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An electoral college system was not an invention of the 1787 Constitutional Convention noir the people called the ''Founding Fathers''. | An electoral college system was not an invention of the 1787 Constitutional Convention noir the people called the ''Founding Fathers''. | ||
The people are not voting directly for a candidate but for electors who are aligned with a given candidate’s party. These electors from each state number the same as the representatives in the two Houses of Congress. | The people are not voting directly for a candidate but for electors who are aligned with a given candidate’s party. These electors from each state number the same as the representatives in the two Houses of Congress. '''Most of the States'''<Ref> Maine and Nebraska implement their vote district-by-district with the remaining two votes are allocated to the state-wide popular vote winner.</Ref> count their electoral votes on a “winner takes all” basis. | ||
Eventually these electors cast their votes for the candidate that has a majority of the electors’ votes. If a candidate does not receive a majority of votes the election will be determined by the House of Representatives, where each state delegation casts one vote as was done in 1801 in the election of Jefferson and Aaron Burr. | Eventually these electors cast their votes for the candidate that has a majority of the electors’ votes. If a candidate does not receive a majority of votes the election will be determined by the House of Representatives, where each state delegation casts one vote as was done in 1801 in the election of Jefferson and Aaron Burr. | ||
Many have decried this process as anti-democratic but the authors of the constitution understood that all "''[[tyranny]] arises''" out of [[democracy]].<Ref> "Say then, my friend, in what manner does [[tyranny]] arise? — that it has a democratic origin is evident." Socrates</Ref> Democracy was considered to be "''most vile form of government''" by Madison.<Ref>[[James Madison]], 1787, stated in the Federalist Paper #10 that “Democracy is the most vile form of government ... 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.” </Ref> which always fails<Ref name="demofail">{{demofail}}</Ref> and "in fact, it will become that worst of all governments, mob-rule."<Ref>Book VI [[Polybius]]</Ref> then why do people think democracies are a good thing? | Many have decried this process as anti-democratic but the authors of the constitution understood that all "''[[tyranny]] arises''" out of [[democracy]].<Ref> "Say then, my friend, in what manner does [[tyranny]] arise? — that it has a democratic origin is evident." Socrates</Ref> Democracy was considered to be "''most vile form of government''" by Madison.<Ref>[[James Madison]], 1787, stated in the Federalist Paper #10 that “Democracy is the most vile form of government ... 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.” </Ref> which always fails<Ref name="demofail">{{demofail}}</Ref> and "in fact, it will become that worst of all governments, mob-rule."<Ref>Book VI [[Polybius]]</Ref> then why do people think democracies are a good thing? | ||
Why and how a leader is chosen is ultimately a thing of nature and not democracy.<Ref>4 <span style="color:red">What then are the beginnings I speak of and what is the first origin of political societies?</span > 5 When owing to floods, famines, failure of crops or other such causes there occurs such a destruction of the human race as tradition tells us has more than once happened, and as we must believe will often happen again, 6 all arts and crafts perishing at the same time, then in the course of time, when springing from the survivors as from seeds men have again increased in numbers 7 and just like other animals form herds — it being a matter of course that they too should herd together with those of their kind owing to their natural weakness — it is a necessary consequence that the man who excels in bodily strength and in courage will lead and rule over the rest. 8 We observe and should regard as a most genuine work of nature this very phenomenon in the case of the other animals which act purely by instinct and among whom the strongest are always indisputably the masters — 9 I speak of bulls, boars, cocks, and the like. 9 It is probable then that at the beginning men lived thus, herding together like animals and following the lead of the strongest and bravest, the ruler's strength being here the sole limit to his power and <span style="color:red">the name we should give his rule being monarchy.</span> 10 But when <span style="color:red">in time feelings of sociability and companionship begin to grow in such gatherings of men, than kingship has struck root; and the notions of goodness, justice, and their opposites begin to arise in men.</span" ''' The Histories''' of [[Polybius]] | Why and how a leader is chosen is ultimately a thing of nature and not [[democracy]].