Perspective: We Need to Bullet-Proof Democracy
By Jim Porto, Former Mayor of Carrboro
On July 4, 2026, we mark the 250th anniversary of declaring our independence. Following the war with Great Britian, this declaration became reality with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
The Articles of Confederation, our first form of government, were drafted in 1777, adopted in 1781, and lasted until 1788. The Articles of Confederation failed. But the replacement was no slam dunk.
The Constitutional Convention was meant to patch the Articles without major changes, but the colonies could never function as a single nation-state under the Articles. So, key delegates including Madison, Washington, Morris, Franklin, Sherman and Hamilton proposed a total redesign. The country was eleven years old (from 1776) when delegates met in Philadelphia in 1787.
Many of these founders had a classical education and understood the perils of democracy, which according to Aristotle was one of the “bad” regimes because a broadly participatory regime would eventually succumb to a cult leader (democracies in Athens and Rome had failed). Benjamin Franklin famously had this exchange with an observer after the Convention had adjourned: “Well, Doctor what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” To which Franklin replied, “A republic, Madam, if you can keep it.”
Even though almost all the delegates to the constitutional convention were firmly behind the need to replace the Articles, they did not agree on the form the new constitution would take. The great compromise gave small states equal representation in the senate in exchange for supporting the constitutional plan which had originally been proposed as proportionate representation in both chambers (by population). This compromise left only the House with proportionate representation. The compromise reached to select a President was the electoral college. Each state was assigned electors equaling their representation in Congress (Senators plus Representatives).
These two compromises to prevent the tyranny of the majority, as Madison outlined in the Federalist Papers, gave the minority (low population states) considerable power. The way this power has been used now looks more like a tyranny of the minority.
Even though the country as a sovereign state is 250 years old, the democracy crafted at the Constitutional Convention is 238 years old. Dr. Franklin would have been surprised that the Constitution’s handiwork has lasted this long, but he would not have been surprised by Trump’s attempt to overthrow it.
As a long-time observer of our democracy, I am convinced that our democracy will survive. Moreover, I believe that we have been given a golden opportunity to Bullet-Proof Democracy by learning the weak points in our system that we need to harden, starting with the Supreme Court, limitations on the Presidency, more independence for the Department of Justice and Military, strict guidelines on the use of Executive Orders and the Electoral College.
To Bullet-Proof Democracy, we need to elect only those who are committed to the Constitution and to hardening it. If we act now, our descendants in 250 years will thank us.