Assaults on the England language/"republican" v. "democracy"

[RJLipkin at aol.com]

Although "republicanism"  and its cognates have a venerable heritage 
predating the American experiment in  self-government, we must be mindful of the 
Founders use of this term, which in  part was to distance the halls of government 
from participation by ordinary  people. (Gary Nash recently published a book 
describing the role of ordinary  people in the American Revolution; in his view, 
from what I have read, their  role was pervasive and critical.) Instead, 
Fisher Ames comments exemplified our  early denigration of democracy: "[O]ur 
government should be a republick, which differs more widely  from a democracy than 
a democracy from despotism." I doubt any contemporary  thinkers would classify 
democracy as closer to despotism than republicanism. And  if any would, in my 
view, they would be dead wrong.
 
Bobby
 
Robert Justin  Lipkin
Professor of Law
Widener University School of  Law
Delaware
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