So what is a republic and how is it governed? The most important aspect of a republic is that it is not ruled by a monarch. A republic is truly a public form of government by which people act to establish common welfare. The republic form of government must be fully understood so the people forming that government understand their responsibilities and limitations. The public, as individuals and as a group must also self-regulate. For a republic to exist, people must exercise the self-control to understand what they can and cannot do.
If each constituent of a republic form of government does not understand what it means to act as a republic, the republic suffers. In other words, the failure of one affects the all.
In our republic form of government, we elect representatives to conduct our public affairs. Central to this form of government is the understanding that these representatives are elected to act on our behalf. I shy away from the term “official” or “ruling body” because it is important for us, the public, and our elected representatives to understand the representatives’ responsibilities. Plainly stated, our elected representatives are sent to Congress to represent us in matters of justice, domestic tranquility, common defense, general welfare, liberty, and posterity.
One of the key points we must remember is these elected officials represent the members of their district and no one else. These representatives are hired representatives who represent us in matters at the federal level so we all don’t have to go to Washington D.C. for ourselves. They are not to rule over us, they are not to tell us what we can and cannot do, they are representatives. Just as you might hire someone to represent your investments, your contractual rights, or your qualifications when seeking a job, these people are hired by a vote of the people to represent the voters’ interests at the federal level. They are not hired to bring their opinion into that representation. While they do have their own beliefs and opinions, they also have only one voice as a member of the collective public, so they should not be using their personal beliefs to speak for their constituents; rather, they should be using their voice to represent the beliefs of their constituents.
The job of representative is a tough one. While a representative may hold a certain opinion, they have a great responsibility to hold their tongue and represent the people who hired them through a popular vote to act on their behalf. Some representatives do that better than others. Some are able to walk that delicate line and some fail miserably. Some representatives only represent the members of their party, not all the people of their district. Some choose to represent people not included in their district. Some choose to represent people who are not even members of America.
The Constitution was ratified by a people who had a common interest to self-govern through representatives. It is the responsibility of those people to make sure their representatives are doing their jobs as representatives. If the people don’t take an interest in government they become subjects to their elected rulers rather than constituents of a government of the people.
The original framers of The Constitution considered defining the republic so important, that it is handled in the very first article of The Constitution. The requirements, term, and enumeration of the members of the House of Representatives are all defined in Article I, Section II. The Constitution expressly limits the number of representatives not to exceed to one for each thirty thousand residents. At present, each representative in the U.S. House of Representatives represents approximately 754,000 people. That’s more than 25 times the number of constituents envisioned by the original framers!
We need informed Americans to understand these underlying aspects of how our republic form of government operates, so we, as good members of that government, are able to effectively hire, by popular vote, representatives who can speak for us, not about us. How can a single person represent the interests, opinions, desires, and needs of 754,000 people? Very simply stated, they can’t.
As the population of the United States of America has grown, representation has been continually diluted. It is no wonder elected representatives feel a power bestowed by their office. Rather than representing what any rational person would agree is in and of itself a large number, 30,000, each representative now represents an opinion, their own or a persona assumed to achieve election, to appeal to the majority of voters. The system has been bastardized by lack of representation as controlled by the representatives themselves.
Our job as informed Americans is not to try to influence government, we are the rulers of this republic form of government. Justice, tranquility, common defense, general welfare, liberty, and posterity should be rationally discussed, our rights protected, and our interests considered. To accomplish that, we need to understand The Constitution, act in our own best interest, and inform our representatives how they are to represent us.
WE ARE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!