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"[Americans'] habits, opinions, customs, and convictions are ... the real cause which renders that people the only one of the American nations that is able to support democratic government."
Democracy in America, Volume I Chapter XVII: Principal Causes Maintaining The Democratic Republic—Part IV, Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835

Republic And Democracy [RAD]

Most of us have a hard time explaining the difference between republic and democracy in America. In fact, most of us tend to define America as a democracy ... the "majority rule" thing and all that.

And yet, we have watched attempts to "set up democracies" fail again and again around the world as if they were missing some prerequisite that must be present if democratic government is to arise and endure in a nation. And furthermore, if we are totally honest, we might even go so far as to admit that democracy right here in America seems to be "failing" or at least not functioning for all of us. Why is this?

Reviving our republic

In the quotation above, de Tocqueville identifies America as a "democratic republic". His choice of words reveals what most of us never knew or have long forgotten:

Before Americans could be democratic [adjective],
they had to form a republic [noun].

And not just any republic ... but a republic with "habits, opinions, customs, and convictions" that are able to support democracy as a stable and enduring form of self-government.

One analogy that can help us understand these truths is the tree. Just as a tree's root structure must support and nourish the expanse of its branches which in turn nourish the roots, so a republic with sufficient and functioning roots must exist to support and nourish democracy as a form of government that is stable and enduring. And that democracy must in its turn continually serve and nourish the republic on which it stands. Republic And Democracy in America are distinct but inseparable ... the vital noun and the key adjective in our civil dialogue.

Recovering our democracy

 It will be impossible to recover a functioning democratic form of government in America until we revive our failing republic. But the promise is that once we do revive our republic and recover our democracy, that democracy will continue to strengthen our republic ... in a virtuous loop ... as long as we remember [across our generations] that Republic And Democracy in America must prosper together or else both will fail. So how should we begin?

Reversing our curse

In his Farewell Address, George Washington declared what still seems important. 

"With slight shades of difference, you have the same Religeon, Manners, Habits and political Principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together. The independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint councils, and joint efforts; of common dangers, sufferings and successes. ... [Therefore] accustom yourselves to think and speak of [this] as of the Palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our Country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts."

And although history would soon unmask the deep and disturbing conflicts between Washington's noble [if misleading] words and the divisive [if unspoken] realities of life for the majority [and the minorities] in early America, most of us can and want to affirm what he was pointing towards:

the honest acknowledgment and acceptance of our cultural differences while seeking to find a basis for and the limits of our common cause in the universal human struggle to establish liberty and justice for all as the only true foundation for the security and prosperity of any.

But it appears that Washington's vision for America is receding as the Republican And Democratic political parties [both controlled by the same elite special interests] work overtime in America and around the world to destroy the republic and subvert democracy by sowing seeds of division and fanning flames of alienation among the common people from whom republics arise and by whom democratic governments are sustained.

It is time to replace our indiscriminate and unthinking practice of political party-line voting with Washington's "jealous anxiety" for the various republics and democracies [at all levels of social aggregation] which bind us together in a series of functional and enduring commonwealths each of which derives its strength ["kratos"] from the common people ["demos"] who compose it.

a RAD-ical way forward

If this suggestion seems radical ... it is. However, "radical" does not mean "unorthodox" or "untested" ... it means "rooted". And for America we need to understand and reestablish our roots ... in Republic And Democracy ... not political parties. Our politics must detach from pragmatic partisanship and re-attach to principled policies thoughtfully entertained and established one person and one issue at a time.

We must no longer allow ourselves to be captured and subverted by scheming institution of power with deceit-filled agendas that serve some at the expense of others.

So if you are ready to consider a new way forward, use this blog site to learn more about what we are trying to do at RAD ... and tell others who have had enough of the political party status quo that there is an option which will at least improve our understanding of the tasks we must face ... together.