Definations of the Political Spectrum / The American Form of Government

This is great information and isn't slanted left or right. If you have 10 minutes give it a watch. I've posted a transcript of the audio below if you would rather read. Click "read more" or the "title" to see the full article.

Transcript:

When Benjamin Franklin exited the Constitutional convention, he was asked by a woman, “Sir, what did you give us?” 
Franklin replied, “A Republic ma’am, if you can keep it.” 
Most Americans today are persuaded today that our American system is a Democracy and not a Republic. The difference between these two is essential in understanding Americanism and the American System. 

There seems to be a confusion about the Political Spectrum. Many believe that the Political Spectrum places groups, such as Communists on the far Left – such as Pol Pot and Castro. Communists, or Fascists on the far Right – such as Hitler and the Nazis. Moderates in the middle, such as Reagan, Kennedy, and FDR. 
This is not totally accurate 

A more accurate Political Spectrum would show government having zero power on the far Right and total government on the far Left. At the extreme right there is no government. The extreme left features total government, under such labels as Communism, Socialism, Nazism, Fascism, Dictators, Kings, etc, any form of total government. Those who claim that Nazi’s Fascists are Right Wing never define their terms, which causes confusion. 

Toward the middle of the spectrum can be found the type of limited government limited to it’s proper role of Protecting the Rights of the People – defined in the United States Constitution. Those who advocate such a form of government are really Constitutional Moderates. 

So the basic forms of government are (1) Monarchy or Dictatorship; ruled by one. (2) Oligarchy; ruled by a few (3) Democracy; ruled by a majority, (4) Republic; ruled by law. And (5) Anarchy; ruled by no one. 

When these five are studied more closely, we can narrow the list even more. 

Monarchy or Dictatorship, which is ruled by one, really does not exist in the practical since because it’s a group that puts one of its members at the top. The King has his council of Earls and Nobles; and every Dictator has his Bureaucrats or Commissars – the men behind the scenes. This is not ruled by one, even though one person maybe the visible leader – its ruled by a group. So lets eliminate Monarchy-Dictatorship, because it really doesn’t exist. 

Oligarchy which is ruled by a group is the most common form of government in all history, and the most common used today. Most of the nations in the world are ruled by a powerful few, which is why Oligarchy remains. 

At the far right we find Anarchy; which by definition means “without government.” Some people who have studied history found many of its worst crimes were committed by governments, so they decided that by having no government might be a better idea. This was quickly realized a mistake. The ancient Greeks stated, “Without Law, there can be no Freedom,” which our Founding Father agreed. They felt that some form of government is a necessary force in any civilized orderly society. 

In a state of Anarchy however, everyone has to guard life, liberty, and property. They all must be armed and movement is severely restricted because ones property has to be protected at all times. 

Civilized people have always hired someone to do the guarding: a sheriff, police force or some branch of government. Once law enforcement was in place, the people were freer. They could leave their property; work in the fields and so on. In short, the proper amount of government makes everyone freer. 

There are some who advocate anarchy not because they want no government, but because they don’t like what they have. They use anarchy as a tool for revolutionary change. Condition of anarchy is very much like a vacuum where something rushes in to fill it. These calculating anarchists work to breakdown the existing government with rioting, killing, looting, and terrorism. Tragically the people living in such chaos often go to those best able to put an end to it to beg them to take over and restore order. And who is best able to put an end to the chaos? The very people who started it. The Anarchist who created the problem then create a government run by them – an Oligarchy, where they have total power. This is exactly what happened in Russia where Lenin taking total power, and in Germany where Hitler’s brown-shirts created the chaos that brought him to power. 
But Anarchy isn’t a stable form of government. It’s a quick transition from something that exists to something desired by the power-hungry. Its a temporary condition, and because it isn’t permanent, we can eliminate it from our list. 

The word “Democracy” comes from two Greek words: Demos – meaning “people”, and Kratin – meaning “to rule.” Democracy thus means, “The Rule of the People” – Majority Rule. This of course sounds good, but what if the majority wants to take away ones home, or business, or the children? Obviously there has to be a limit. The law in a Democracy is that the majority isn’t restrained. If more than half the people can be persuaded to want something in a democracy – they rule. 

Republic comes from Latin. Res meaning “Thing”, and Publica – meaning “Public.” It means “Public Thing” – The Law. A true Republic is one where the government is limited by law, leaving the people alone. 

The Founding Fathers had a clean slate to write on. They could have set up an Oligarchy. In fact there were some who wanted George Washington to be their king. But the Founding Fathers knew history, and they chose to give us the Rule of Law in a republic, not the rule of the majority in a Democracy. 

Why? 

Let’s demonstrate the difference in the settling of the Old West. Consider a lynch mob in a democracy: 35 horseback riders chase one lone gunman. They catch them. They vote 35 to 1 to hang him. Democracy has triumph, and there is one less gunman to deal with. 

Now, consider the same scenario in a Republic. The 35 riders catch the gun man and vote 35 to 1 to hang him; but the sheriff arrives, and he says, “you can’t kill him. He has his rights to a fair trial.” So they take the gunman back to town. A jury of his piers are selected, and they hear the evidence and the defense, and they decide if he should hang. Does the jury even decide by majority rule? No. It must be unanimous, or the accused goes free. The rights of the government aren’t subject to majority rule – but to the law. 

This is the essence of a Republic. 

Many Americans would be surprised to learn the word “Democracy” does not appear in the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution. Nor does it appear in any of the Constitutions of the 50 states. The Founders did everything they could to keep us from having a democracy. 

James Madison, known as the Father of the Constitution, wrote in the Federalist Papers #10, “ . . 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.” 

Alexander Hamilton agreed when he stated, “We are a Republican Government. Real liberty is never found in despotism or in the extremes of democracy.” 

Samuel Adams – signer of the Declaration of Independence, said, “Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself.” 

The Founders had good reason to look upon democracy with contempt, because they knew that the democracies in the early Greek states produced some of the wildest excesses of government a manageable. In every case they ended up with mob rule, then anarchy and finally tyranny under an oligarchy. 

During that period in Greece, there was a man named Solon who urged a creation of a fixed body of law not subject to majority whims. But where the Greeks never adopted Solon’s wise council, the Romans did. Based on what they knew of Solon’s laws, they created the Twelve Tables of the Roman Law, and in effect built a republic that limited government power, and left the people alone. Since government was limited, the people were free to produce with the understanding that they could keep the fruits of their labor. In time, Rome became wealthy and the envy of the world. 

In the mitts of plenty, however, the Roman people forgot what freedom entailed. They forgot that the essence of freedom is the proper limitation of government. When government power grows, people’s freedom recedes. Once the Romans dropped their guard power seeking politicians began to exceed the powers granted them in the Romans Constitution. Some learned that they could elect politicians who would use government power to take property from some and give it to others. Agriculture subsidies were introduced, followed by housing and welfare programs. Inevitably taxes rose and controls over the private sector were imposed. Soon a number of Rome’s producers could no longer make ends meet, and they went on the dole. Productivity declined, shortages developed and mobs began rooming the streets demanding bred and services from the government. Many were induced to trade freedom for security. Eventually the whole system came crashing down. They went from a Republic, to a Democracy, and ended up with an Oligarchy under the progression of the seizers. 

Thus democracy itself is not a stable form of government, instead it is the gradual transition from limited government to the unlimited rule of an Oligarchy. Knowing this, we Americans are ultimately left with only two choices: We can keep our republic, as Franklin put it, or we will inevitably end up with an Oligarchy –the tyranny of the elite.