To the editor:

People in the news have referred to threats to our democracy. But the Constitution states “The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government.” So are we a democracy or a republic? Or both?

In Federalist Paper No. 10, “Father of the Constitution” James Madison defines democracy as a “society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person.” A republic is “a government in which the scheme of representation takes place.”

For example, the legislature crafts laws, the executive decides whether or not to prosecute and the judiciary determines innocence or guilt. All of those decisions are made by representatives, not the public. In fact, the only decision the public makes is who makes the rest of the decisions of government. That representation makes us a republic.

Madison’s advocacy of a republic is based on his historical observation that democracies “have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention, have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property, and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”

A reason for this can be found in Madison’s description of faction, which is “a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.” Madison observes that democracy “can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction” but that a republic “promises the cure for which we are seeking.”

One of the benefits of a republic over democracy is that if we elect the people with the best judgment, their average judgment will be better than the average of the whole population. But there is a vulnerability. We should elect the one who will protect everyone’s rights. But if the people vote based only on their selfish interests, specifically who will give them the most stuff at someone else’s expense, the results are catastrophic. Our $34 trillion debt is proof.

Whenever anyone incorrectly states that we are a democracy, we need to inform them from our founding documents that we are a republic, especially if the person in error is a Republican elected official. They should know better.

Of course, we must all vote, but not based only on our selfish interests. Instead, we should vote based on what is best for the country, which is the protection of the rights of everyone. This is essential if we truly understand Madison’s predictions about democracy.

The survival of our republic depends on it.

Wayne Wolf

Farnhamville