We Are No Longer a Democratic Republic.

The title assertion comes from a paper published in 2014 by two University professors. If we are not a “Democratic Republic,” what are we?

In their paper “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens,” Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page conclude, “The American public actually have little influence over policies our government adopts.”

The paper went viral back in 2014, when it was published, probably with the assertion made in the last three lines, “…But we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.” The paper reads ready for erudite analysis with many technical terminology not analyzed here and graphs that lend technical support to their conclusion.

The viral storm was not without many refutes from public sources; however, to note here, none that I read could refute the technical analysis presented in the original paper.

The storm and refusals are to be expected in a healthy society where diverse opinions are held. Ours is suspect due to the lack of long-term unethical behavior of our press.

While these findings are critical support to the way people have “seen” the government’s behavior of manipulation, we did not have solid proof of how this was so. This paper proves the “smells” this author has noted and asserted in previous posts coming out of the “swamp.”

This paper also verifies, with solid proof, the unethical behavior of the government since 1913, regardless of party affiliation.

Why without party affiliation? No government or politician until today has come out and spoken as clearly as Vivek Ramaswamy about returning the government back to its proper roots.

Everything today is measured based on poles taken based on the partisanship of people, which are aligned with the “politicians preaching” think you want to hear to get your vote. NONE discuss how far away from the Constitution we are.

Today, politicians “know” they have your vote if you are a registered Democrat or Republican; when they speak or debate, they are not talking to registered voters; they are talking to “Independent” voters. They can swing their election one way or the other.

However, as noted in the paper, central to this discussion, we are all behaving like “serfs,” automatons, an “automatic gift to career politicians” without any real basis or belief on our part.

On the other hand, we are, with the “grace” of the entire government, including SCOTUS (Amdt1.7.11.5 Lobbying)

“To lobby means generally to try to persuade a government official . . . in an attempt to influence some action proposed to be taken. 1 In its most basic form, lobbying is a form of petitioning the government,2 a right protected under the First Amendment.3”

SCOTUS found the broadest terms possible to allow it! Further, “Super PACs” allow Super Money to be spent on behalf of the candidates of their choice. Look at the numbers below! they are in the BILLIONS!!

We are sending our preferred candidates $10.00, $100, and$1,000, and think, “we are in control of this ship?

There is another onion to peel here as well — the so-called “Parties” arrange “meetings” where they invite the “feasible” candidates to meet the Super PACs so the candidates can “lobby” for money.

“Super PACs are a relatively new type of committee that arose following the July 2010 federal court decision in a case known as SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission.

Technically known as independent expenditure-only committees, super PACs may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations and individuals, then spend unlimited sums to overtly advocate for or against political candidates. Unlike traditional PACs, super PACs are prohibited from donating money directly to political candidates, and their spending must not be coordinated with that of the candidates they benefit. Super PACs are required to report their donors to the Federal Election Commission on a monthly or semiannual basis — the super PAC’s choice — in off-years, and monthly in the year of an election.

As of October 24, 2023, 2,476 groups organized as super PACs have reported total receipts of $2,737,855,088 and total independent expenditures of $1,365,474,321 in the 2021–2022 cycle.”

How is the SYSTEM Broken?

Two parts of the system are broken:

A. Within the Constitution — Congress can pass laws that are later found to be unconstitutional by SCOTUS. However, there are existing laws that were passed that were later found to be unconstitutional — as can be seen with the Abortion laws that were changed recently. There are existing Laws that ought to be UNCONSTITUTIONAL still in the books. Because of them, we are no longer in charge.

B. Without the Constitution — The government has an appendage called “The Administrative State” or “The 4th Branch,” which acts with impunity within the government.

A. Within the Constitution

The issue with “A” is thorny. I will try to write on this subject, but nobody will be happy. Most of us see the world in our minds as “Down and In” vs “Up and Out.” Meaning that, we internalize certain “truths” we find hard to change — ergo, if I have to live with something (a Law) I am not happy about.

To see that issue from a higher perspective, we must recognize that our Democratic Republic will always be a “Work in Progress” government.

Separation of powers limits the possibility of arbitrary excesses by the government. The limit being the sanction of all three branches is required for the making, executing, and administering of laws.

Our government is a self-limiting government, and as the government goes — “IF IT IS BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE, AND OF THE THE PEOPLE, we are good and can continue to work for a better tomorrow.

The BIGGEST AND REAL THREAT we have today is, due to the LOBBY and SUPER PAC laws in the books — it is no longer our Government — it is theirs. These people will forever let us believe we are in charge for as long as possible — “let the minions fight.” They know what they got.

B. Without the Constitution

The issue with “B” is cut and dry. I have been hammering on that since I started writing in Medium. However, it may be worth refreshing it from the “System” is broken angle.

The bottom line today is that when you sum up the existing issues that we are living with, it meets the definition of an OLIGARCHY.

Not only do we have “A” to FIX, but now we have a bigger issue that people with money DON’T CARE ABOUT — “B.” (they can fix anything with money).

We have a Government within a government that rules us.

PEOPLE

We have many serious issues to fix. The bottom line is —

We have to make a radical change in leadership if we want to right the ship. It is time for the OLD guard to go home. THEY GOT IT WRONG, AND WE ARE NOW NEAR WWIII.

As the old song from the sixties says…

“WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN?”