Part of the work that needs to be done involve expanding representation in the House. The average congressperson represents 600,000-700,000 people. I think the last time representation was expanded was in the 1920’s. I would also like to see the Supreme Court expanded to 13 justices to go with the 13 federal appeals courts that exist. I don’t think that an appointment to the Court should be for a lifetime. Add to that ridding the country of partisan gerrymandering and term limits and I think we might have a system that works for more people
Political mavens quibble over the terms republic and democracy. The underlying issue is whether self-government scales. Can a system of government designed in classical times to solve the problems of city-states work on a scale hundreds of times larger?
Another good column but I have to criticize the above comment which is reflective of the ludicrous comment by conservatives "we are constitutional republic not a democracy' b.s to be frank.
It also reflects the red-herring or straw man argument about implying that people that want democracy want DIRECT DEMOCRACY- seriously NOBODY is advocating that on the national level. It is relegated to New England villages, not the national level
Yes we have a constitution- but so does China and North Korea.
We are a republic- which merely means we are governed by representatives!
Rome before Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, also known as Augustus, was also a republic- but certainly not DEMOCRATIC. It was governed by 'representatives'.
The USA is the first to have representatives selected DEMOCRATICALLY- certainly not fully democratic at first but gradually more so with the end of Jim Crow and giving women the vote.
Part of the work that needs to be done involve expanding representation in the House. The average congressperson represents 600,000-700,000 people. I think the last time representation was expanded was in the 1920’s. I would also like to see the Supreme Court expanded to 13 justices to go with the 13 federal appeals courts that exist. I don’t think that an appointment to the Court should be for a lifetime. Add to that ridding the country of partisan gerrymandering and term limits and I think we might have a system that works for more people
Political mavens quibble over the terms republic and democracy. The underlying issue is whether self-government scales. Can a system of government designed in classical times to solve the problems of city-states work on a scale hundreds of times larger?
Another good column but I have to criticize the above comment which is reflective of the ludicrous comment by conservatives "we are constitutional republic not a democracy' b.s to be frank.
It also reflects the red-herring or straw man argument about implying that people that want democracy want DIRECT DEMOCRACY- seriously NOBODY is advocating that on the national level. It is relegated to New England villages, not the national level
Yes we have a constitution- but so does China and North Korea.
We are a republic- which merely means we are governed by representatives!
Rome before Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, also known as Augustus, was also a republic- but certainly not DEMOCRATIC. It was governed by 'representatives'.
The USA is the first to have representatives selected DEMOCRATICALLY- certainly not fully democratic at first but gradually more so with the end of Jim Crow and giving women the vote.