"Democracy" had a negative connotation in English and most European languages
throughout the eighteenth century, as it had in antiquity. Supporters of
popular soverignty preferred to call themselves "republicans", because the
word implies a devotion to the common good of all citizens. "Democracy"
implied rule in the interest of one class of society, at the expense of the
rest. To call oneself a "democrat" would have been like calling oneself a
"demagogue". Democrats existed (in the original sense of the word), but they
seldom identified themselves as such. "Democrat" was a term of abuse.
"Democracy" first began to be used in a positive sense in the early nineteenth
century by Southern slaveholders, who justified slavery as the necessary basis
for Spartan equality and Athenian "democracy". The writings of Jean-Jacques
Rousseau provided some basis for this way of looking at things. The term also
provided a vehicle through which rich planters could coopt the support of more
"demotic" white voters.
As a rule, opponents of the American Revolution tried to discredit its
principles by assimilating the concepts of "republic" and "democracy".
Supporters of the American Revolution tried to maintain the distinction.
The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic, edited by Harriet Flower, will
contain a chapter on French and American republicanism, and should be out
soon. My own books on American republicanism and the republican conception of
liberty might also be useful.
Tim Sellers
>===== Original Message From Discussion list for con law professors
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> =====
> I am currently researching two related issues: (1) To what degree was
>the Founding generation familiar with the distinction between democracy and
>republicanism? (I know, for instance, that Fisher Ames was aware of the
>distinction at least in the early 1800s, and made some harsh remarks against
>democracy) and (2) Did anyone embrace democracy as superior to republicanism?
I know
>the writings of Jefferson, Paine, and some of the antifederalists include
>passages that can be interpreted as embracing democracy. However, the
conceptual
>scheme at the time seems always to include reference to "a republic" or
>republicanism. My question simply is: To what extent was the Founding
generation
>aware of, and to what extent did the Founding generation embrace, the
>distinction between democracy and republicanism, and was there anyone who
wrote in favor
>of democracy over republicanism? (Of course, some conflicts among members of
>the Founding generation might have been over different conceptions of
>'republicanism.') Off list replies are fine. Thanks.
>
>Bobby Lipkin
>Widener University School of Law
>Delaware
