Most Americans have no grasp of the importance of the protections against tryanny that were intended to be incorporated into the Constitution. This is not because the average citizen doesn’t understand that we do need protection from a overly powerful Federal government. The average citizen does believe we need some form of protection. The reason they no longer look to the Constitution (as they should) is because they have a misplaced confidence in their notion of democracy and elections.
Americans do not have a “general presumption that rulers will govern well.” But they do have a general presumption that a democracy will govern well. Their thought process is along the lines of “hey, as long as we have elections and can elect the members of the legislative and executive branches, why should we worry about limitations on what they do. If we don’t like what they do, we can get rid of them through elections.”
Until the average citizen is disabused of this misplaced confidence in democracy alone, he or she is not likely to be convinced of the importance of the protections against tryanny that were intended to be provided in the Constitution.
This is not to minimize the importance of elections and democratic processes. But the fact we can elect our President and Congressional members does not provide a very strong defense against tyranny from the Federal government. That is where our Founders intended the Constitution to come into play. Stop and think about it, and ask yourself a few questions.
Start with these two questions: first, what do you think of Congress over all? second, what do you think of the Congressional delegation from your State (the Senators from your State and your U.S. Congressman)?
If you are like most Americans, you strongly disapprove of Congress over all. In fact, the latest polls show about 65% of Americans disapprove of Congress and only 25% approve of Congress as a whole. On the other hand, many, many members of Congress enjoy high approval ratings from the voters in their own States and districts. How can this be?
Did our founders intend to create a national Democracy? If not, why not? What did they think of pure democracies? More on that to come…
