re: #167 Dr Lizardo

I saw a reference from 1922, a work by Edward Nelson Dingley, “America A Republic, Not A Democracy”. It looks like an opinion article or something.

That seems to be an early mention, or perhaps the genesis of the idea.

Googling Edward Nelson Dingley, “America A Republic, Not A Democracy” gets you a very convoluted explanation of how it’s all the fault of immigrants after the French Revolution. Or, something.

The French Revolution and immigration to the United States marked the beginning of the modern idea of democracy in America. Jefferson’s party was called the “democratic party” in derision, for alleged sympathy with the French revolutionists. From that day to the present, America has been the scene of political and social controversies between factions, the one clinging to the form of representative government, the other seeking political power under the cloak of democracy. The great issue evolved into a struggle between national rights and state rights. This clash continued until the close of the Civil War, which should have settled the question finally whether America is a Republic or a democracy; but it did not.

The essay is truly a piece of work. If I were a betting man, I would say that the writer is of the opinion that the republic was meant to be a few men in the upper class wielding power to dispense laws that the untermench should be happy to have in their republic of and for the few and the rich.