Democracy
in
The Constitution
“We must take human nature
as we find it. Perfection falls
not to the share of mortals.”
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
“Human nature is the same on
every side of the Atlantic, and
will be alike influenced by
the same causes. The time to
guard against corruption and
tyranny, is before they shall
have gotten hold on us.”
“Why has government been instituted
at all? Because the passions of men will
not conform to the dictates of reason
and justice, without constraint.
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
“Why has government been instituted
at all? Because the passions of men will
not conform to the dictates of reason
and justice, without constraint. Has it
been found that bodies of men act with
more rectitude or greater
disinterestedness than individuals? The
contrary of this has been inferred by all
accurate observers of the conduct of
mankind; and the inference is founded
upon obvious reasons. Regard to
reputation has a less active influence,
when the infamy of a bad action is to be
divided among a number than when it
is to fall singly upon one.”
“If men were angels, no government
would be necessary. If angels were to
govern men, neither external nor
internal controls on government would
be necessary.
James Madison
James Madison
“If men were angels, no government
would be necessary. If angels were to
govern men, neither external nor
internal controls on government would
be necessary. In framing a government
which is to be administered by men
over men, the great difficulty lies in
this: you must first enable the
government to control the governed;
and in the next place oblige it to control
itself.
James Madison
“If men were angels, no government
would be necessary. If angels were to
govern men, neither external nor
internal controls on government would
be necessary. In framing a government
which is to be administered by men
over men, the great difficulty lies in
this: you must first enable the
government to control the governed;
and in the next place oblige it to control
itself. A dependence on the people is,
no doubt, the primary control on the
government; but experience has taught
mankind the necessity of auxiliary
precautions.”
“As there is a degree of depravity in
mankind which requires a certain
degree of circumspection and
distrust: So there are other qualities
in human nature, which justify a
certain portion of esteem and
confidence.
James Madison
James Madison
“As there is a degree of depravity in
mankind which requires a certain
degree of circumspection and
distrust: So there are other qualities
in human nature, which justify a
certain portion of esteem and
confidence. Republican government
presupposes the existence of these
qualities in a higher degree than any
other form.”
James Madison
“Were the pictures which have been
drawn by the political jealousy of
some among us faithful likenesses of
the human character, the inference
would be that there is not sufficient
virtue among men for selfgovernment; and that nothing less
than the chains of despotism can
restrain them from destroying and
devouring one another.”
The Founders v. The Progressives
Founders
Man’s Nature
Dependent Upon
Fallen, High Potential
God & Morality
Man’s Self-Interest Positive Force if Not Used to
Infringe on Others’ Rights
Rights Are Based
Rule of . . .
Proper Role of
Government
Legitimate Laws
Ultimate Goal
Individually
Law
Progressives
No Virtue, Selfish
Government
Must Be Eliminated and
Replaced w/ Public Interest
Collectively
The Elite
Protect Individual Rights
(Negative Force)
Provide for Needs & Wants
(Positive Force)
Uphold Natural Law
Change Man’s Nature
Freedom and Prosperity Utopia – No Self Interest
What We Will Cover:
1. Definitions Regarding Different Forms of Government
2. The Founders’ View on Democracy
3. The Actual Words of The Constitution in Regards to
Our Republican Form of Government
4. Modern Day Abuses of Democracy
5. Brief Discussion About What We Can Do About It
Economic Systems
Communism
Socialism
Fascism
Capitalism
State
Ownership of Capital
(control and use)
Individual
Governmental Systems
Monarchy
Oligarchy
Democracy
Republic
Anarchy
100%
Government Power
0%
“Democracy never lasts long. It
soon wastes, exhausts, and
murders itself. There was never
a democracy that ‘did not
commit suicide.’”
John Adams
James Madison
“. . . Democracies have ever
been spectacles of turbulence
and contention; have ever been
found incompatible with
personal security, or the rights
of property; and in general been
as short in their lives as they are
violent in their deaths.”
