Is the United States really a republic?

[Nastynate]

I feel as if the United States republic is fading away, as it stands now I don't see much of one at all. The system we have now is looking like a democracy. I think the biggest blow to the falling out of the republic view is senators getting elected by the people instead of the congress of the states. I think the 17th amendment could be the most destructive force in the United States. Just think about it, if the states elected people to represent the states, the people that are elected to those positions wouldn't want to trample on the states power and the states would have the power where as the people can more easily petition their state legislature for changes as they desire than going to Washington hoping to get your message across. What do you guys think? Which amendment do you think is the most damaging to the United States in a whole?

[t0rnado]

If fascism and communism had an inbred child, it would resemble the United States government.

[Stary Hickory]

Yeah fascism and socialism are what are killing the country. Idiots are calling fascism capitalism...which of course is not true. Socialism of course is pushed by the left as the cure to fascism...which is like trying to cure syphilis with an injection of the HIV virus.

[Sola_Fide]

You are right.

The 17th Amendment was a watershed moment of centralization and democratization in America. Federalism was fatally altered.

[erowe1]

I'm not sure what definition has to be used to decide whether or not a nation is a republic. But if the sovereignty of the individual is essential to the definition, then the US was never one.

[MelissaCato]

Article 4 Section 4

[FrankRep]

http://www.thenewamerican.com/images/stories2011/00columnists/walter_williams.jpg
Walter Williams



Like the founders of our nation, I find democracy and majority rule a contemptible form of government.


Democracy Versus Liberty (http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/opinion/walter-williams/6430-democracy-versus-liberty)


Walter Williams | The New American (http://www.thenewamerican.com/)
23 February 2011

____


The American Form of Government: Constitutional Republic


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DioQooFIcgE



Ron Paul: Democracy Is Not Freedom
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul233.html

Ron Paul: A Republic, Not a Democracy
http://www.free-press.biz/usa/A-republic.htm

Dr. Ron Paul: A Republic, If You Can Keep It
http://www.ronpaulforcongress.com/html/republic.html

The New American: A Republic, if You Can Keep It
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/659-qa-republic-if-you-can-keep-itq

[Zatch]

It used to be.

[HOLLYWOOD]

Beyond socialism, 10 planks of Communism are already here.

I've always enjoyed this professors analogies...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h45n2tJlwk

[t0rnado]

Beyond socialism, 10 planks of Communism are already here.

I've always enjoyed this professors analogies...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h45n2tJlwk

Good old Professor Badnarik. Where does he teach again? Harvard?

[Travlyr]

Welcome to the forums.

The 14th, 16th, & 17th Amendments

Many of our ancestors, not all, enjoyed a prosperous life in a republic form of government. Most people around the world desired to immigrate to America because it was the land of opportunity, a beacon of liberty, for many generations.

The currency was debased in 1863/64, or so, to fund the Civil War. That is when the people lost the republic to the controlling powers... the empire moved their headquarters from London to New York and used America's resources to dominate the world.

[erowe1]

http://www.thenewamerican.com/images/stories2011/00columnists/walter_williams.jpg
Walter Williams



Like the founders of our nation, I find democracy and majority rule a contemptible form of government.


Democracy Versus Liberty (http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/opinion/walter-williams/6430-democracy-versus-liberty)


Walter Williams | The New American (http://www.thenewamerican.com/)
23 February 2011

____


The American Form of Government: Constitutional Republic


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DioQooFIcgE



Ron Paul: Democracy Is Not Freedom
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul233.html

Ron Paul: A Republic, Not a Democracy
http://www.free-press.biz/usa/A-republic.htm

Dr. Ron Paul: A Republic, If You Can Keep It
http://www.ronpaulforcongress.com/html/republic.html

The New American: A Republic, if You Can Keep It
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/659-qa-republic-if-you-can-keep-itq

Williams explains (but doesn't actually define) what he means by "republic" in this paragraph.

What's the difference between republican and democratic forms of government? John Adams captured the essence when he said, "You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; rights derived from the Great Legislator of the Universe." That means Congress does not grant us rights; their job is to protect our natural or God-given rights.


I would infer from that explanation that he thinks a republican form of government is one that is limited in such a way that it cannot violate those antecedent rights. By that definition, the US has never been a republic. And even the form of government instituted in the original Constitution was not a republic, despite its use of that word.

[archangel689]

I feel as if the United States republic is fading away, as it stands now I don't see much of one at all. The system we have now is looking like a democracy. I think the biggest blow to the falling out of the republic view is senators getting elected by the people instead of the congress of the states. I think the 17th amendment could be the most destructive force in the United States. Just think about it, if the states elected people to represent the states, the people that are elected to those positions wouldn't want to trample on the states power and the states would have the power where as the people can more easily petition their state legislature for changes as they desire than going to Washington hoping to get your message across. What do you guys think? Which amendment do you think is the most damaging to the United States in a whole?

AMENDMENTS 16 and 17.

No we are a democracy, we've devolved into one. Majority rules without regard to the constitution.

[FrankRep]

"Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."
- John Adams

Future of America?