What Did the Founders Say About Democracy?
The story goes that Benjamin Franklin was approached by a woman as he left the Constitutional Convention [1. Recorded by Constitution signer James McHenry in his diary which was reprinted…
Majorities Don’t Always Know Best
Did you ever seek to persuade your mother to let you do something by telling her that “everyone else is doing it”? Mothers all over the world are prepared for that one! “If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would that make it all right for you to leap off it as well? Clearly, an [...]
A Republic If You Can Keep It
The story goes that Benjamin Franklin was approached by a woman as he left the Constitutional Convention (1, 2). She asked, “What have you given us?” Franklin is said to have replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” This exchange was common knowledge 50 years or so ago, as commonly taught to schoolchildren as [...]