Judge Andrew Napolitano: The tyranny of the majority

Many of us are fearful of an out-of-control hybrid democracy, which is what we have in America today.

No liberty-minded thinker I know of seriously argues today in favor of a hereditary monarchy, but many of us are fearful of an out-of-control hybrid democracy, which is what we have in America today. I say "hybrid" because, there remains in our federal structure a few safeguards against run-away democracy such as, the equal state representation in the Senate, the Electoral College, the state control of federal elections and life-tenured federal judges and justices. Of course, the Senate as originally crafted did not consist of popularly elected senators. Rather, they were appointed by state legislatures to represent the sovereign states as states, not the people in them. Part of James Madison’s genius was the construction of the federal government as a three-sided table. The first side stood for the people -- the House of Representatives. The second side stood for the sovereign states -- the Senate. And the third side stood for the nation-state -- the presidency. The judiciary, whose prominent role today was unthinkable in 1789, was not part of this mix.