Governmental Systems
Oligarchy
Democracy
Republic
Anarchy
100%
Government Power
0%
Philosophical Systems
Collectivism
Individualism
State
Rights and Duties
Individual
Collectivism
Communism
Oligarchy
TYRANNY
State
Philosophical
Economical
Governmental
Individualism
Capitalism
Republic
LIBERTY
Ownership, Power, and Rights Individual
Definition of Democracy
“A government of the masses. Authority derived through
mass meeting or any other form of ‘direct expression.’ Results
in mobocracy. Attitude toward property is communistic –
negating property rights. Attitude of the law is that the will of
the majority shall regulate, whether it be based upon
deliberation or governed by passion, prejudice, and impulse,
without restraint or regard to consequences. Results in
demogogism, license, agitation, discontent, anarchy.”
The framers of the Constitution “. . . made a very marked
distinction between a republic and a democracy . . . and said
repeatedly and emphatically that they had formed a republic.”
Definition of Democracy
In 1952, The U.S. Army’s, The Soldier’s Guide
stated:
“Because the United States is a democracy, the
majority of the people decide how our Government
will be organized and run . . .”
Alexander Hamilton
“It has been observed that a pure
democracy if it were practicable
would be the most perfect
government. Experience has proved
that no position is more false than
this. The ancient democracies in
which the people themselves
deliberated never possessed one
good feature of government. Their
very character was tyranny; their
figure deformity.”
“We are now forming a
Republican form of
government. Real liberty is not
found in the extremes of
democracy, but in moderate
governments. If we incline too
much to democracy, we shall
Alexander Hamilton soon shoot into a monarchy, or
some other form of
dictatorship.”
“We want more socialism and, therefore, more
democracy.”
Mikhail Gorbachev
“The democratic revolution is the necessary
preparation for the socialist revolution, and the
socialist revolution is the inevitable sequel to the
democratic revolution.”
Mao Tse-Tung
“. . . the first step in the revolution . . . [is] to win
the battle of democracy.”
Karl Marx
“Democracy is bound by no
principle of its own nature to
say itself nay as to the exercise
of any power.
Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
“Democracy is bound by no
principle of its own nature to
say itself nay as to the exercise
of any power. Here, then, lies
the point. The difference
between democracy and
socialism is not an essential
difference, but only a practical
difference — is a difference of
organization and policy, not a
difference of primary motive.”
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence
“We hold these truths to be self evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights, that among these are life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The Declaration of Independence
“We hold these truths to be self evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights, that among these are life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to
secure these rights, governments are instituted
among men,
The Declaration of Independence
“We hold these truths to be self evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights, that among these are life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to
secure these rights, governments are instituted
among men, deriving their just powers from
the consent of the governed”
The Supremacy Clause
Article VI
“This Constitution, and the laws of the
United States which shall be made in
pursuance thereof . . . shall be the
supreme law of the land.”
The Preamble to The Constitution
of the United States
“We the People of the United States, in order
to form a more perfect union, establish
justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide
for the common defense, promote the general
welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for the United
States of America.”
The Preamble to The Constitution
of the United States
“We the People of the United States, in order
to form a more perfect union, establish
justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide
for the common defense, promote the general
welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for the United
States of America.”
Amendment Process
Article V
“The Congress, whenever two thirds of
both houses shall deem it necessary,
shall propose amendments to this
Constitution . . .”
“when ratified by the Legislatures [or
by Convention] in three fourths of the
several states . . .”
"The Constitution, which at any
time exists, 'till changed by an
explicit and authentic act of the
whole People, is sacredly
obligatory upon all."
George Washington
States Guaranteed a Republican
Form of Government
Article IV, Section 4, Clause 1
“The United States shall guarantee to
every state in this union a Republican
form of government . . .”
“We may define a republic to be . . .
a government which derives all its
powers directly or indirectly from
the great body of the people . . .
