saltwind 78 Loc: Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

For the past four or five years I have heard self proclaimed conservative Republicans make disturbing comments about democracy. When Trump was running for the presidency the first time, one of my neighbors said, " the hell with the constitution, I want Trump to become President of the US". On OPP, I often read posts saying pretty much the same thing. Not all conservatives, but enough to be concerning seem to agree with this anti democratic attitude. As a young man, I never heard such talk. Conservatives, and liberals alike all defended democracy, and the Constitution of the United States.
MSNBC has several conservatives that always defend democracy like Morning Joe, Steele, and others. Many conservative politicians like Liz Chaney, and Cassidy Hutchinson are certainly are clearly conservative, but love democracy as much as any liberal.
To me, the word conservative means conserving what is valued in the United States. This includes family values, religion, the free enterprise system, hard work, and above all was democracy.
Trump is a lot of things, but certainly no champion of democracy. His actions and statements are clear. He seems to admire dictators, or as he calls them," strong men ".
I would like to ask the Republican posters on OPP if they believe in the US Constitution, and democracy.

American Vet

Absolutely. That's why I oppose democrats and their l*****t agenda.

DAV

Demonocrats live in a Demonocracy...I live in a Republic.

saltwind 78 Loc: Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

Please explain the difference between a democracy and a republic.

American Vet

You claim to be a teacher and knowledgeable about history - and you have to ask that? <S>

Marty 2020 Loc: Banana Republic of Kalifornia

Your neighbor is obviously not correct, and it’s the democrats who are ignoring and trying to destroy the constitution.
Start really looking at the birth certificate of your ex president Obama!

youngwilliam Loc: Deep in the heart

Well, he does think that morning Joe is conservative. Just saying.

XXX Loc: Somewhere north of the Mason-Dixon

Whoopee! Winner!

XXX Loc: Somewhere north of the Mason-Dixon

Democrats are the ones disregarding the constitution. Now you can go give your neighbor the middle-finger and tell her she is wrong. 🖕🖕🖕

America 1 Loc: South Miami

The American Founding Fathers
James Madison, oftentimes called the Father of the Constitution, helped to draft and establish the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. He determined that after the failure of the Articles of Confederation, the United States could only function with a strong federal government. This led delegates from all 13 colonies to meet and begin to draft what would become the Constitution, establishing the three fundamental branches of the United States government.
Madison realized the problems that plagued direct democracies and instead sought to establish a Constitutional Republic.
In a Constitutional Republic, rather than the legal power of the government stemming from the people, it is instead derived from the Constitution itself.

The term Constitutional Republic can be clearly understood when analyzing each word separately.
The “Constitutional” aspect of the Republic means that the Constitution is the supreme law of the United States while the term “Republic” means that the power of the government is held by the people but is exercised by elected representatives.
This differentiation in power helps to protect the Republic from being subject to “mob rule”, as originally described by Plato.
This difference makes it so that, although by definition the United States is a democracy, every v**e is not always equal.
In P**********l e******ns, this ine******y is addressed in the E*******l College where states gain a specified number of v**es based on their census.
The E*******l College allows for v**es throughout the country to matter, rather than being reliant upon a small number of urban centers.

Madison and other Founding Fathers realized the complex nature of democracy and sought to separate the Executive and Judicial branches of power from the people. The Heritage Foundation states that the Founding Fathers saw that, “because ancient democracies lacked any social or institutional forces that could check, refine, or moderate the will of the majority, they were prone to great instability”. This instability left democracy vulnerable to tyranny and abuse.

Although citizens of the United States have the ability to elect Senators and Congressmen, they do not participate in the e******n of Presidents for a very important reason.
A majority of the United States population is in a relatively small number of urban centers. If the President of the United States was elected directly by the people, the only v**es that would matter would be those in urban areas, singling out the rural population.
This would make it so that states such as New York and California have more of a say over what happens in the Midwest than the people living in the Midwest themselves.
Although the E*******l College may seem antiquated to many, it serves a purpose to an equal footing to every state in the e******n of the next President. This is one of the clearest examples which separates the United States from being a democracy as it relies on a representative E*******l College originally created by the United States Constitution.

