Basic Principles of Democracy Under Attack
The attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 was a shocking reminder that our republic is very fragile. Those who tried to impede the Congressional certification of the 2020 election demonstrated a shocking lack of knowledge of and concern for the basic principles of American democracy.
This event prompted me to recall a question my eleventh grade Social Studies teacher at Red Bank High School asked our class on our first day many decades ago: “What are the basic principles of democracy?”
Of course, we were unable to answer, so a large part of the curriculum for the year involved discussing and memorizing them. At the end of the year, our teacher told us that our final exam would include the question she started the year with. Needless to say, I aced that question, and the answers have stuck with me ever since.
Unfortunately, I suspect that very few high school and college graduates can recite or list the basic principles of democracy. Particularly disturbing is the fact that unlike 40 other states, New Jersey does not require school districts to provide a specific course in civics. To address this issue Senate Bill S854 sponsored by Senator Shirley K. Turner would require civics instruction in middle school and authorize the New Jersey Center for Civic Education to provide curricula, professional development and technical assistance for middle and high school civics.
The state senate last month unanimously passed S854, and it now awaits review by the Assembly Education Committee. I strongly urge its passage. Meanwhile, for your information and that of educators interested in following my teacher’s example, here is her list of the basic principles of democracy:
1. All persons are created equal.
2. All persons are endowed with natural rights, including life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the ownership of property.
3. The people are guaranteed freedom of religion, speech, assembly, and the press.
4. No person can be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, including trial by jury.
5. Government is by consent of the governed through freely elected representatives (the highest vote getter being sworn in to office).
6. The people may change their government by amending the constitution from which it derives its powers.
John D’Amico is a former Monmouth County Commissioner, State Senator, and retired Judge of the Superior Court
Excellent, Your Honor. My high school civics class (In 1970) was a freshman elective, which I found out too late, was geared to the lower level of academia. I could have taught the course. As such, simply requiring civics to be taught will not guarantee a standard of instruction. Moreover, our educational system has chosen to support and promote one political party and, therefore, will undoubtedly skew any civics course toward their views.
Recently, it has been the public’s lack of knowledge of our governmental and political systems, processes and foundation that has enabled conspiracy theories to flourish. This problem has also been exacerbated by the absence of an impartial media that chooses to use their platform to promote their opinions rather than reporting the unbiased facts.
The challenge will be substantial. Over the last few decades, the State Legislature has mandated so many topics and subjects to be taught that it is simply impossible to give any of them appropriate treatment during the course of the school day (or year). The first step must be to review all of the legislative mandates, determine which have actual importance to the development of an informed citizen and create a way to instill civics within a current course of study.
As for the principle of democracy, we need to add #7: These principles must be applied universally, consistently and impartially. You cannot apply them selectively when they suit your needs.
Great column!
I find it interesting that the that in the second “Principle of Democracy”, unlike the original “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”, this judge has included the additional “Right of Property”. It may be the case that people are unaware of the historical significance of that. The reason that was fought over and left out of our Constitution, was that the southern colonies had wanted that “property” included was because of their insistence that people could be considered “property” (slaves). That remained as such until the insurrection broke out in 1861, and lo and behold in the Constitution of the Confederate States, sections of that document make clear what “property” they are referring to. Take for example this part: Article IV Section 2(1)
The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States; and shall have the right of transit and sojourn in any State of this Confederacy, with their slaves and other property; and the right of property in said slaves shall not be thereby impaired. This is a throwback to the European Oligarchical Idea that people are the property of the reigning Monarch. The U.S. Constitution identified a new idea, that “All men (people) are endowed by their Creator with Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. I hope this learned judge might revisit our history and his inclusion of “The Property Question” on the question of Democratic Rights.
Of course, the right to ownership of property no longer encompasses human beings. It contemplates ownership of real and personal property. Space limitations did not permit me to cite the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR), which recognizes the right to protection of property, including the right to “just compensation”. The ACHR also prohibits usury and other exploitation. Article 21 of the ACHR states:
(1) Everyone has the right to the use and enjoyment of his property. The law may subordinate such use and enjoyment to the interest of society.
(2) No one shall be deprived of his property except upon payment of just compensation, for reasons of public utility or social interest, and in the cases and according to the forms established by law.
(3) Usury and any other form of exploitation of man by man shall be prohibited by law.
I note that in the American Convention on Human Rights, the issue of Usury is brought up, yet such Usury is rampant throughout our society today. One need only look at the way in which as we have lost the ability to supply high wage skilled jobs to a growing population, the increase in use of credit cards whose interest rates clearly qualify as Usury, remain unchecked and American families fall farther and farther into poverty. The ability to put a roof over ones families head, or even able to afford a car for transportation is all determined by your credit score, just another way of determining your value or worth, just like the slaves and indentured servants of earlier days. I had worked with Senator Turners office on the issue of a Senate Resolution regarding demanding of Congress they restore the Glass/Steagall Banking Act that had been used for over 60 years to have stable, regulated, banking and not allow banks to speculate with depositors money. The clear need to do this after the 2007-2008 Financial Crash, to this day has been ignored in any measure by both the Republican and Democratic parties, despite input that had seen the call for that inserted in 2016 into both parties platforms. The need to do that today is more imperative as we continue to watch and wait as this newest financial bubble has reached astronomical heights and no real physical economic recovery is anywhere on the horizon. Upon whose backs will fall the burden of the next financial collapse. Will we give the trillions that are needed to rebuild our systems of rail, clean water, roads, bridges, tunnels, hospitals, and other projects, as we have shown in defeating this Coronavirus, or will we continue to bail-out those who have truly infected the nation with this hideous financial disease of Usury, War, and Poverty.
I agree.