates of the Federal Convention, 26 June 1787

“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” John Adams in a letter to John Taylor, 15 April 1814

Article IV Section 4, of the Constitution says “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,…” Hence, a non-Republican form of government is not guaranteed to any State! The Constitution of the United States never mentions a democracy!!!