Our Republic

    It needs to be said that, after nearly two hundred forty-four years of existence, our Republic is unwell.

    One can succumb to the current zeitgeist and blame Donald Trump. That, of course, would be the easiest method. The low-hanging fruit. And this would be true, largely, since he has done more in the last four years of a presidency than any of his predecessors to hasten the illness of our Nation. But the problem also runs deeper than Trump.

    Evidence indicates a growing divide between Americans (a demonym I will generously apply to my fellow citizens, although it could be more broadly interpreted). A simple chart from Pew Research indicates that it has grown worse since the late 1990s, with a brief reprieve of unity in the early 2000s (perhaps from the events of 9/11). What we can see from a comparison of “politically engaged” Americans in 1994 and 2017 is an erosion of the political center. Charts for the “general public” look similar.¹

    Although one must wonder where this divide is rooted, we also must consider that political polarity is only one aspect of the illness and eventual death of a republic.

    This leads us to our primary questions we must ask in order to understand what is occurring with our Republic: 

    

    Is the United States a republic?

    What makes a republic?

    What destroys a republic?

    In addressing these we must be objective. We must understand and be open to the idea that our Republic, like any other nation, can be fallible, flawed, and prone to err; while also understanding that our Republic is possibly the best evolution of governance for a people ever observed in history. We are right to be proud of our Republic, while mindful of its current and historic shortcomings; but we also must avoid the hubris that comes with excessive pride, as we realized the delicate thing that our Republic is.

    

    In answering the first question, we must determine how true the statement is that we are a republic. Too often we hear people say “we live in a democracy” or “this is an oligarchy”. Are these the true forms of the United States government? Or are they simply descriptors that can be added to the concept of a republic? Does saying we live in a democracy ease the feeling of helplessness some citizens must have, or motivate to action some citizens at the sight of perceived injustices? Does it provide a greater sense of responsibility and purpose for a citizenry that should be self-governed, although voter turnout has been historically low among the voting-eligible population (except for the years between the Civil War and the end of the 19th Century)? ^2,3

    For those who contend that we are governed by an oligarchy, as convincing as it may be in the current times, does that negate the existence of a republic? Or is our Republic shifting into a more dangerous form? This will have to be examined.

    To answer the second question, we need to look at the classical roots of the concept of the republic, or “res publica”, followed by the Renaissance ideas which helped shape the modern republics, after the long dark of empire, tribalism and monarchic feudalism. In doing so, we can also examine the patriarchal and elective merchant republics of the Middle Ages which managed to keep a semblance of self-government. From the Renaissance onward, as the concept of self-governance spread through Europe (hand in hand with the enlightenment and questioning of the Catholic Church as the final word on all things), republican values would become violent in many cases, or those espousing them would become the victims of violence. Our own Republic derives its lineage from these concepts.

    The third question will lead to some sobering thoughts. Many republics have fallen by the wayside on the road of history. Many have transitioned into horrific things (such as the Weimar Republic), or authoritarian regimes (the first Roman Republic), or have simply been absorbed (The Most Serene Republic of Venice). Ultimately, are these the three courses for republics? Does the promotion of the bourgeois which inevitably occurs in self-governance and a wealthy society lead to empire (the monarchy of the middle class) or tyrannical nationalism? Can we avoid these fates and what safeguards are there to prevent them?

    My next entry will attempt to examine, and answer, the first question. 

1. "Political Polarization, 1994-2017 | Pew Research Center." 20 Oct. 2017, https://www.people-press.org/interactives/political-polarization-1994-2017/. Accessed 21 May. 2020.

2.  "national-1789-present - United States Elections Project." http://www.electproject.org/national-1789-present. Accessed 21 May. 2020.

3.  An interesting consideration in voter turnout among the voter eligible population is the decrease in voter turnout until approximately 1920 when women achieved suffrage, causing an increase, but one which could likely be considered a baseline increase.