At the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, anxious Philadelphians reportedly
gathered outside Independence Hall after the proceedings ended in order to
learn what had been produced behind closed doors. A Mrs. Powel asked Benjamin
Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Without any
hesitation, Franklin responded, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”
Perhaps the story is apocryphal, but nonetheless it is a
good one to have in mind on Independence Day.
Without doubt, Americans have faced far more trying times
than those we face today. No need to recount them here. But during this
election year, there is no doubt as well that many Americans are dissatisfied
with the direction in which our country is headed and fearful about its future prospects.
And very many – myself included – are dissatisfied with the choices we likely will
have this election day to fill the highest office in the land.
The rule of law, the fabric that binds together our
constitutional Republic seems strained. Take but this one prominent yet
striking example: In 2014, President Obama rejected entreaties, as he had done
many times before, to essentially rewrite the substance of the nation’s
immigration laws through executive action. In doing so, he declared: “I am President.
I am not king. I can’t do these things just by myself. We have a system of
government that requires the Congress to work with the executive branch to make
it happen.” Then, less than a year
later, President Obama asserted authority to take executive action to do
exactly what he previously had expressly declared he lacked authority to do.
Just like an ancient English king – “just by myself” –exercising the royal prerogative.
What are we to make of such political maneuvering that
smacks so much of an “ends justify the means” modus operandi or mentality?
In this environment, the rule of law is undermined. You can
hear the echoes of Franklin’s admonition: “A Republic if you can keep it.”
More than any other single person, James Madison was responsible
for the Constitution’s drafting. So, on Independence Day, it’s worth considering
what this foremost Founder might think about our current state of affairs in
the context of the constitutional Republic created at the 1787 Convention. A
good starting point is Federalist No. 51, where Madison asked: “But what is
government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?” Madison
supplied one answer to this famous rhetorical question immediately after asking
it:
“If men were angels,
no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither
external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a
government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty
lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and
in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
In Federalist No. 10, Madison wrote darkly of the
“ambition” of men, their “mutual animosities” and “unfriendly passions,” and,
indeed, their propensity “to vex and oppress each other.” He recognized that
both individuals and interests – or “factions” as he put – naturally would seek
to gain the upper hand by aggrandizing their power. And relevant to this
election year, Madison warned against “unworthy candidates” who practice “the
vicious arts by which elections are too often carried.”
So Madison set about to devise a government that would take
into account this understanding of human nature. To counteract the effects of
faction and preserve popular government, he conceived a system of separate and
diffused powers, a federalist system in which “ambition” would counteract
“ambition.” Or, as he put it in Federalist No. 51, a plan “of supplying by
opposite and rival interests, the defect of better motives. . . .”
But Madison understood that even though he and his
Constitution-making colleagues had framed a government designed to provide the
best opportunity for free institutions to survive the machinations of ambitious
men, and even unworthy candidates, democracy’s survival ultimately depends on
something more than the structural design laid out in a paper document. It
depends as much on a shared understanding between our leaders and citizens that
there are lines in our politics that should not be crossed, or else people will
lose respect for the rule of law that undergirds the institutions created by
the paper document.
Given Madison’s understanding of the dark side of human
nature, what basis is there to hope that prudential lines in our politics will
not be crossed and the rule of law will be respected, especially in times when
passions run high? Madison rested his hopes on what he perceived to be a
duality in our natures, the existence of a noble side to rise above, if need
be, the dark side. Thus, shortly after
he wrote about the unfriendly passions and unbridled ambitions that drive men,
he wrote in The Federalist No. 55:
“[S]o there are
other qualities in human nature which justify a certain portion of esteem and
confidence. Republican government presupposes the existence of these qualities
in a higher degree than any other form. Were the pictures which have been drawn
by the political jealously of some among us faithful likenesses of the human
character, the inference would be that there is not sufficient virtue among men
for self-government. . . .”
Along with the diffusion of powers built into the
Constitution’s structure, it was Madison’s trust in what is sometimes called
“republican virtue” (note the small r) upon which he rested his hopes. Back
home in Virginia urging ratification of the proposed Constitution, he again
emphasized republican virtue:
“I go on this great
republican principle: that the people will have virtue and intelligence to
select men of virtue and intelligence. . . . No theoretical checks, no form of
government, can render us secure. To suppose that any form of government will
secure liberty or happiness without virtue in the people is a chimerical idea.”
On this Independence Day, it’s worth taking time to reflect
on Benjamin Franklin’s admonition: “A Republic, if you can keep it.” To keep
it, we must demand that our leaders act with honesty, prudence, responsibility,
and respect for the rule of law – in other words, with republican virtue.
And we must demand as much of ourselves as well.
PS – Best wishes from the Free State Foundation family to
you and yours for a safe and happy Independence Day!
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