To the Founding Fathers, How Does a Despotic Government Differ From a Republican Government, Essay Example

The American founding fathers’ formulation of the U.S. constitution can be viewed as a calculated, politically and ideologically informed attempt to move away from the prominence of a government founded on despotism. The deliberate choice for a republican approach to governing suggests that the founding fathers’ strove to minimize the effect of power relations within a governmental system. By diffusing power throughout an elected governing body, the chances of the emergence of a despotic element within American politics would thus be reduced.

Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. Accordingly, the founding fathers viewed that despotism was most likely to actualize itself in a case where rule is transferred through a system that excludes public opinion. Political ideologies such as monarchy could be susceptible to despotism, to the extent that the ruling authority remains concentrated in either the form of a singular person or a group of elites. A despotic government, for the founding fathers, thus deliberately attempts to exclude popular voices against its rule. The majority in this case is viewed as a threat to the hegemonic power of the ruler. By introducing a republicanism that is founded on principles of democracy, power could never be entirely centralized. Rather, the power of politicians was always contingent on the decision of an electorate.

From this perspective, the decision for republicanism can be viewed as the simultaneous rejection of despotism. The founding fathers thus construed despotism and republicanism as extreme antitheses. The decision for republicanism was essentially the decision against despotism and the notion of a concentrated political power. At the same time, the decision for a republican ideology suggests an attempt to minimize the effects of political power wielded by governments, thus creating a more open political system in which the voices of the general public have an effect on political decisions.