Representative

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How Representative Government Prevents Tyranny

Every use of human power must be restrained and directed toward the good, as opposed to self interest or the bad.

Consent gives rise to representation. Why would that give a control on the government? Government is a monopoly and its going to have a monopoly on force. However, it can’t really do anything unless you say it can. The first step in the American government was the Declaration of Independence.

If a lot of people are going to make the decisions, they need some form in which they can indicate, authoritatively, what they agree to. That’s why we need a Constitution. It describes the process through which the ordinary laws would be made. It’s described in the middle of the Declaration of Independence.

Consent requires representation. Representation requires a written way for that to happen. For a large country, representative government is required because there are too many people for a democracy. Since they can’t all meet personally, they must elect representatives.

The founders knew that democracy fails because it leads to rule by the majority without protection of minority interests. It becomes tyrannical and can’t control factions. The interest of a faction is in violation of someone else’s interest,or of the public interest.

If you have a constitution, you can spread the decisions out over time, and space (with representation you can have a bigger country). Everyone can have a say because they don’t have to go to the location of the government all the time.

Reason alone of the people must be placed in control of the government,their passions must be controlled by it. - James Madison

Representative government requires a society separate from the government.