Some people argue on the side of authoritarianism that our country is “not a democracy”. At the surface they are correct – the U.S. is a Constitutional Republic. But, the argument is misguided.
Our structure is a Republic – as opposed to a Monarchy, Theocracy, Autocracy, or Plutocracy (Oligarchy).
Our system (or method) of governance has historically been predominantly a Democracy – as opposed to Socialism, Communism, Authoritarianism, or Fascism.
The Milking Stool…
GOVERNMENT
FORM
HISTORY
SYSTEM
Our country’s history has aspired to democracy via the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and amendments to The Constitution. Some of our founding fathers actually opposed democracy for being vulnerable to “mob rule”. As we grew in size, elements of democracy evolved to offset this through checks & balances, civil rights and voter equality. A study has shown that there are 2,234 adjectives used to describe democracy in the English language. Some of these are apparent in the American ideas of freedom of: speech, religion, press, and political expression. Maintenance of these freedoms requires vigilance, generation by generation, for subtle attacks upon them and actions through competitive elections and the rule of law. Christian nationalism’s compass points toward limiting the freedoms of women, refugees and LBGTQ people and transforming the republic into a theocracy.
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