James Madison
“We may define a republic to be . . .
a government which derives all its
powers directly or indirectly from
the great body of the people . . . for
a limited period, or during good
behavior.
James Madison
James Madison
“We may define a republic to be . . .
a government which derives all its
powers directly or indirectly from
the great body of the people . . . for
a limited period, or during good
behavior. It is essential to such a
government that it be derived from
the great body of the society, not
from an inconsiderable proportion,
or a favored class of it;
James Madison
“We may define a republic to be . . .
a government which derives all its
powers directly or indirectly from
the great body of the people . . . for
a limited period, or during good
behavior. It is essential to such a
government that it be derived from
the great body of the society, not
from an inconsiderable proportion,
or a favored class of it; It is
sufficient for such a government
that the persons administering it be
appointed, either directly or
indirectly, by the people . . .”
James Madison
“ . . . In a democracy, the
people meet and exercise the
government in person; in a
republic, they assemble and
administer it by their
representatives and agents.”.
The House: Representatives of
the People in Each State
Article I, Section 2, Clause 1
“The House of Representatives shall be
composed of members chosen every second
year by the people of the several states . . .”
The House: Representatives of
the People in Each State
Article I, Section 2, Clause 1
“The House of Representatives shall be
composed of members chosen every second
year by the people of the several states . . .”
The House: Representatives of
the People in Each State
Article I, Section 2, Clause 1
“The House of Representatives shall be
composed of members chosen every second
year by the people of the several states . . .”
The House: Representation
According to Respective Numbers
Article I, Section 2, Clause 3
“Representatives . . . shall be apportioned
among the several states which may be
included in this union, according to their
respective numbers . . .”
The Senate: Equal Representation
for Each State
Article I, Section 3, Clause 1
“The Senate of the United States shall be
composed of two Senators from each state . . .
for six years . . .”
The Senate: Equal Representation
for Each State
Article I, Section 3, Clause 1
“The Senate of the United States shall be
composed of two Senators from each state . . .
for six years . . .”
James Madison
It is a misfortune incident to republican
government . . . that those who administer
it may forget their obligations to their
constituents, and prove unfaithful to their
important trust. In this point of view, a
senate, as a second branch of the
legislative assembly, distinct from, and
dividing the power with, a first, must be in
all cases a salutary check on the
government. It doubles the security to the
people, by requiring the concurrence of
two distinct bodies in schemes of
usurpation or perfidy, where the ambition
or corruption of one would otherwise be
sufficient.”
The Senate: Equal Representation
for Each State
Article I, Section 3, Clause 1
“The Senate of the United States shall be
composed of two Senators from each state . . .
for six years . . .”
The Senate: Equal Representation
for Each State
Article I, Section 3, Clause 1
“The Senate of the United States shall be
composed of two Senators from each state . . .
[chosen by the Legislature thereof,] for six
years . . .”
The Senate Chosen by the People
Amendment XVII
“The Senate of the United States shall be
composed of two Senators from each State,
elected by the people thereof . . .”
“Limited” Government
Article I, Section 4, Clause 2
“The Congress shall assemble at least
once in every year . . .”
James Madison
“It will be of little avail to the people,
that the laws are made by men of their
own choice, if the laws be so
voluminous that they cannot be read,
or so incoherent that they cannot be
understood; if they be repealed or
revised before they are promulgated,
or undergo such incessant changes
that no man, who knows what the law
is today, can guess what it will be
tomorrow.
James Madison
“It will be of little avail to the people,
that the laws are made by men of their
own choice, if the laws be so
voluminous that they cannot be read,
or so incoherent that they cannot be
understood; if they be repealed or
revised before they are promulgated,
or undergo such incessant changes
that no man, who knows what the law
is today, can guess what it will be
tomorrow. Law is defined to be a rule
of action; but how can that be a rule,
which is little known, and less fixed?”
