America - Democracy or Republic?

When you think of America, what images come to mind? Do you think of the original founding fathers fighting the British, or killing the native Americans? Do you think of winning World War II, or losing Vietnam? Do you believe that you should keep all the money you make, or should you share it with others? When you vote, what side of the political fence do you think you fall on, and why?


In the political media, a lot of words are thrown around that seem to be mis-understood. Some say America is a Democracy, others call it a Republic. Do you know the difference? Look these words up. There is very little difference, and the difference is the Electoral College:


Democracy - "government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system."


Republic - "a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them."

Our government is supposed to be a reflection of who we are as individuals, where the majority's values are expressed through our nation. When you look at the Bush administration, you are looking at the (supposed) majority of American values, but given the flaw of the Electoral College, they may not represent the majority view. But do they actually reflect what Americans are becoming? Are we megalomaniacal, holier than thou, imperialistic, selfish, lying, petty hypocritical cheats? How did we let this happen?


All Americans can vote now, but the founding fathers set it up where only land owners could vote because they believed if you had a stake in the land, you would have a vested interest in the nation's success. If we updated our Constitution to allow the right of all to vote, we can update it to remove the flawed Electoral College. After all, don't you want your vote to count?