by Kenneth Boser II

Created on: September 01, 2009

The idea that the United States is a democracy is a fallacy, we Americans have never intended that our system of government be considered a democracy; the truth of the matter is that our system of self-governing, of selecting from our peers to represent the interests of each and as many Americans as possible, is called a representative republic.

We need only to scour the founding documents (the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, Common Sense (by Thomas Paine), The American Crisis (by Thomas Paine), and the Federalist Papers (by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton).

While the Founders did not always agree on a course of action, many things were understood that defined the government's role, and with that the citizens' roles in making this country work and prosper for many generations.

There have been many political theorists who have stated exactly how much control the government should have indeed, Alexander Hamilton was one that favored a strong centralized government. But to quote the Declaration of Independence spells out the role of government plainly and explicitly:

Prudence, indeed, shall dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes, but when a long train of abuses and usurpations pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security

The Founders understood that the more power the government had over its people, the greater chance there was for abuse of that power against the very citizenry it is supposed to be protecting.

Thomas Jefferson once said, A true patriot must always stand ready to defend his country from its government. The statement there is that government should be at best, a minimal inconvenience, and at worst, government is capable of being the harshest slavemaster.

So where is the big black line that government cannot cross without infringing on the rights and responsibilities of the citizen to his country? That's where the Constitution comes in.

Many liberal, political science schools (including law schools), teach today that because not everyone exercises their best judgment all the time, government's job is to provide for the lowest at the considerable expense of those who do not provide for themselves. That's how the movements legitimizing Social Security, MediCare, and MedicAid were pushed through.

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