Ancillary Post No. 2
Minority rule means minority power. Minority power is the power of faction to dissolve the sacred cords of the democratic republic of the United States of America. Democracy results from resting the authority of government on powers granted by the people to the government. The fundamental maxim of democratic authority is that the will of the majority should prevail. Republicanism means investing certain members of the public with the deliberative authority to manage the inherent conflicts of a large and diverse population. The fundamental maxim of republican authority is that it serve to advance and protect “the permanent and aggregate interests of the community,” including the legitimate rights of the minority.
Madison defined faction as “a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.” (Federalist Paper No. 10) A political party is not the same thing as a faction. But it can become a faction, and the diagnosis is to be made by observing the symptoms laid out by Madison.
When the many members of a party no longer speak or exhibit independent thoughts, expressing or acting on independent opinion or judgement, they can be said to be united “by some common impulse.” When the expressions are consistently and plagiaristically abusive, derogatory, impertinent, or false, they can be regarded as “actuated by some common impulse of passion.” When they veer with the precision of pigeons from topic to daily topic, they can be judged “united by some common impulse of interest.” And when they repeatedly act to withhold access to election ballots, to healthcare, to adequate education, to safe and affordable housing, to safe and peaceable protest; when they repeatedly act to agitate hostility among various segments of the population, to heighten the nation’s anxiety for the tranquil security of a functioning government, it may be judged that they are united by a common impulse that is ” adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.” Then it may be rightly judged that that party has become a faction.
Senator Raphael Warnock debuted on the floor of the Senate on March 17, 2021. It was a sad day for his maiden speech, because just hours before his speech a young man shot and killed eight persons in the Senator’s home State of Georgia. The shooter was not black. The victims were not black. They were all USAmericans. Seven victims were women. Six were of Asian descent. The senseless horror of the acts — the shootings took place at three different locations — and the context of rising rates of Asian-American hate-crimes since the onset of Covid 19 assured that the day’s lead story fell there, somewhat overshadowing the Senator’s words.
As becomes the Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, his initial words expressed a sincere sorrow for the violence suffered by the dead and their families, and heartfelt expressions of comfort and condolence. His purpose, however, had been to contribute to the debate on policy, part of a Senator’s duty. In this instance the policy was contained in the bill on voting rights protections. What he contributed to that debate seemed to me to be closely aligned with my thoughts. Further befitting a preacher, his words shone a more elegant light than my own on one major facet of the thesis unfolding on this site. Consequently, I am moved to transcribe the nub of his remarks here and to recommend every reader to link to the video of Senator Warnock’s entire speech. If the transcription suffers, it does so by my weak power of taking dictation.
The right to vote is preservative of all other rights. It is not just another issue alongside other issues. It is foundational. It is the reason why any of us have the privilege of standing here in the first place. It is about the covenant we have with one another as an American people–e pluribus unum: out of many, one. It, above all else, must be protected.
Let me say as a man of faith, that I believe Democracy is the political enactment of a spiritual idea, the sacred work of all human beings–the notion that we all have within us the spark of the divine and a right to participate in the shaping of our destiny.
Senator Raphael Warnock on C-Span, 3/17/21
I also append a pertinent passage from Madison’s Federalist Paper No. 51:
“There are, moreover, considerations particularly applicable to the federal system of America, which place that system in a very interesting point of view.
“First. In a single republic, all the power surrendered by the people is submitted to the administration of a single government; and the usurpations are guarded against by a division of the government into distinct and separate departments. In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and then the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments. Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people. The different governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.
“Second. It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part.” (Emphases added)
The Long Clasp 