A republic is the highest form of government devised by man, but it also requires the greatest amount of human care and maintenance. If neglected, it can deteriorate into a variety of lesser forms, including a democracy (a government conducted by popular feeling); anarchy (a system in which each person determines his own rules and standards); oligarchy (a government run by a small council or a group of elite individuals): or dictatorship (a government run by a single individual). As John Adams explained:
[D]emocracy will soon degenerate into an anarchy; such an anarchy that every man will do what is right in his own eyes and no man's life or property or reputation or liberty will be secure, and every one of these will soon mould itself into a system of subordination of all the moral virtues and intellectual abilities, all the powers of wealth, beauty, wit, and science, to the wanton pleasures, the capricious will, and the execrable [abominable] cruelty of one or a very few.20
2007-04-24 14:40:26 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Government
well i think we are very far from anarchy. there is way too much government regulation and invasion of privacy and so on, i think if anything we could be something like an oligarchy where several rich powerful families compete for power. Adams-Rockefeller-Kennedy-Bush-Clinton. Cheney has been in the government and the government construction racket for 40 years.
However we are extremely fortunate and blessed to live in the most free, fair & just, wealthy and generous society in human history. Never take our freedom and privilige for granted.
2007-04-24 14:50:38 · answer #1 · answered by Diggy 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The problem with a republic is that it seems to be up for sale to the highest bidders, at least in the United States. I don't believe most people today would buy John Adams slippery slope argument.
2007-04-24 22:13:05 · answer #2 · answered by MathBioMajor 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well stated. That is a good argument as to why it would be stupid to rely on polls to make political policy. That is especially true when they are conducted by organizations that intentionally distort results to further political aims like is common in the mainstream press.
2007-04-24 21:46:30 · answer #3 · answered by bravozulu 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like you already have the answer!
2007-04-24 21:51:05 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