Accountability to the People
Article I, Section 5, Clause 3
“Each house shall keep a journal of its
proceedings, and from time to time
publish the same,
Accountability to the People
Article I, Section 5, Clause 3
“Each house shall keep a journal of its
proceedings, and from time to time
publish the same, excepting such parts as
may in their judgment require secrecy;
Accountability to the People
Article I, Section 5, Clause 3
“Each house shall keep a journal of its
proceedings, and from time to time
publish the same, excepting such parts as
may in their judgment require secrecy; and
the yeas and nays of the members of either
house on any question shall, at the desire
of one fifth of those present, be entered on
the journal.”
Majority Present to Constitute a
Quorum
Article I, Section 5, Clause 1
“ . . . A majority of each [house] shall
constitute a quorum to do business . . .”
Electoral College
Article I, Section 1, Clause 2
“Each state shall appoint, in such manner
as the legislature thereof may direct, a
number of electors, equal to the whole
number of Senators and Representatives to
which the state may be entitled in
Congress”
Electoral College
Amendment XII
“ The electors shall meet in their respective
states, and vote by ballot for President and
Vice President . . . The person having the
greatest number of votes for President, shall
be the President, if such number be a
majority of the whole number of electors
appointed.”
Rules of Conduct in Each House
Article I, Section 5, Clause 2
“Each house may determine the rules of its
proceedings . . .”
“The public business must in some
way or another go forward. If a
pertinacious minority can control the
opinion of a majority . . . the majority,
in order that something may be done,
must conform to the views of the
minority;
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
“The public business must in some
way or another go forward. If a
pertinacious minority can control the
opinion of a majority . . . the majority,
in order that something may be done,
must conform to the views of the
minority; and thus the sense of the
smaller number will overrule that of
the greater and give a tone to the
national proceedings. Hence tedious
delays; continual negotiation and
intrigue; contemptible compromises of
the public good.”
“All, too, will bear in mind this
sacred principle, that though the
will of the majority is in all cases
to prevail, that will to be rightful
must be reasonable;
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
“All, too, will bear in mind this
sacred principle, that though the
will of the majority is in all cases
to prevail, that will to be rightful
must be reasonable; that the
minority possess their equal
rights, which equal laws must
protect, and to violate would be
oppression.”
James Madison
“If this spirit shall ever be so
far debased as to tolerate a law
not obligatory on the
legislature, as well as on the
people, the people will be
prepared to tolerate anything
but liberty.”
“The adoption of Democracy as a form of
Government by all European nations is fatal to
good Government, to liberty, to law and order, to
respect for authority, and to religion, and must
eventually produce a state of chaos from which a
new world tyranny will arise.”
Duke of Northumberland
We must enter WWI “. . . to make the world safe for
democracy.”
Woodrow Wilson
America “must be the great arsenal of democracy” by
rushing to England’s aid in WWII.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
“. . . to seek and support the growth of democratic
movements and institutions in every nation and culture,
with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.”
George W. Bush
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form
of government. It can only exist until the voters
discover that they can vote themselves largesse
from the public treasury. From that moment on,
the majority always votes for the candidates
promising the most benefits from the public
treasury with the result that a democracy always
collapses over loose fiscal policy, always
followed by a dictatorship.”
Alexander Fraser Tytler
“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."
Lord Acton
Principles of the U.N. Charter
“Rights and freedoms
may in no case be
exercised contrary to the
purposes and principles
of the United Nations.”
Article 29 clause 3 - UN Universal
Declaration of Human Rights
3 Step Formula
1 – Educate Yourself
2 – Inform Others
3 – Become Active in the Solutions
The John Birch Society has been
doing these things for over 53 years!
3 Step Formula
1 – Educate Yourself
3 Step Formula
1 – Educate Yourself
2 – Inform Others
3 Step Formula
1 – Educate Yourself
2 – Inform Others
3 – Become Active in the Solutions
- Meet up once a month with patriots in your community
- Receive email alerts, monthly bulletin, action projects
that will tell you what you can do in a state-wide and
nation-wide coordinated effort
“Duties are ours Results are God’s”
John Quincy Adams