Ask how many days a year the governors are in control, and then ask how many days the people are. Constitutional scholar Bill Norton runs that question through every form of government and the answers are not what most Americans expect. A monarchy is 365 to 0. An oligarchy is 365 to 0. Anarchy is 0 to 0, because nobody is governing at all.
Then there is democracy: 365 to 1. One election day a year. Norton is careful here — that single day is an enormous leap forward from North Korea, and he refuses to wave it off. But it is still one day. And once you notice that nearly every political organization in the country, on both sides, spends all of its energy funneling toward that one day, the limits of the arrangement get uncomfortable.
A republic is supposed to be 365 to 365. Built for the people to be in the system all year, not just on a Tuesday in November. That is the definition Norton lands on: rule by balance.
Watch the full episode at jennybethshow.com. Get involved at teapartypatriots.org. Reach your senators at 202-224-3121.
00:00 — The Monarchy Question: 365 to Zero
00:57 — An Oligarchy Looks the Same as a Monarchy
01:10 — Anarchy Is Zero Over Zero
01:34 — Democracy Is 365 to 1
02:40 — Why That One Day Still Matters Enormously
03:28 — Every Organization Funnels Toward One Day
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