How does the democratic process fit with Libertarian ideas?
Democracy has been defined as “three wolves and a sheep deciding what’s for dinner”—not a nice prospect if you happen to be the sheep. Fortunately for us, the United States is a constitutional republic, not a democracy. In a democracy, the majority rules and can create any laws they want. For example, the majority can make their religion the state religion and forbid all others. In a constitutional republic, our representatives can only make laws that comply with the Constitution. So, continuing our example, under our Constitution, the majority cannot establish a state religion, allowing each of us to choose our own path. We do use a democratic means, voting, to elect our political leaders. However, no matter how many votes politicians receive, their power is restricted by the Constitution and the inherent rights of all people.
