Bryan,

I know how busy school can be. I am also taking 17 credits, as well as doing student government, facilitating QSA workshops, and working 25 hours a week so I can actually pay for these credits. It certainly makes for busy weeks. But you're right, classes like these do open up interesting conversations.

Speaking of which, I still gotta disagree with what you're saying. The Founders did intend to take the power out of the people's hands. And though this is a good idea, I also think some things have changed.

For example, even the Senate was originally not directly elected The senators were elected by the state legislatures. The only say that the people had was electing state legislators and US Reps (and by "the people," I am of course referring to white male landowners over 21 years of age). The Founders knew that the people as a whole don't always make the best decisions. James Madison took issue with "the tyranny of the majority." I do not think the people should always be able to make decisions for themselves. It would be mob rule.

In the 1940s, our country decided that people of Japanese descent (including American citizens) were a threat to national security, and thus imprisoned them. Can you imagine what would have happened if the people could have decided what would have happened to these innocent people? The phrase "Witch Burnings" kind of takes on new meaning. And to bring it more recent, what would this country have done to people of Arab descent this year if the mob had their way? If you think Ashcroft is vicious, try letting the average (non-Arab) American decide what happens to anybody with olive skin. Suddenly, getting one's civil rights trampled on doesn't seem so bad.

It is certainly true that the people do not have direct power. And thank goodness. I don't even want to know what we would do with it. However, I do think we have more power than what it seems you are inferring. The people still decide who runs our country, and how they run it. I don't think it is quite right to judge our country based solely on the original wording of the Constitution. It has been amended 27 times in its 212 years since ratification, and due to this, the people have gotten far more power (especially women and people of color). I think we should continue to call it a representative democracy. It shows that the people truly do have the power (albeit indirectly).

-Britt