Professor Sanders
Govt. 2305
Governmental Perspectives: Rough Draft
The United States’ form of government is a controversial topic in this modern era and has been for decades. The big question “Is the United States a democracy, a republic or something else?” According to the article On Democracy in Our Republic by an unknown author, there is a logically reinforced thesis that the United States is a republic and not a democracy.
Supporting his claim he reminds American’s that their nation was founded on the principles of liberty and limited government; not on a democracy. He points to the daily reminders such as Liberty Coins, The Statue of Liberty and the pledge of allegiance; which says “and to the Republic for which it stands,” showing that America’s founding father wanted liberty, not democracy. …show more content…
Was written by Henry Steele Commager in 1958, refuting Beards former thesis statement. Refuting Beard, Commager states even if the delegate’s desires were for selfish reasons that only tells about the men and says nothing about the document itself.
Subsequently, Commager states that the convention was assembled and the Constitution created for political motives such as restoring order, strengthening the public credit, enabling commercial treaties and agreements, and providing conditions for trade and commerce to flourish, including the management of the Western lands and the Native Americans. The main problem though was figuring out how to distribute the power among the government. Making the Constitution an “essentially political document” countering Beards declaration of an “essentially an economic document.”
Stating that “these are all political, not economic functions.” Pointing out that imperial organization was another needed political factor. Commager argues that the Articles of Confederations failure concerning sanctions is what caused the delegates to call the Philadelphia