I don't know if this has much to do with what I was talking about. I agree with you that a true democracy is tyranny of the majority. That's why we have a Bill of Rights and three branches of government. That was an attempt by our founders to avoid mob rule. This half direct and indirect power, I have no idea what you are talking about.
then i shall be happy to explain.
when dealing with forms of government, whether the government is ruled by
one, by a
few, or by the
many, it is not immune from being tyrannical, becuase when any of these [
entities]have all absolute direct power,
it always leads to an abuse of power.
our founders knew this, and they constructed a government to avoid this problem.
in the forms which i mentioned, power is concentrated in ONE.......one man, or one group,......... or one whole/ meaning all of the people
when power is concentrated in one........ it is dangerous.....becuase that one, has absolute power to do as they will.....one man can be a dictator, and few can rule like communist, or fascist, and the other would be democracy, ..or majority rule, which does not respect the rights of the minority.
since we are dealing with democracy in our discussion we will go from there.
our founders read books on government of the past and why they failed, they looked at democracy in any form and decided it was not a stable form of government, so they rejected democratic government, and instead chose republican government.
federalist 10 --The other point of difference is, the greater number of citizens and extent of territory which may be brought within the compass of
republican than of democratic government; and it is this circumstance principally which renders factious combinations less to be dreaded in the former than in the latter.
Madsion is stating that democratic government is full of faction / full of special interest, so the founders choose republican government which limits faction/ special interest.
u.s. constitution-- The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a
Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence.
what is republican government?.....it is mixed government or also mixed constitution.
Mixed government, also known as a mixed constitution, is a form of government that integrates elements of
democracy, aristocracy, and monarchy. In a mixed government, some issues (often defined in a constitution) are decided by the majority of the people, some other issues by few, and some other issues by a single person (also often defined in a constitution).
The idea is commonly treated as an antecedent of separation of powers.
Madison stating we have a mixed constitution or mixed government.
The Federalist No. 40
On the Powers of the Convention to Form a
Mixed Government Examined and Sustained
New York Packet
Friday, January 18, 1788
[James Madison]
To the People of the State of New York:
THE second point to be examined is, whether the [constitutional] convention were authorized to frame and
propose this mixed Constitution.
what republican government does is to divide power in two half's.......the people are given 1/2 of direct power , and the other 1/2 half is given the the state legislatures of each state, and the people are given 100% of all indirect power, by using the vote to vote for those state legislatures.
the people vote for their state legislatures, and they ...appoint a person to the senate, who votes and does the WILL of the state legislature.......meaning "the senator does what the state legislature tells him to do"...he works for them"
why is our constitution constructed this way?.........to prevent democracy / mob rule.
the house itself is a
democracy, becuase it is a direct election of the people .
the senate was an aristocracy, of a few men, chose by the state legislatures, and indirectly by the people, by the vote for their legislature.
this gives the house, or the know as the "people house"...there representation,or....
the interest of the people.
the senate, is the upper house and its the representation of the states.....
the interest of the states.
so for any legislation to pass congress, both interest of the people and the state must come together to pass a bill in congress..is makes the process of legislation slow and steady, so every bill which comes to the floor of congress gets plenty of debate, and time to see if its a good law.
the house becuase it by itself is a democracy, ..majority rule legislation...........can come out of it ......by bills from the house.
the senate becuase it is not directly in the hands of the people and its interest are different than the house, no majority rule legislation can pass congress, becuase the senate in the hands of the state is there to stop it as Madison states in federalist 63--"The true distinction between these and the American governments, lies in the total exclusion of the people, in their collective capacity, from any share in the latter, and not in the total exclusion of the representatives of the people from the administration of the former".
so becuase the house and senate are divided, one to the people and one to the states, this keeps ...one entity from having all direct power and being tyrannical, and abusing its powers.
John Adams wrote in 1806: "I once thought our Constitution was
quasi or mixed government, but they (Republicans) have now made it, to all intents and purposes, in virtue, in spirit, and in effect, a democracy. We are left without resources but in our prayers and tears, and have nothing that we can do or say, but the Lord have mercy on us."
