You’ve surely heard someone say something to the effect of “It’s a free country. I can do whatever I want.” True, the United States is a free country, false, you can’t do whatever you want. People have said that America is a great democracy but the truth is that America is not a democracy at all. In fact, the founding fathers were extremely careful to guard against creating a democracy. They created a republic. The word democracy comes from the Greek words for people (demos) and rule (kratos). It literally means the ‘rule of the people.’ However, as John Witherspoon, American founding father, said “Pure democracy cannot subsist long nor be carried far into the departments of state – it is very subject to caprice and the madness of popular rage.” In other words, if the masses were to truly rule a nation we would have something like the Reign of Terror. Actually, the French Revolution is a perfect example of pure democracy at work. Tens of thousands of people were executed at the guillotine simply because they were suspected by the maniac public.
Compare the terror and chaos of the French Revolution with the relative calm and cooperation of the American Revolution. The founding fathers did not create a democracy, where the whim of the people ruled. They created a republic. The word republic comes from two Latin words: res (thing) and publica (public). Republic means the ‘public thing’ or, in other words, the rule of law. The masses do not directly rule a republic but instead vote on representatives who create the laws and rule on behalf of the people.
Here is what some of the founding fathers had to say about pure democracy.
“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
“Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property; and have, in general, been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.” -James Madison
“The experience of all former ages had shown that of all human governments, democracy was the most unstable, fluctuating and short-lived.” -John Quincy Adams
“A simple democracy . . . is one of the greatest of evils.” -Benjamin Rush
“It is often the most tyrannical government on earth.” -Noah Webster
Quotes found on wallbuilders.com