Section 4 - Republican Government
The
United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican
Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and
on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature
cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
“The Founders‘ study of ancient republics and philosophers
like Thomas Hobbes and Baron de Montesquieu led them to determine that
republican government, also called representative government or mixed
government, was most conducive to a good way of life. The people are the source
of government power, and they elect representatives who make laws to serve
their interests and for the common good. James Madison explained, “we may define a republic to be…a
government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great
body of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices during
pleasure for a limited period, or during good behavior.”’
“The Constitution guarantees in Article IV,
Section 4 that the federal government will provide each state with a
republican form of government.
Republican government requires that citizens
practice civic values such as respect, moderation, and justice, and understand that one
responsibility of citizenship is that
their personal interests must sometimes give way to the common good. As George Washington explained, “The preservation
of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the
republican model of government, are justly considered deeply, perhaps as
finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American
people.”’
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