Within the past six months we have seen one of the most incredible demonstrations of democracy in the world, and it is something that happens, at least, every four years. That demonstration is the peaceful election of our national leadership. More specifically, in November of 2012 we saw the re-election of our president. Whether or not you are a supporter of President Obama we can all stand in awe of the system that governs our land. So many other countries do not experience peaceful transitions of power and they are certainly not on such a regular basis.
It is interesting to note that, historically, voter turnout for Presidential elections is far higher than the mid-term elections of Senators and Representatives. For instance, according to a study by the New Policy Institute, in 2008 (a Presidential year) the voter turnout was 67% for voters over the age of 30 and 51% for voters between 18 and 29. Compare that to the 2006, mid-term elections which saw a turnout of 54% and 25.5% respectively. This trend is basically the same as one goes back to 1972. Now, this little tidbit of information would allow one to draw the conclusion that Presidential elections are more important than Congressional ones. Why? In my opinion, it is because we have come to believe that the real power of our government lies in the executive branch. I will admit that over the past century or so this has become more and more the case. However, according to the Constitution the reality is altogether different.
Before I go any further in the exploration the question of who runs our country I want to lay some groundwork first. Please hang with me because I think the effort will pay dividends as we move along.
First of all, despite what most have come to believe about our form of government, we do not live in a pure democracy. That's right, our government is not really a democracy in the truest sense of the word. There are a few different ways to describe our government from "Constitutional Republic" to "Democratic Republic." Whatever term you choose the bottom line is that we elect, democratically, representatives who carry out the business of governing as public servants. Of course, one could debate the nature of a servant that makes $400,000 per year (President) or $175,000 per year (Representative) but that is beside the point. In a pure democracy everything would be up for vote and we would probably spend the better part of our lives at the ballot box. Of course, the founders also knew that pure democracy could quickly degenerate into "moboacracy" and wisely framed a different system.
The next important point that must be made is that we, in the United States, have a beautiful document called the Constitution. You may have heard of it, even though it is fading from common usage. The basic purpose of the Constitution was to carefully define the role and limits of the government and guarantee the citizens maximum freedom. Never forget, the Constitution was made for you and I, and our benefit. It was designed, especially the Bill of Rights, to protect us from an overreaching government. Within that document, which is made up of only a few pieces of parchment, you have all the major aspects of our government; the legislative, judicial and executive branches.
Now, if we begin to look at the Constitution, as it was ratified, we begin to see some things that are not immediately apparent to the modern American. Regarding the topic at hand, one thing that stands out is that it took the framers ten articles to define the role of the legislative branch while it only took four for the executive branch. Just by sheer volume this tells me that the framers wanted to vest the most power in the legislative branch. Why? Because that branch most accurately represented the people of the "many states." One can almost look at it like a pyramid. The House of Representatives is the largest body within the government and it is also the portion that is directly elected by the people. This means our "local" interests are given a fair voice in the national scene. Here comes the fun part. Next, we have the Senate which is made up of representatives who were selected by the state legislature (Thanks to the 17th amendment this is no longer the case). This gave the individual states a voice in the national governance. Finally, the President was to be elected by a group of electors from each state the number of which was determined by the combination of Representatives and Senators from the "many states." These electors would be representative of the local desires of the people and they alone would vote for the president. This, of course, sounds completely alien to we who are used to casting our ballots for president. The beauty of this system is seen in the fact that it would not be a "winner take all" situation like we have now.
All of that being said, the framers of the Constitution clearly wanted the legislative branch to be the workhorse of the government. They are given the most power to carry out business and nearly everything was supposed to originate in Congress. Yes, the President had to sign off on laws and treaties (good checks and balances) but the role of the executive was exactly as the name implies, execution of the will of Congress. The sad reality is that most Americans have no idea that Congress is far more important to the direction of the country than the President. We have become so accustomed to hearing presidential candidates claiming that they'll do this and that, and making promises that they have no Constitutional ability to make good on. It is my opinion that if most voters had even a basic understanding of the Constitution they would see most campaign promises for what they are...swill.
This is why all elections are so vitally important, especially congressional elections. Yes, the President does have veto power (another great check and balance). However, Congress can override a veto by a two-thirds majority (Article I section 7). All laws, taxes and declarations of war come only from Congress, not the President, along with a long list of powers. This is the balance that our founders discovered. Power was not vested in one person which would lead to the same tyranny they fought against, and the sometimes dangerous tides and currents of the public as a whole would be checked by a smaller group of elected officials. The very heart of our government is found on Capital Hill in the two houses of Congress.
To be sure, many things have changed in the intervening years since the Constitution was ratified. Many of these changes were for the better. We no longer have slavery and all citizens over the age of 18 are now allowed to vote. However, some of the changes have not been so positive and have only served to degrade the original intentions of our founders and ultimately have resulted, and will continue to result, in the loss of much of our freedom. Our Founding Fathers envisioned a grassroots type of governance where local elections meant the most and where Congress held the real power in the nation. The challenge for us today is to return to that vision and make each and every vote count. We not only need great men and women of courage and integrity to run for office, but we need to put them there and entrust to them our national leadership.
RV
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