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Why We Are a Republic, Not a Democracy
The Daily Signal ^ | January 17, 2018 | Walter E. Williams

Posted on 01/17/2018 7:14:03 AM PST by Cheerio

Hillary Clinton blamed the Electoral College for her stunning defeat in the 2016 presidential election in her latest memoirs, “What Happened.”

Some have claimed that the Electoral College is one of the most dangerous institutions in American politics.

Why? They say the Electoral College system, as opposed to a simple majority vote, distorts the one-person, one-vote principle of democracy because electoral votes are not distributed according to population.

To back up their claim, they point out that the Electoral College gives, for example, Wyoming citizens disproportionate weight in a presidential election.

Put another way, Wyoming, a state with a population of about 600,000, has one member in the House of Representatives and two members in the U.S. Senate, which gives the citizens of Wyoming three electoral votes, or one electoral vote per 200,000 people.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailysignal.com ...


TOPICS: Government
KEYWORDS: democracy; elector; media; republic; walterwilliams

1 posted on 01/17/2018 7:14:03 AM PST by Cheerio
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To: Cheerio

Excellent article! Democracies are literally at the whim for any given moment of people who mostly have no idea for a thoughtful solution.


2 posted on 01/17/2018 7:19:19 AM PST by Wpin ("I Have Sworn Upon the Altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny...")
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To: Cheerio

Pity party.


3 posted on 01/17/2018 7:25:02 AM PST by Ciexyz (I'm conservative & traditionalist, a nationalist and patriot.)
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To: Ciexyz

The Founders dreaded democracy. Better a king than a mob, one said. But I am sure a very, very small percentage of Americans are aware of this or could differentiate between the two. There’s no way our kids are learning this in history.


4 posted on 01/17/2018 7:46:40 AM PST by huckfillary
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To: Cheerio

I have to send this to my sister, in CA, who whined after the election that her vote did not count. I tried to educate her on the EC, but I’m not sure it sunk in.


5 posted on 01/17/2018 8:02:35 AM PST by cld51860 (Volo pro veritas)
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To: Cheerio

In my opinion we were a republic. The ec and spinate are about all that preserves us and the ec is lopsided.I

The grip on republic is slipping.


6 posted on 01/17/2018 8:09:25 AM PST by Sequoyah101 (It feels like we have exchanged our dreams for survival. We just have a few days that don't suck.)
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To: Cheerio
Do a word search in the Constitution. Nowhere will you find, democracy, democrat or even demo. You WILL find republic(an)

That’s proof enough.

7 posted on 01/17/2018 8:11:34 AM PST by Sgt_Schultze (When your business model depends on slave labor, you're always going to need more slaves.)
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To: Cheerio

Bookmark.


8 posted on 01/17/2018 9:23:28 AM PST by Inyo-Mono
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To: Cheerio; All
Thank you for referencing that article Cheerio. Please note that the following critique is directed at the article and not at you.

"Why We Are a Republic, Not a Democracy"

FR: Never Accept the Premise of Your Opponent’s Argument

Although the USA is a republic on paper, as a dysfunctional “republic” we are effectively a self-destructing democracy.

If voters were being taught about the Founding States’ division of federal and state powers evidenced by the 10th Amendment, they would know that they need to deal with their state lawmakers, not the feds, for most domestic policy issues, including taxes.

In fact, the congressional record shows that constitutional lawmaker Rep. John Bingham had put it this way about the powers of the states to serve the people.

”... the care of the property, the liberty, and the life of the citizen, under the solemn sanction of an oath imposed by your Federal Constitution, is in the States, and not in the Federal Government [emphases added].” —Rep. John Bingham, Congressional Globe, 1866. (See about middle of 3rd column.)

What’s going on is that corrupt federal lawmakers are using the ill-conceived 17th Amendment to exploit low-information voters. They do this by promising low-information voters federal spending programs and civil rights in exchange for their votes.

The problem is that such voters evidently do not understand that the states have never expressly constitutionally delegated to the feds the specific powers to deal with most domestic policy issues.

"From the accepted doctrine that the United States is a government of delegated powers, it follows that those not expressly granted, or reasonably to be implied from such as are conferred, are reserved to the states, or to the people. To forestall any suggestion to the contrary, the Tenth Amendment was adopted. The same proposition, otherwise stated, is that powers not granted are prohibited [emphasis added].” —United States v. Butler, 1936.

So consider that the ultimate remedy to putting the republic back on its constitutional foundations is to repeal the 17th Amendment.

The 16th Amendment can disappear too.

9 posted on 01/17/2018 9:54:49 AM PST by Amendment10
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To: Amendment10
So consider that the ultimate remedy to putting the republic back on its constitutional foundations is to repeal the 17th Amendment.

Well stated - I could not agree more and have been spouting this precept for years. Basically after the 17th we elect both chambers of Congress identically and that is not what the founders set up. Currently no body represents the states.
10 posted on 01/17/2018 10:01:29 AM PST by Cheerio (#44, The unknown President)
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To: Cheerio

bkmk


11 posted on 01/17/2018 11:21:39 AM PST by AllAmericanGirl44
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To: Cheerio
because a democracy is two wolves and a sheep arguing about whats for lunch...
12 posted on 01/17/2018 4:31:56 PM PST by Chode (You have all of the resources you are going to have. Abandon your illusions and plan accordingly.)
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