MONARCHY or one-man rule. Perversion of a Monarchy results in a 'dictatorship', when rule/s by that 'one man' does not or can not provide everyone under his rule/s satisfaction of all their wants, needs and desires. Some one or many factions will be left unsatisfied.

ARISTOCRACY, or rule by a select few. Aristocrats are a select few. Aristocrats are easily recognized, moreso obvious, because they hold much wealth/money, influencing the public at large to elect them, because they have demonstrated power, skill and prowess to accumulation of great wealth. Perversion of Aristocracy results when that elected few rule in their own self interest to preserve their wealth at the expense of the wealth of all others under their rule. Resultant 'self-interested' preservation of wealth by the aristocracy is the perversion named/called 'oligarchy'.

CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT: This form of government delineates, distinguishes and defines specific powers of the elected authority that makes the rules. Equally, this form of government delineates, distinguishes and defines the civil liberties of those who are ruled. Democracy was defined by Aristotle as perversion of Constitutional Government.

In his own words, Aristotle states the following:

"Of the above mentioned forms, the perversions are as follows: of royalty, tyranny; of aristocracy, oligarchy; of constitutional government, democracy. For tyranny is a kind of monarchy which has in view the interest of the monarch only; oligarchy has in view the interest of the wealthy; democracy, of the needy; none of them the common good of all.

"When the citizens at large administer the state for the common interest, the government is called by the generic name of constitutional government. And there is reason for use of this language. One man or a few may excel in virtue; but of virtue there are many kinds. As the number of rulers increases it becomes exceedingly difficult for them to attain perfection in every kind, though they may in military virtue, for this is found in the masses. Hence, in a constitutional government the fighting men have the supreme power, and those who possess arms are citizens."

Text of the Constitution of the United States defines the structure of its 'government' as a Republic, not a Democracy. The best argument against democracy by the Founding Fathers was provided by James Madison in Federalist Paper No. 10, as follows:

"...it may be concluded that a pure democracy, ...a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will, in almost every case, be felt by a majority of the whole; a communication and concert result from the form of government itself; and there is nothing to check inducements to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual. Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions."

The US Constitution of and by itself attempts to guard itself against its perversion into a 'democracy' by incoporating and balancing powers of the Monarchy and Aristocracy forms of government. Powers of the Monarch are given to the President. Powers of the Aristocrats to make law are given to members of the House and Senate (the US Congress). Powers of the military are held in-check by vesting a civilian President as commander-in-chief over the military. Further, by delineation, powers of the Office President are balanced against delineated power of the Congress.

Thus, a Republic, or the Republic form of government, can best be described as an extremely fragile condition of division and balance of the powers of government against delineated civil liberties of the individual citizen, including those upon which government has no power to infringe or deny.

Democracy, on the other hand, has no form, no structure, and no delineation of power by whom to whom, to make law, to administer law, or to punish for violation of law. As a consequence, democracy is a recipe for total chaos and confusion.

Upon leaving the Constitutional Convention that wrote the US Constitution, Benjamin Franklin was asked, "What kind of government do we have?". Old Ben answered, "A Republic, Madam, if we can keep it."

Bernard Palicki
May 2, 2002

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