The past few days so many editorialists and commentators have touted that we have a great democracy. I must remind you once again, we, in America, do NOT have a democracy. Remember how after the Constitution was finally approved by the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked “what was the result of the deliberations. What kind of government do we have?”

Ben answered quickly: “You have a REPUBLIC,” and then he added the warning: “if you can keep it!”

I found a most interesting quote on this subject. I would simply like to quote it here.

“If the United States is a democracy, then the Founding Fathers must have believed a democratic country was the way to go, right? First of all, the United States of America isn’t a democracy—it’s a republic. (Remember, “and to the republic for which it stands.”) The men who framed the Constitution disagreed on a lot of things, but on one point they stood united—that a democracy was the WORST POSSIBLE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. (Italics are mine.)

“The idea that our government is built on “majority rules” is far from the truth. The Founding Fathers knew that a democracy would quickly lead to mob rule—that’s why our system of government is set up the way it is. We elect senators and congresspeople to represent us in Washington, D.C.; we vote for them, and they’re supposed to vote the way we want it. If they don’t vote the way we want, we vote them out of office at the next election. It’s that simple and that complicated—but it’s still not a democracy.” (“Stupid History”, by Leland Gregory, 2014, page 239)

And that’s also exactly why the Founding Fathers also created the Electoral College. They knew that democracy is “the worst possible form of government.” A direct democracy would indeed create “Mob rule”.