Our Republican Constitution (Randy E. Barnett)

[@eltrango]

I just discovered your podcasts, I will be going through all your material. Thank you.

[@Shutterbug17689]

The biggest problem with a simple "majority rules" is that classic case of the two wolves and a sheep voting on dinner- Granted this is a worst-case scenario, but it is an inevitability. The biggest problem with a republic is that private interests can bribe only a small amount of people to get things that benefit them, but not the overall national health. Again, it's a worst-case scenario, but one that we can see in action with at least one person in the national election scene. The question is how do we deal with either of these problems?

[@sean_thomson]

The US used to be much less democratic upon its inception. The Senate for example used not be apart of the democratic process. Once it did become democratic the years a specific senator served increased tremendously to semi lifelong positions in many cases. Most people are not well equip to understand national politics or the repercussions of their decisions as it generally goes beyond our scope/knowledge. Combine this with the transitory nature of an elected official and the consequences of their particular action are not tied directly to them as the consequences could be faced a decade or two later. This reduces the incentives for politicians to wonder about the nature of their actions in general. Both problems are circumvented when you further limit and divide the roles and reduce the geographical span of a particular governance. If the national government was only strictly tied to military operations and treaties. The scope and purpose becomes clearer when "shopping" for a national senator, it becomes something we can understand. If we break down what each level can touch to manipulate that specific level of governance is easier to measure. If the majority of the legwork is being carried by the regional governments, the problems presented are better handled due to the fact that you have a much smaller population monitoring issues that relate directly to them. So while the problem doesn't go away the ability knowledge of the voter base increases and the range of topics associated with a position dwindle to pertain more towards the specific region or role.

[@reecealeck8314]

@11:12 why not have a fixed constitution that cannot be changed that not only governs the governed but governs all the people. This will eliminate the need wonder if a law is “constitutional” and limit the need for “interpretation”. Fix law