A Return to republican (small “r”) government
http://wichitaliberty.org/role-of-government/a-return-to-republican-small-r-government/ by Bob Weeks on March 29, 2006 In an article by the economist Walter E. Williams (Are we a republic or a democracy?) we discover the difference between a republic and a democracy:So what’s the difference between republican and democratic forms of government? John Adams captured the essence of the difference when he said, “You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; rights derived from the Great Legislator of the Universe.” Nothing in our Constitution suggests that government is a grantor of rights. Instead, government is a protector of rights.
Thomas Jefferson: On [r]epublican government
Primary Source Document
The philosopher John Taylor (John Taylor of Caroline), who had stood with Thomas Jefferson through 20 years of political conflict, completed his magnum opus, An Inquiry into the Principles and Policy of the Government of the United States, in 1814. Taylor intended the work to be a definitive answer to the theories of government of John Adams and the Federalists, and he sent a copy to his old friend and political ally. Jefferson read the book carefully and wrote a letter containing his comments to the author. The letter, dated May 28, 1816, contains a statement of Jefferson’s mature thinking on the subject of republican government. The indirect method of electing senators to which Jefferson refers was in effect until 1913, when it was changed by the Seventeenth Amendment. Continue reading »A Republican’s Primer
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/905385/postsJanuary, 2002 | detsaoT
Over the years, the concept of republicanism has been diluted by overt abuse of its name. I will seek to correct some of the misconceptions about this concept within this document. Please be sure to read the Disclaimers at the end of this document before sending me hate mail.
What is “Little-r” republicanism?
True republicanism (which I will refer to as Little-R republicanism) is the concept that decentralizes government power as much as possible, to the point of allowing local governments to have greater control over their citizens than central governments. It can also be called government by Local Rule. The concept of decentralization is an end result of the republican’s core belief that consolidation of power in large quantities in any area leads to massive corruption and widespread abuse of said power.
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They said it . . .
