Republicanism and Aristocracy

The third aristocracy identified by McLaughlin is a cultural aristocracy embedded in media, entertainment, higher education, and increasingly in corporations and public school. To the extent that this aristocracy projects values and rules that are in conflict with a large portion of the population, there is a reaction similar to the reaction to the previous political and economic aristocracies.

A Carefully Constructed Republic

Nov. 07, 2021

The critical point is not that we are simply a republic and not a democracy, but that we are a very carefully constructed republic, reflecting an understanding of human nature, with numerous firewalls that are designed to prevent the democracy from degenerating into anarchy and tyranny.

The Need to Say ‘No’

Jan. 16, 2021

What distinguishes a republic from a democracy is recognition of the need to say ‘no’ to the majority every now and then.

Was Madison Wrong?

Mar. 30, 2018

Madison was correct that a dispersal of special interests over a large land mass could protect a republic from tyranny, but he failed to foresee that special interests are no longer restrained by mere distance and geography. They now exist in the cloud.

The Limits of Politics

Aug. 18, 2016

from Ron Johnson at the Wall Street Journal, Too Many Politicians Try to Hide the Real Problem Our Founders, who fought to free themselves from dictatorial monarchies and aristocracies, understood that as government grows, freedom necessarily recedes. Because our schools

A Principal Agent Problem

Aug. 17, 2016

From Glenn Reynold in USA Today, Who’s to blame for Hillary and Donald? And, of course, voters are to blame, too. One of the flaws of democracy is something called “rational ignorance.” Voters know that their individual vote isn’t likely

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