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"How do you place the people in charge without creating a democratic tyranny? By the time of the American Revolution, nobody in the history of the world had yet answered this question. In recent years, the Constitution has become a source of political controversy between conservatives and progressives. While the Right defends our founding document, the Left argues that it's an antiquated plan of government that goes against basic principles of democratic sovereignty. Democracy or Republic? The People and the Constitution argues that the Constitution is being misunderstood. Its plan of government is for a republic, not a democracy. In both types of government, the people alone possess sovereignty, but republics go further than this. The point of the Constitution is to ensure that the people rule for the good of all, not just those who happen to make up a majority. Our Constitution does this by promoting consensus. The larger, broader, and more considered a majority is, the more able it is to govern under our system. America, then, is not merely a democracy. It is something greater. It is a republic"--
About the author
Jay Cost is the Gerald R. Ford nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he focuses on political theory, Congress, and elections. He is also a visiting scholar at Grove City College and a contributing editor at the
Washington Examiner. His previous books include
James Madison: America's First Politician (Basic Books, 2021);
The Price of Greatness: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and the Creation of American Oligarchy (Basic Books, 2018); and
A Republic No More: Big Government and the Rise of Political Corruption (Encounter Books, 2015). He earned a PhD in political science from the University of Chicago and a BA in government and history from the University of Virginia.
