This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

"Democracy" is probably one of the most overused words in America. We hear it used often by our presidents and other government officials in describing our form of government, and the type of government we would like to see in other nations. It is often used as though it were somehow sacred.

"Democracy" has been used as a pretext for placing sanctions on other countries, for sending military aid to warring countries, and to help "bring democracy" to oppressed foreign nations.

Many Americans would be surprised to learn that the word "democracy" does not appear in the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution. The reason is, contrary to popular belief, democracy does not describe our true form of government, which the founding fathers described as a "Constitutional republic."

As James Madison taught, "Democracy is the most vile form of government. ... democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property: and have in general been as short in their lives as the have been violent in their deaths."

Let us never forget. True democracy cannot coexist with liberty. It never has and it never will.

Joseph Evans

Magna