National Referendum: Direct Democracy

National Referendum:
Should the Constitution be ammended to allow direct democracy?

By: Maxie Bolton

PLS 135 - 22H
American National Politics
Mr. Walter Zeller
April 14, 2015

Shortly following the signing of the Constitution, in a response to a woman’s inquiry, Benjamin Franklin was asked what type of government the founders had created for us? His reply was “ a republic, if you can keep it” (Forefathers.com). In his book Citizen Lawmakers, David Schmidt tells us that Thomas Jefferson’s “strong support for establishing the process was based on his belief that the people are sovereign and should be the ones to agree to and approve any change to the one document, the consititution, that dictated the laws in which they would have to live…show more content…
If our founding fathers intened the Constitution to establish a republic government, why are we so quick to respond that our government is a democracy? Does our misunderdstanding of these two terms make citizens believe that we are entitled, by the supreme law of the land, our Constitution, to make decisions and write legislation ourselves instead of allowing our elected representatives to act on our behalf? Should the Constitution be ammended to allow for a national voting referendum such as many states have adopted? In the paragraphs below I will discuss and define some key points that will give a broader persepective on the benefits and limitations of direct democracy. To start, we must clearly define the difference between a republic and a demcoracy. A republic as defined by Webster is “a government in which supreme…show more content…
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