Do We Have a Democracy or a Republic, and Why Does it Matter? (Constitution Day Lecture)

Randy E. Barnett is the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches constitutional law and contracts, and is Director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution. After graduating from Northwestern University and Harvard Law School, he tried many felony cases as a prosecutor in the Cook County States’ Attorney’s Office in Chicago. The author of twelve books and a hundred ofarticles, his most recent book is The Original Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment: Its Letter and Spirit (2021) (with Evan Bernick). In 2004, he argued the medical marijuana case of Gonzalez v. Raich before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2012, he was one of the lawyers representing the National Federation of Independent Business in its constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act.

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[anylewynde]

Dan Smoot 1966 ~ Constitutional Republic versus a Democracy ~ find the vid on here YT .. a very worthy listen
..Long Live the Republic
💪❤☮

[jongundrum]

It's a pity that the speaker, (who is miked up) didn't repeat the questions from those who asked them, who weren't. He is an experienced speaker and should have catered for that problem. None the less, it was a very enlightening speech, very polished and fluid. Thank you for posting this.

[nrdstrm]

I just tried to argue this to my left leaning coworker.

We need to make the distinction because the definition of Democracy and Republic has been changed, coupled with how many things we have that go against the will of the majority put in place as checks and balances for every Man and Women whether part few or majority.

He phrased his argument as such "A square can also be called Rectangle as it has 4 sides"

My argument is "A square is a square because the constraints of the definition made it so each side needs to be the same length as the sides it connects to. It can also be a rectangle due to its definition but it is a square first and foremost"

[RustyDust]

The USA are BOTH and NONE of the two. Because depending on how strict or broad the definitions are interpreted the system of governance vs the system of attaining such governance aren't mutually exclusive but rather a Venn diagram with quite large sections of overlap. What's happening here is the typical dumbing down to the lowest common denominator by the intellectual right wing. It's claimed that both democracy and a republic are mutually exclusive. Which they aren't. Especially as neither of them can be seen to be absolutely pure versions of their original definitions. However the far right intends to fracture the USA into even more splintered factions as those are far easier to manipulate and control.

[davidevans]

i was with him till he said. regulate my liberty.

[ckennedy]

Is this a real question? See Dan Smoot

[humblegrenade]

Democracy fueled by Capitalism leads to corporate power and corruption in government policies and less freedom for the individual and a Constitutional Republic has the checks and balances to prevent the government from being a corporate structure and more freedoms for the individual and a government for the interest of the people and not the corporations that are funding it, like the Federal Reserve

[vladdumitrica]

Countries with parliaments (representative democracy) are in fact oligarchies (few lead). In order to be a true democracy, the decisions of the Parliament should be submitted to the approval of the citizens. The "fatigue" of democracy occurs when there is a big difference between the interests of those elected and the voters, so people lose confidence in the way society function. As a result, the poor and desperate citizens will vote with whoever promises them a lifeline, i.e. the populists or demagogues. The democratic aspect is a side effect in societies where economies have a strong competitive aspect, where the interests of those who hold economic power in society are divergent. Thus, those with money, and implicitly with political power in society, are supervising each other so that none of them have undeserved advantages due to politics. Because of this, countries with large mineral resources, like Russia and Venezuela (their share in GDP is large), do not have democratic aspects, because a small group of people can exploit these resources in their own interest. In poor countries, the main resource exploited may even be the state budget, as they have converging interests in benefiting, in their own interest, from this resource. This is what is observed in Romania, Bulgaria, when, no matter which party comes to power, the result is the same. The solution is modern direct democracy in which every citizen can vote, whenever he wants, over the head of the parliamentarian who represents him. He can even dismiss him if most of his voters consider that their interests are not right represented.
Those who think that democracy is when you choose someone to make decisions for you without him having to consult you, are either a fool or a scoundrel. It's like when you have to choose from several thieves who will steal from you. It's like when you have to build a house and you choose the site manager and the architect, but they don't have the duty to consult with you. The house will certainly not look the way you want it, but the way they want it, and even more surely you will be left without money and without the house. It is strange that outside of the political sphere, you will not find, in any economic or sports activity, someone elected to a leadership position and who has failure after failure and who is fired only after 4 years. We, the voters, must be consulted about the decisions and if they have negative effects we can dismiss them at any time, without to wait until the term to be fulfilled, because we pay, not them. In any company, the management team comes up with a plan approved by the shareholders. Any change in this plan must be re-approved by the shareholders and it is normal because the shareholders pay.