McIntosh 1

Austin McIntosh

AP English 11C

Mrs. Fryske

14 June 2016

A Constitutional Republic vs. Socialism:

Is A Constitutional Republic More Effective

James Madison, once said, The Constitution of the United States was created by the

people of the United States composing the respective states, who alone had the right

(Constitution Society). There are some people who feel that a Socialist government is more

efficient than a Constitutional Republic. A large portion of conservatives believe that a

Constitutional Republic is more effective than a Socialist governing body because the people

elect representatives as their advocate, the Constitution limits the powers of the government, and

a Conservative Free Market economy promotes competition between thriving businesses and

drives innovation.

A Constitutional Republic is defined as, "a form of government, where the head of state

and other officials are representatives of the people and which governs in accordance with

existing constitutional law (U.S. Legal). However, Socialism is defined as a way of organizing

a society in which major industries are owned and controlled by the government rather than by

individual people and companies (Merriam-Webster) .Lastly, Free Market is defined as, an

economic market or system in which prices are based on competition among private businesses

and not controlled by a government (Merriam-Webster).

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Conservatives believe what makes them the better type of governing is because of the

people electing representatives as their advocate. A simple term for this is advocacy.

Conservatives also believe that because of advocacy, the people have some power. Although,

electing advocates does not give the people direct power; they elect certain candidates that stand

on the same issues as the people. As their advocate they fight in office for bills that will benefit

the people.

In contrast, Socialists believe that direct control is the more effective way to govern

people. A government, such as this, sparks much controversy in a conservative mindset because

they believe,

The American Left has decided they are the elite Americans who know, better

than you, how you should live your life, worship your God, do your job, enjoy your

vacation, build your house, drive your car, get an education, which doctor you visit,

which hospital you select, even to the last detail of how you groom your lawn, or whether

you can fly a US flag outside the home you THINK you own! The American Left is into

every aspect of your daily life. Because they are convinced that you and I, the rabble, the

"great unwashed", are not capable of taking care of ourselves (Tysk News).

While some believe Socialism is more effective, conservatives, furthermore believe they

are wrong because, The Founding Fathers gave us a constitutional republic, which severely

limited the power of government. It gave the American people the greatest freedom many people

had ever enjoyed, and with that freedom they built the most dynamic, prosperous society in

history (WND).
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However, in the Soviet Union, history has shown advocacy could have helped the

Socialist Soviet Union remain intact, The citizens of the Baltic states and Georgia demanded

independence from the USSR. Miners in Donetsk and Kuznetsk Basins went on strike

(Encyclopedia). Using history such as this provides an individual with proper information that

some citizens feel that the wrong advocacy does not work.

The backbone of a Constitutional Republic is a constitution, and conservatives believe

the United States Constitution is what keeps the government from become too powerful. In a

conservatives mindset, the Constitutions checks and balances keeps the United States

government from becoming a third world government. In contrast, many Socialists disagree

with our checks and balances, they think power really lies in the hands of the strongest

exploiters in business and their agents in government (Halabi). Breaking that down, Socialists

do not think the system of checks and balances work. The reason why a Socialists views on

checks and balances are not as efficient is because they govern their people by Totalitarianism.

Totalitarianism is a form of government that theoretically permits no individual freedom

and that seeks to subordinate all aspects of the individuals life to the authority of the

government (Britannica). History has shown that countries that were under Socialism combined

with Totalitarianism rule ended up failing, These totalitarian political systems had no checks

and balances on power, which human civilization has learned is necessary to control the human

tendency to take more than what one produces (New World Encyclopedia). Some examples are

Italy under the rule of Benito Mussolini and the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin.

When conservatives debate why the lack of Socialist checks and balances are inefficient,

they often bring up why Cubans defect to the United States. They question why a citizen of a
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Socialist government would defect to the United States, since having total control over citizens is

the best way to rule.

From a conservative standpoint, the Free Market Economy (Capitalism) increases quality

because the private ownership of each business ensures that every customer/client is cared for

more, instead of a Socialist economy where the government controls all businesses and could not

care for the customers satisfaction. The main foundation for a Free Market Economy is,

Capitalism is unconcerned about equity. It is argued that inequality is essential to encourage

innovation and economic development (Economics Help). This shows how passionate

conservatives are about this type of economy, because it is every man for themselves and they

have to work hard to get where they want to be.

In contrast, Socialists believe their way of economics is more efficient because the state

redistributes the wealth among all classes of living, the state controls all aspects of how they

work, and the state can control the rate of employment. Logically, Socialists think this type of

economy has more significance because everything is controlled by the government and nothing

will fail. They see Capitalism as a progressive historical stage that would eventually stagnate

due to internal contradictions and be followed by socialism (Boundless).

Conservatives like nothing about how Socialists control their economy. Many say that

redistributing the wealth among all classes drives down competition because some individuals

will rely on getting some money from other people and not work because those who do not work

will be set on getting a set amount of money. For that reason, people do not participate in

business which will drive the cost of competition down, and because of this, weak business will

slowly make the government crumble.

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Out of these three specific reasons, conservatives believe that having a constitution that

regularly checks the government's power is most effective over Socialism because of the current

situation in Venezuela. Recently, Venezuelas Socialist government has been collapsing. Some

conservatives would say their tyrannical power has gone way too far. Nicols Maduro, President

of Venezuela, has made it illegal to fire a worker and illegal to set your own prices (Vox

World). Socialists are saying that Venezuelas current state is imploding also. They have been

saying The government is so broke it can no longer afford to fly in the planefuls of

fast-depreciating bolivar bills (the Venezuelan currency) it gets printed abroad; in effect, the

country doesnt have the money to pay for its money (Vox World). Conservatives point out,

that because of the way their government is ruling, checks and balances would make

Venezuelas Socialist state not crumble within.

Looking forward, conservatives and socialists will usually debate which type of

government is more effective. However, each type of government would work if they have the

right people in office.

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Works Cited

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"Free Market." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, 2015. Web. 09 June 2016.

<http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/free%20market>.

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Longstreet, J.D. "The America Republic -vs- Socialist America." The America Republic -vs-

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<http://www.tysknews.com/Depts/Constitution_Issues/republic-vs-socialist.html>

Pettinger, Tejvan. "Capitalism vs Socialism ." Economics Help. Economics Help, 28 Nov.
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2012. Web. 14 June 2016.

<http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/glossary/capitalism-v-socialism/>.

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Torro, Francisco. "How Venezuela's Socialist Dream Collapsed into a Nightmare."Vox. VOX

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2016. Web. 06 June 2016.

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