UPDATE: My slot on Political Vindication Radio described below has been postponed for one week. PLease tune in next Tuesday, October 14th.

This Tuesday (October 7th, 8:00 CDT), I will be a guest on Political Vindication Radio. Always an honor to sit in with Frank and Shane. This week's topics: some discussion on the Palin-Biden debate and a few thoughts on democracy.

In that vein, here is a snippet of a conversation from last week on Osler's Razor (following the House vote in the negative on Monday). I averred that, "the will of the people is not always the same as the public interest. This is why self government based on representation by courageous statesmen is far superior to the tyranny of the majority (see James Madison et al, 1787)."

Professor Osler countered:

Madison knew what he was doing. He constructed a government (through the Constitution) with two features that play directly into this outcome:

1) The lower house of the legislature would be elected, in whole, every two years.

2) All spending bills must originate in that lower house.

Madison, then, said that spending would be controlled by people who are constantly up for election. That seems to me to be a system which demands that proposed spending bills respond to the desires of the electorate, which is what happened today.


I replied:

Your historical analysis is spot-on concerning the Lower Chamber; it really is (as intended by Madison) the people's house.

On the other hand, Madison knew there would be rare times when even the House needed to defy the People and take its lumps.

The [Rescue] was/is a moment when representatives need to lead rather than follow.

A statesman who loves his office more than the public good is a politician. We had a few too many politicians in this country this afternoon [last Monday].

Professor Osler had also taken me to task for my lack of "faith...in small government, the will of the people, or the basic and broad intelligence of Americans."

As for the "broad wisdom of the people," it is amazing to me how often it really is correct. Our history of "getting things right" collectively so often over time is almost enough to make one believe in Providence.

However, there are also numerous instances in which the broad wisdom of the majority is just flat wrong: 200 years of insensitivity on race comes to mind.

Also, I think this thread [Osler's] began with you chastising popular ignorance on offshore drilling. A large majority of Americans demand offshore drilling. Should they be given their head?

A more optimistic (or perhaps pessimistic) reading of democracy is that this week may bring an abrupt awakening. The people are feeling like this is someone else's problem right now. If the crisis begins to snowball in the days to come, we may very well see a throbbing electorate feeling suddenly at risk and clamoring for action.

End Loose Quote.

In closing, let me be clear, Madison was no fan of democracy. The democratic revolution of the early nineteenth century was Jeffersonian and Jacksonian--not Madisonian. The Constitution throws a bone to democracy with the Lower House, but, in truth, the framework of 1787 was established to hold back democracy, "to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity...."

As Madison and Alexis de Tocqueville well knew, there are some serious perils to democracy. Join us for the conversation on Tuesday [NEXT TUESDAY--see note above)--or listen to the archive (as, unfortunately, the program runs concurrent to the McCain-Obama debate).