<Ref>4 <span style="color:red">What then are the beginnings I speak of and what is the first origin of political societies?</span > 5 When owing to floods, famines, failure of crops or other such causes there occurs such a destruction of the human race as tradition tells us has more than once happened, and as we must believe will often happen again, 6 all arts and crafts perishing at the same time, then in the course of time, when springing from the survivors as from seeds men have again increased in numbers 7 and just like other animals form herds — it being a matter of course that they too should herd together with those of their kind owing to their natural weakness — it is a necessary consequence that the man who excels in bodily strength and in courage will lead and rule over the rest. 8 We observe and should regard as a most genuine work of nature this very phenomenon in the case of the other animals which act purely by instinct and among whom the strongest are always indisputably the masters — 9 I speak of bulls, boars, cocks, and the like. 9 It is probable then that at the beginning men lived thus, herding together like animals and following the lead of the strongest and bravest, the ruler's strength being here the sole limit to his power and <span style="color:red">the name we should give his rule being monarchy.</span> 10 But when <span style="color:red">in time feelings of sociability and companionship begin to grow in such gatherings of men, than kingship has struck root; and the notions of goodness, justice, and their opposites begin to arise in men.</span" ''' The Histories''' of [[Polybius]] | ||
published in Vol. III, [[Polybius#Comparison_translations|Loeb's translation]]</Ref> | published in Vol. III, [[Polybius#Comparison_translations|Loeb's translation]]</Ref> | ||
In Early America many were well read and knew of [[Plato]], [[Aristotle]], [[Polybius]], [[Cicero]], and [[Marcus Aurelius]] as well as those factors which led to the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon. | |||
Because “The churches in New England were so many nurseries of freemen, training them in the principles of self-government and accustoming them to the feeling of independence. In these petty organizations were developed, in practice, the principles of individual and national freedom. Each church was a republic in embryo. The fiction became a fact, the abstraction a reality...”<Ref> Lives of Issac Heath and John Bowles, Elders of the Church and of John Eliot, Jr., preacher in the mid 1600’, written by J, Wingate Thorton. 1850 </Ref> they knew a democracy had an alternative. | |||
In Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, he praised “the union and discipline of the Christian [[Republican form|republic]].” He also pointed out that “it gradually formed an independent and increasing state in the heart of the Roman Empire.”<Ref> Rousseau and Revolution, Will et Ariel Durant p.801. fn 83 Heiseler, 85. </Ref> | |||
Latest revision as of 11:39, 20 December 2024
The Electoral College system
An electoral college system was not an invention of the 1787 Constitutional Convention noir the people called the Founding Fathers.
The people are not voting directly for a candidate but for electors who are aligned with a given candidate’s party. These electors from each state number the same as the representatives in the two Houses of Congress. Most of the States[1] count their electoral votes on a “winner takes all” basis.
Eventually these electors cast their votes for the candidate that has a majority of the electors’ votes. If a candidate does not receive a majority of votes the election will be determined by the House of Representatives, where each state delegation casts one vote as was done in 1801 in the election of Jefferson and Aaron Burr.
Many have decried this process as anti-democratic but the authors of the constitution understood that all "tyranny arises" out of democracy.[2] Democracy was considered to be "most vile form of government" by Madison.[3] which always fails[4] and "in fact, it will become that worst of all governments, mob-rule."[5] then why do people think democracies are a good thing?
Why and how a leader is chosen is ultimately a thing of nature and not democracy.[6]
In Early America many were well read and knew of Plato, Aristotle, Polybius, Cicero, and Marcus Aurelius as well as those factors which led to the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon.
Because “The churches in New England were so many nurseries of freemen, training them in the principles of self-government and accustoming them to the feeling of independence. In these petty organizations were developed, in practice, the principles of individual and national freedom. Each church was a republic in embryo. The fiction became a fact, the abstraction a reality...”[7] they knew a democracy had an alternative.
In Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, he praised “the union and discipline of the Christian republic.” He also pointed out that “it gradually formed an independent and increasing state in the heart of the Roman Empire.”[8]
- ↑ Maine and Nebraska implement their vote district-by-district with the remaining two votes are allocated to the state-wide popular vote winner.
- ↑ "Say then, my friend, in what manner does tyranny arise? — that it has a democratic origin is evident." Socrates
- ↑ James Madison, 1787, stated in the Federalist Paper #10 that “Democracy is the most vile form of government ... 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.”
- ↑ All democracies fail
- “A democracy is always temporary in nature;" clarifying “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.” ― Alexander Fraser Tytler, a.k.a. Lord Woodhouselee, (1747–1813) a judge, writer, and Professor at the University of Edinburgh.
- “The particular aspect of history which both attracts and benefits its readers is the examination of causes and the capacity, which is the reward of this study, to decide in each case the best policy to follow. Now in all political situations we must understand that the principle factor which makes for success or failure is the form of a state's constitution: it is from this source, as if from a fountainhead, that all designs and plans of action not only originate but reach their fulfillment.”― Polybius, The Rise of the Roman Empire.
- “I do not say that democracy has been more pernicious on the whole, and in the long run, than monarchy or aristocracy. Democracy has never been and never can be so durable as aristocracy or monarchy; but while it lasts, it is more bloody than either. … Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. It is in vain to say that democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious, or less avaricious than aristocracy or monarchy. It is not true, in fact, and nowhere appears in history. Those passions are the same in all men, under all forms of simple government, and when unchecked, produce the same effects of fraud, violence, and cruelty. When clear prospects are opened before vanity, pride, avarice, or ambition, for their easy gratification, it is hard for the most considerate philosophers and the most conscientious moralists to resist the temptation. Individuals have conquered themselves. Nations and large bodies of men, never.” ― John Adams, The Letters of John and Abigail Adams.
- "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." John Galt, Dreams Come Due: Government and Economics as if Freedom Mattered (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986)
- Democracy without constraint against the worst impulses of the majority will lead to tyranny. Plato, Book VIII of “The Republic.”
- "To take from one, because it is thought that his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, — the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry, & the fruits acquired by it." Jefferson's note on Destutt de Tracy’s Treatise on Political Economy, [ca. May 18, 1816].
- Benjamin Franklin's response to Elizabeth Willing Powel's question: "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" was, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
- ↑ Book VI Polybius
- ↑ 4 What then are the beginnings I speak of and what is the first origin of political societies? 5 When owing to floods, famines, failure of crops or other such causes there occurs such a destruction of the human race as tradition tells us has more than once happened, and as we must believe will often happen again, 6 all arts and crafts perishing at the same time, then in the course of time, when springing from the survivors as from seeds men have again increased in numbers 7 and just like other animals form herds — it being a matter of course that they too should herd together with those of their kind owing to their natural weakness — it is a necessary consequence that the man who excels in bodily strength and in courage will lead and rule over the rest. 8 We observe and should regard as a most genuine work of nature this very phenomenon in the case of the other animals which act purely by instinct and among whom the strongest are always indisputably the masters — 9 I speak of bulls, boars, cocks, and the like. 9 It is probable then that at the beginning men lived thus, herding together like animals and following the lead of the strongest and bravest, the ruler's strength being here the sole limit to his power and the name we should give his rule being monarchy. 10 But when in time feelings of sociability and companionship begin to grow in such gatherings of men, than kingship has struck root; and the notions of goodness, justice, and their opposites begin to arise in men.</span" The Histories of Polybius published in Vol. III, Loeb's translation
- ↑ Lives of Issac Heath and John Bowles, Elders of the Church and of John Eliot, Jr., preacher in the mid 1600’, written by J, Wingate Thorton. 1850
- ↑ Rousseau and Revolution, Will et Ariel Durant p.801. fn 83 Heiseler, 85.