Commentary
At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Elizabeth Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin whether the newly declared nation of the United States was a republic or a monarchy. Dr. Franklin replied: “A republic, if you can keep it.” At the time, the central thesis of America’s public policy discourse was preoccupied with devising the world’s first modern human experiment of self-government.
However, the somber advice of safeguarding the experiment and our founding values of a constitutional republic is still relevant today. The longevity and health of a liberal democracy and a genuinely classical liberal society rest upon rational collective actions of informed and educated citizens whose individual pursuits of freedom, enlightenment, happiness, and private property largely align with the greater public good. In turn, an educated and well-informed citizenry is the most potent weapon against political factions, hyper-partisanship, and the tyranny of the majority….