Difference between revisions of "Portal:Federalism and Democracy"

America became a federal republic in 1787 when the Constitution was ratified.

"Republic", as we use the word, is "a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law."^[1]. It can be more succinctly called a Representative Democracy.

In our context, Federalism is "the principle of a federal union between the American colonies after the Revolution and of the formation and adoption of a constitution."^[1]

And, in case you wonder, "federal" is "of or relating to a state formed by the consolidation of several states which retain limited residuary powers of government under the common sovereignty of the new state."^[1]

There are other definitions of these terms, but these are the definitions that best apply to CW's discussion of the United States of America.

So, The United States of America is a constitutional, federal republic governed by officials that are democratically elected. America was not the first constitutional republic, but it was quite new in important ways. It drew on examples that came before it and on a variety of liberal thought that had existed in Europe (going back to Aristotle) and in America. It drew heavily on the English examples of constitutional monarchy, the English Constitution, and Common Law (started by Henry II, King of England 1154 - 1189).

America's founders were in a rather unique position - having an unusual collection of very agile intellects (Adams, Franklin, Hamilton, Jay, Madison, Otis, Paine, and others), a history of previous examples to inform them, the recent history of events in America and England, and a blank (well, almost blank) page to write on. The result wasn't perfect, but it was the most perfect such union ever created - by whatever measure you wish to pick.

This portal is the place to assign articles discussing the attributes of our constitutional republic. Articles about our Constitution belong here. Articles about the very important concept of 'rule of law' belong here. There may seem to be overlap between this and other categories, such as America's Founding. CW intends it thus: Articles about the time period between 1763 and the adoption of the constitution in 1787 belong in America's Founding. Articles about the constitution itself and concepts contained in, and implied by, the constitution belong here. The division will not be clear cut in all cases and we have to make a choice. For example, discussing American federalism belongs here and discussion of The Federalist Papers (and The Anit-Federalist Papers) belong here, even though they belong to the period leading up to the adoption of the constitution.

What makes the subject of this portal worth writing about is that America's version of it has been so successful for so long. In today's environment of deep political divisions, it may help to remind ourselves of our beginnings and the problems and issues that our founders struggled with. They were not entirely different than the problems and issues we deal with today.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Webster's Third New International Dictionary

Morgan's Raiders entering Washington, Ohio in August, 1863
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