Our fleeting Republic
And how we can save it.
One of the greatest features of our government is the House of Representatives. Madison designed it to give power to the people. This helped balance power between the people and the wealthy and ruling class. He understood that small groups allowed the individual to be heard, so he designed the districts to be small and intended our house to add representation as our population grew. But we stopped. And that has led us on a dangerous path.
When we stopped expanding the house our republics groups (districts), which were intended by our founders to be small, grew larger. What this did was drown out the individual’s voice. It caused individuals to break off and create their own smaller groups so they could be heard. Special interests’ groups began to form, and they started to use their money to influence politicians. Starting in the 1970s our country redefined corruption in government through a series of supreme court rulings that culminated with Citizens United in 2010. Narrowly defining corruption as quid pro que, allowed those special interest groups the ability to funnel large amounts of money to politicians. Let’s say you live in a group (congressional district) in Iowa, your group doesn’t have any power now. The smaller groups that broke off now reside in Washington DC and are paid by people in NY or LA, they are the ones making the decisions. Now combine the lack of term limits and power gets even more centralized, Justin Amash could give more detail, but the speaker of the house controls the body. A government this entrenched in corruption, with so many disengaged from the process because of the broken, toxic system, was bound to elect a leader of Trumps behavior. He reflected what our government has become. And he used that broken system to gain power. If “the people” continue to be disengaged, the centralized power will become entrenched in our society and we will no longer be a republic, we will be a plutocracy or aristocracy.
How do we save our Republic?
1. Expand the House
2. Repeal Citizens United
3. Congressional Term Limits
If congress is corrupt, then who is going to save it?
First, I do not think everyone in congress is corrupt, the system is corrupt.
To grow our country, the work must be done by those who have been disengaged for so long. It’s a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” And if “the people” want the government to work for them, then “the people” need to step up and work for the government. It’s time to come together and get involved.