United States is not a democracy

To the editor:

I read the column “Democracy is a beautiful practice” in the Jan. 4 issue of the Pine Knot News and noticed the whole argument is based on a falsehood: that the United States is a democracy. It never was a democracy nor was it intended to be a true democracy. The United States is a federal republic, also known as a constitutional republic. It is “federal” in that it has a single national government as well as a collection of states and territories, each with its own government and empowered to enact local laws. It is a “republic” in that voters elect representatives and officials to act on their behalf.

Each state in the union is allowed only two Senators, so each state has equal representation regardless of its population. Then, each state has a minimum of one House Representative, with additional representatives in proportion to their population.

The Founding Fathers established the United States as a federal republic with a constitution to protect the rights of its citizens, ensure that the smaller states are well represented, and to ensure a stable government. They didn’t want the country to be dictated by just a few large-population areas while not including other areas of the country. If the United States were a democracy, the populations in New York and Philadelphia would have been enough to control the entire United States. The founders also knew that a true democracy is subject to rapid and dramatic changes, as the party in power can make dramatic changes and can take rights away from the people.

The Founding Fathers even followed this process when allowing constitutional amendments. Three-fourths of all the states, not the popular vote, are required to ratify an amendment.

In “Democracy is a beautiful practice,” the columnist talks about the electoral system as not doing the will of the people, and is not a true democracy. The United States is a federal republic with a constitution; we are not a democracy. If we forget or misrepresent the true foundation of our country then we slowly weaken it and our country will fail.

Richard Thuermer, Mishicot, Wis.