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Originally posted by Jean Paul Zodeaux
The tyranny of democracy is not more benign than the tyranny of a dictatorship. It is not democracy that is the lynch pin of freedom, it is the protection of unalienable rights that are the lynch pin of freedom. The ability to elect political officials has no meaning if the people are subject to the whims of those officials, and have no redress of grievance nor the rule of law to rely upon in terms of asserting their unalienable rights.
Quote from : Wikipedia : Constitutional Republic
A constitutional republic is a state where the head of state and other officials are representatives of the people and must govern according to existing constitutional law that limits the government's power over citizens.
In a constitutional republic, executive, legislative, and judicial powers are separated into distinct branches.
The fact that a constitution exists that limits the government's power makes the state constitutional.
That the head(s) of state and other officials are chosen by election, rather than inheriting their positions, and that their decisions are subject to judicial review makes a state republican.
Quote from : Wikipedia : Constitutional Republic : Purpose and Scope
John Adams defined a constitutional republic as "a government of laws, and not of men."
Constitutional republics are a deliberate attempt to diminish the perceived threat of majoritarianism, thereby protecting dissenting individuals and minority groups from the "tyranny of the majority" by placing checks on the power of the majority of the population.
The power of the majority of the people is checked by limiting that power to electing representatives who are required to legislate with limits of overarching constitutional law which a simple majority cannot modify.
Also, the power of government officials is checked by allowing no single individual to hold executive, legislative and judicial powers.
Instead these powers are separated into distinct branches that serve as a check and balance on each other. A constitutional republic is designed so that "no person or group [can] rise to absolute power."
Quote from : Wikipedia : Constitutional Republic : Purpose and Scope
Oligarchies favored the wealthy members of society and featured elected leadership positions.
Democracies favored the poor and middle-class members, of which there are usually greater numbers, and had features such as legislative assemblies open to citizens of voting age.
When taken to heart, so to speak, and used correctly, the polity form of government would be the most ideal government possible, thought Aristotle, because it could take input from community members of all levels and rule fairly in the interests of the whole community and not just the majority.
...
A Bill of Rights exists in the U.S. Constitution which protects certain individual rights.
The individual rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights cannot be voted away by the majority of citizens if they wished to oppress a minority who does not agree with the restrictions on liberty that they wish to impose.
To eliminate these rights would require government officials overcoming constitutional checks as well as a two-thirds majority vote of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the States in order to amend the Constitution.
Originally posted by Jean Paul Zodeaux
Beware military industrial complexes that declare they are making the world safe for democracy. Take note of the recent constitution written by the Iraqi people. Here is a democracy, and yet a democracy where rights are granted by constitution and thus "stipulated" as opposed to being unalienable and granted by a higher authority than government:
First: Islam is the official religion of the State and it is a fundamental source of legislation:
A. No law that contradicts the established provisions of Islam may be established.
B. No law that contradicts the principles of democracy may be established.
C. No law that contradicts the rights and basic freedoms stipulated in this constitution may be established.
Originally posted by Jean Paul Zodeaux
That was, in part, Section One. Now here is a taste of Section Two:
FIRST: Civil and Political Rights
Article 14: Iraqis are equal before the law without discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, origin, color, religion, creed, belief or opinion, or economic and social status.
Article 15: Every individual has the right to enjoy life, security and liberty. Deprivation or restriction of these rights is prohibited except in accordance with the law and based on a decision issued by a competent judicial authority.
www.washingtonpost.com...
Take note how these are "civil and political" rights granted by government, and as such subject to the whims of legislatures and judges.
Originally posted by Jean Paul Zodeaux
So what that they have a democracy if they are still just subject to governmental whims? Is a democratic tyranny better than the single tyranny of Saddam Hussein? What have they gained, and what favors did the U.S. do for them?
Originally posted by Jean Paul Zodeaux
Indeed, by "making the world safe for democracy" and by placing so much emphasis on "civil rights" The United States has gone from being the freest nation in the world to now having the largest prison population in the world. Democracy has not preserved and protected the inalienable rights of the people within the United States, what good will making the world safe for democracy do?
Originally posted by Jean Paul Zodeaux
In this obsession with democracy, the American people, many who have learned what they know about U.S. politics from a public school system, have learned that they are free because they can elect their "leaders", and that they can protest and freely speak and write their "leaders" to complain about the situation, and are encouraged to vote, even "rock the vote", but once any one of them run afoul of the 600,000 plus acts of legislation on the books, they are then advised to consider taking a plea offer, where they will be convicted of a crime, but receive leniency, instead of taking advantage of the jury of their peers, and this advice is tragically often seen as sound, because the jury of their peers were also educated on American jurisprudence by the same public school system, which is to say, that by and large, the American people remain woefully ignorant of the law, but are rest assured they are free because they live in a democracy.