Every presidential election has stirred this thought in me, but perhaps none more than the race that led to President Bill Clinton’s first term in office. I remember watching the debates and the “town hall meetings” hosted by MTV in which question after question started with the phrase, “As president, what would you do about . . .?” How times have changed.

As our country slowly solidified from individual and independent colonies into a united nation after the forging of the Constitution, the main political model in the United States was “Republican Virtue.” This beautifully idealistic philosophy had a number of tenets that you just don’t find in American politics today.

• The role of the government was to protect the common good, but to leave as much freedom as possible to the states (of course, this was in conflict between the federalists and the anti-federalists, but even the federalists believed in subsidiarity).
• The country as a whole struggled to balance liberty with order.
• Citizens were encouraged to freely sacrifice their own good for the good of the country – to put others first
• Virtue was seen as an indispensable requirement for the exercise of freedom
• Family was the core of citizenship – mothers had an esteemed role of educating children in the ways of virtue and citizenship
• Politicians were citizens who were elected to office primarily because of their proven character. They were people that the citizens trusted. Elected public officials, including United States senators, congressmen and presidents, served their term and then returned to their home and their normal occupation. There was not such thing as a professional politician

I do not mean to imply that America was perfect during this time of Republican Virtue. Negative campaigning, mud slinging, and corruption have always been part of politics (we are always fallen human beings). However, our country at least had an ideal to live up to. When did things change? Historians probably differ on this opinion, but I put the blame on the presidential campaign of President Andrew Jackson. Jackson’s campaign of “New Democracy” changed the public focus from Republican Virtue to competing self-interest. His message was the empowerment of the common man. Who could argue with that as a worthy goal? But “empowerment” meant that government exists to serve the individual citizen rather than that government exists due to the selfless service of citizens for the protection of the common good.

In my opinion, we are now bearing the fruits of the “New Democracy.” We have become a country of entitlement. We tend to see government as a great goodies box that exists to make my life easier. The principle of subsidiarity has been lost by both major political parties. Republican Virtue is viewed with suspicion and even contempt. The concepts of the common good and universal human rights have been replaced by universal private health care and the right to “privacy.” Idealism is scoffed and individualism is idealized.

We now have a Democrat government. Democrats have taken the House, Senate and the presidency. The Democrats tend to embrace the “New Democracy” much more wholeheartedly than Republicans. I think the next four years are going to show us the folly and the danger of such a public mindset. I am happy that we have finally elected an African-American president. However, I fear what free reign of “New Democracy” will do to our country.

We do still hang on to the shreds of what once made our country great. Let’s just hope that some day we can piece it back together and come to realize that responsibility for our neighbor’s welfare rests in our lap, not with the government.
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