The Framers of the Constitution & Republicanism



The Framers of the Constitution & Republicanism

The U.S. constitution establishes a republic. The framers chose the republican form of government over all other forms, including monarchy, aristocracy & direct democracy.

Americans often differed over what constituted a republican government. But they agreed in large part on the fundamental principles and elements of republican government:

• Republican government is limited. The powers of government are circumscribed to diminish the possibility of tyranny. In the Constitution, the framers set broach limits on the powers exercised by the national government over the states and over individuals.

• Republican government is representational. The exercise of power by government over citizens is legitimate only when citizens are represented in government by the elected members of legislative assemblies. The framers admired the representative institutions of the Roman Republic. They even named the U.S. senate for the Roman Senate. But they did not decide – and Republicanism offered no standard position on – the extent of representation (how many representatives for how many people), the responsibility of legislators (to their constituents, to their conscience, or to the public interest), or who would elect the representatives (the Constitution of 1787 – left this to the states).

On the issue of direct versus indirect representation, the framers were divided. The Constitution always has provided for the direct election of members of the House; but initially, U.S. senators were elected indirectly, chosen by members of their state legislature. Remember that the framers didn’t think too highly of the public’s character or of its ability to handle political power wisely. So, the framers chose not to expand the right to vote beyond what the individual states had established. Later, a series of constitutional amendments (15th, 17th, 19th, 23rd, 24th, & 26th), Supreme Court decision, and popular movements (particularly during the Progressive era) would democratize representation and expand the eligible electorate.

• In republican government, the people are sovereign. Those who support a republican government believe that the people at large create, authorize, and empower government, and that government must be accountable to the people. A government rooted in the people cannot act without the consent of the people. The word republic comes from the Latin res publica (“the public thing”), which means that government is a common enterprise, originating from and belonging to the people. Thomas Jefferson made this principle clear in the Declaration of Independence: “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed…Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government.”

1. Identify & briefly analyze three significant elements of the Constitution (including amendments) that embody the republican principle of limited government:

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2. Identify three significant elements of the Constitution of 1787 that embody the framers’ commitment to representation. What type of representation is each (direct or indirect)?

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3. Identify & briefly explain three amendments to the Constitution that expanded democratic representation, and explain what each amendment has accomplished.

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4. Identify one passage in the Constitution that expressed the republican principle of popular sovereignty.

5. Design a visual that illustrates your idea(s) of republicanism and representative democracy.

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