Government

The Danger of Democracy

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

“Statues of Liberty” — oil painting by Beth Haynes

The United States is not a democracy, nor was it ever intended to be.
The United States is, as Benjamin Franklin put it, a Constitutional Republic.
The word “democracy” does not appear one time in either the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence – and for very good reasons:
Democracy [...]

What are the Legitimate Functions of Government?

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

What are the legitimate functions of government, and how do we know for sure?
How can we determine good politics from bad, smart political candidates from ignorant?
The answer: by defining our terms.
Governments are the body politic that have the power to make and implement the laws of the land, and humans are the only species [...]