Modern Criticisms of the Term "Constitutional Republic"
I would be remiss not to adequately describe both sides of the argument whether the United States is better classified as a democracy or as a Constitutional Republic.
An article in The Atlantic mentions how President Abraham Lincoln attempted to unite both terms into one form of government.
He did so in the Gettysburg Address where he stated that the United States is a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people”.

This seems to argue that although the United States is, by definition, a Constitutional Republic, it could be considered a democracy that serves the people.
This article, however, seems to move away from their original argument and side-step into a discussion about hypocrisy of the modern Republican Party.
One of the major arguments they mention is the disparity in senatorial representation compared to each state’s population.
This argument demonstrates one of the most important details of the Constitution: that all states are equally represented.
This senatorial e******y is a key fundamental necessity for the United States government as it allows for all states to have a say in how the government is run.
The author is remiss in not mentioning how the number of representatives in the House is reliant on each state’s census and that, as a result, there are significantly more Californian representatives than Delawareans.

By refusing to accurately assess what is meant by the term “Constitutional Republic”, many authors misrepresent the idea to mean that the people have no true say in the government. This could not be further from the t***h, as it allows for the government to help separate the true will of the majority of the country from a type of mob rule. This idea is furthered through the Constitution which begins with "We the People", clearly defining that the power of the Federal government derives from its populace.
Conclusions
The United States Constitution is one of the most important legal documents in modern history. It has allowed each state to remain equal when discussing matters on the floor of Congress and has allowed for people throughout these United States to be heard in the matters of government.
The US falls under governmental classifications for both Indirect Democracy and Constitutional Republic but could be more accurately classified as the latter.
The true power of the United States Federal Government derives from the populace that it protects and governs but ultimately its rule of law comes from the Constitution.

Therefore, since the US government is representative in nature and derives its laws from the Constitution, it should be classified as a Constitutional Republic rather than a Democracy.
When Benjamin Franklin was asked about what form of government he had helped to create, he responded,
“a Republic, if you can keep it”.
https://www.standrewslawreview.com/post/is-the-united-states-a-constitutional-republic

WEBCO

I volunteered 3x to defend it, and fought for it. So yes I do.

Can you please explain to me why the regressives are so opposed to American values?

saltwind 78 Loc: Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

American, I know full well the definition of a republic and democracy. In different countries, a republic means different things. Here in the good ol'e US of A it is generally understood as a non monarchy, ruled by laws, ( not people ) that are elected by the people. In many other countries it is simply a country that isn't a monarchy. The USSR claimed to be a republic but not a democracy as we understand it.
A democracy is generally understood as a nation in which candidates for office are elected by the people with protections for the minority.
According to these two definitions, a republic is a type of democracy.
The reason I asked this question, is to understand what MAGA Republicans know the difference. A year or two ago, one poster said he would much rather live in a republic than a democracy. It seems he was taking the names of the two parties a bit too seriously. If the Democratic Party called itself the Republican Party, and the Republican Party called itself the Democratic Party, there would be no difference than today.

American Vet

So, you are the making the comments in your post on what one what one person posted 'a year or two ago'. Of course, the underlying message you are trying to convey is that "MAGA" Republicans are simply uneducated and should listen to your superior l*****t intellect.

A common theme with l*****ts.

America 1 Loc: South Miami

Therefore, since the US government is representative in nature and derives its laws from the Constitution, it should be classified as a Constitutional Republic rather than a Democracy.
When Benjamin Franklin was asked about what form of government he had helped to create, he responded,
“a Republic, if you can keep it”.

David L Loc: Central Wisconsin

Have you actually read what you just wrote?? You just listed some of the worst possible examples of Patriotic Americans. The h**e filled crap that they spew on a daily basis should make us all ashamed.