I sometimes have a habit of saying something in political discussions that throw others off. What I've come to find is that most people don't understand certain terms and the history of our political parties. Just so everyone in the dark can keep up with me and understand what I'm saying, I figured I'd write a short and simple something to explain a bit.
November 4, 2005
I'd like to take a moment and clear up some vocabulary and history. While I know there are plenty of people who already know this information, I've run into so many people who don't. It's things we should have learned in school, but most likely didn't unless we did the research for ourselves.
The two terms I'd like to discuss are "Republic" and "Democracy". For starters, they are two different forms of government. They closely resemble eachother, which is why they are used interchangeably today. However, the major difference between the two is so vital that it amazes me how anyone in their right mind would agree that spreading Democracy is a good thing. Let me explain, in the simplest way possible, for those who don't already understand.
A Democracy is a form of government where the majority has rule. There are elections and everything seems to be fair in that the people have a voice. A Republic works much the same. The difference? While a Republic works in the same way as a Democracy in that the majority has the rule, it also guarantees that the minority has their rights. So in other words: Republic equals majority rule with minority rights; Democracy equals majority rule and who cares about minorities? Understanding this, how could anyone agree to a Democracy? Especially the minorities of this country?
Again, the two terms are practically interchangeable in their uses today. When people talk about Democracy, they are most often describing a Republic. So while it bugs me that people, even minorities, preach Democracy, I know what ideas they have in mind and let it slide.
Now let's get to the history part of today's rant. The Republicans and the Democrats. Wouldn't a Republican want a Republic and a Democrat want a Democracy? But doesn't it most often seem the other way around? Here's where we need to do a bit of research. You see, that's exactly how it was at the beginning. However, at some point, the tables turned and opinions in the political parties shifted. Let's take a look at that.
Originally, when political parties were becoming a part of our government, the Republican party represented much what the Democratic party now represents. Back then, the Democrats strongly supported slavery and resented Reconstruction. Meanwhile, the Republicans were fighting to end slavery among other things. The South, also known as the "Solid South" was very Democratic while the North was mostly Republican. Over time, certain presidents and people of the political parties were slowly changing their views. The Republican party came to reflect Southern views while the Democrats were becoming more like Northerners.
If you were to take a look at just our presidents' views and parties you would see the changes. The views of many Republicans today are the opposite of the Republican presidents of the past. Instead, the Republican presidents of those days reflect the Democratic party of today. Meanwhile, the same can be said for the Democrats. What their views were in the past are the opposite of what they are today. The Democrats of the past are the Republicans of today. This is why it seems that Democrats are so concerned about civil and minority rights while the Republicans appear to be working against (or, at best, not caring about) them.
This is a very broad and simple explaination of this. I would recommend doing your own research into the history of the political parties to better understand what I'm pointing out here. Of course, you could always just take my word for it, but it's always so much better to use your own mind and see for yourself.
