Our Choice
What Kind of Government Do We Want?
Throughout the course of human history, governments have been instituted among the people by people for the benefit of people. But of course, exactly who is granted power to make the laws, who benefits from that power, and how that power is acquired and maintained has evolved over the course of time and place.
Governments, just like the people they serve, are organic structures. They are born, they live, and they die. The potential lifespan of a government can certainly be much greater than a human lifetime. While unstable governments may only last days or years, more stable governments may last generations, centuries, or even longer.
Just like the people they serve, governments are not perfect in their creation, but may, through the course of time and experience, develop and evolve to become more perfect or less perfect. Just like the lives of people, the life of a government is complicated because they are complex institutions composed of various aspects and elements that serve many different necessary functions.
And just like people, when certain vital elements of a government are weakened or are in decay, a crisis of health can result. If not resolved effectively, such a crisis can threaten the very survival of a government. But as with any crisis, a crisis in health of a government comes with both a great danger for a negative outcome and a great opportunity for positive transformation.
Some ten generations ago, American colonists were confronted with a great political crisis. They knew that the rule of King George III was oppressive, unjust, and illegitimate, and they believed it was their right and duty to form a new government. But how should they respond to the tyrannical rule of King George? Their response was an American Revolution that would last eight years and cost roughly 50,000 human lives. Their victory to establish America’s independence from Great Britain presented our Founding Fathers with a great opportunity: What type of government should be established for the new nation?
Upon the birth of this great nation, our Founding Fathers publicly set forth five self-evident Truths, or foundational principles upon which American government would be built in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence:
- that all Men are created equal,
- that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
- that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,
- that to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed,
- that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
There has always been some controversy over exactly whom Thomas Jefferson meant to include (and not include) when he penned those immortal words. But that controversy is irrelevant because, as Jefferson noted, the spirit and substance of these Truths are self-evident for all of humanity to bear witness: that all human beings are equal in our core humanity, that we all possess inherent human rights that are universal and preexisting, that it is the duty of government to establish and protect those rights, that a government is only legitimate if its powers are granted by the People, and that it is the right and duty of the People to change or even abolish their government if it fails to uphold these principles.
These self-evident Truths have not only transformed the governing of our great nation, they have literally transformed the history of the world!
Two hundred and forty-six years after those words were proclaimed, our government is in the midst of another great political crisis. Not only have One People been polarized and divided by the corrupt actions of two political parties, but the very democracy established for Us by our forefathers and foremothers is under direct assault by the extremists in both parties. But always remember that with great danger comes great opportunity. Thus, we are now presented with an incredible once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to modernize and transform our government!
But first we must consider just what kind of government we want. Below is a simple overview of a few types of government we have to choose from:
| Type of Government | Who Has Power to Make Laws | Who Benefits from that Power | How Power Is Acquired & Maintained |
| Pure Democracy | The Majority | The Majority | Direct voting on laws |
| Monarchy | King or Queen | Whomever the monarch favors | Bloodline |
| Theocratic Monarchy or Theocratic Republic (Theocracy) | Religious Leader Representing God | Those who follow the leader’s interpretation of religious texts | Self-appointed or chosen by religious leaders |
| Fascist Republic (Dictatorship) | Charismatic Leader (Dictator) | Whomever the leader favors | Fraudulent elections, intimidation, violence |
| Oligarchic Republic (Oligarchy, Plutocracy, or Aristocracy) |
Small Ruling Class (Elites, Wealthy, or Nobility) | Whomever the ruling class favors |
Elections controlled by the ruling class |
| Communist Republic | Elected Representatives from One Party | Whomever the party favors | Elections controlled by one party |
| Duopolistic Republic (Duopoly) |
Elected Representatives from Two Parties | Whomever the two parties favor |
Elections controlled by two parties |
| Democratic Republic (Representative Democracy) | Elected Representatives | Whomever the Constitution and the Supreme Court favors | Free and fair elections of representatives |
* Due to the endless variations of governments, this chart is meant to be conceptual, not definitional.
Which kind of government do you think best describes the United States today?
Do you have a favorite?
Or can you imagine something different?
Our mission is to Create a New American Government that Benefits and Improves the Lives of All the People for the 21st Century.