Prologue

• Author: Jack Fruchtman
• Profession: Professor of Political Science and Director of the Program in Law and American Civilization at Towson University, Maryland
• Pages: 13-18

The United States Constitution is the oldest, continuous, national

republican document in existence today. It was not the first. Republics,

or mixed regimes as they are also known, existed long before the

Americans crafted theirs in 1787. Most did not last very long. In the

ancient world, the Roman republic collapsed when it degenerated into

empire. During the Renaissance, the Florentine republic in Italy

survived a mere 14 years, from 1498 to 1512. It dissolved when the

powerful Medici family, which had once ruled Florence, re‐established

a dictatorship. According to the classical republican tradition, republics

were fragile political organizations, because the critical balance bet-

ween the various branches of government could easily crumble when

one or two dominated the others. The Americans modeled their

constitution on the British government with its one‐person executive

and two‐part legislature. The British failed to create a true republic,

because a hereditary monarch led the executive branch and hereditar y

aristocrats controlled the upper house, the unelected House of Lords.

Large landowners controlled the House of Commons and only a few

men possessed the right to vote. Americans believed that after sepa-

rating from the British Empire, they could create a true republican

structure where citizens participated in decision‐making and enjoyed

peaceful transitions of power.

The Constitution created a democratic republic, not a democracy. In

a democracy, citizens vote directly on government policies, while in a

republic, they elect representatives to develop policies on their behalf.

Vestiges of democracy remain in America. They include the New

England town meeting when residents directly vote on issues, such as

Prologue