Although this is not the time and place to argue the merits of whether the USA is a democracy versus republic (because in modern English they are used synonymously), the direct intent of the Founders was for a few very intelligent people to govern, by consent of the people. In other words, a representative democracy is what the founders envisioned. Of recent, however, we have become enamored with direct democracy, as exampled by our constant bombardment with constitutional amendments in the State of Florida (see also California’s Propositions and other States as well). Direct democracy does not work! In a direct democracy, the wants of the majority outweigh the needs of the minority. And, we have proven that the masses (especially in Florida) are not intelligent enough to govern ourselves.
I have only voted for one constitutional amendment in my 31 years of voting: the one that now requires a 60% majority for constitutional amendments to be adopted in Florida (Ironically, it passed with less than 60% of the vote…). That amendment was passed right after we passed an amendment to protect pregnant pigs! Yes, the voters of Florida (the same ones who caused the Constitutional crisis of 2000) thought it so important to protect the living arrangements of pregnant pigs, that we amended our constitution. If this is not proof of our inability to have a direct democracy, what is?
The moral to this story is to vote NO for constitutional amendments and use the proper representative democracy that we have in place to change our laws. That is, elect representatives, petition them to make laws, and if they don’t make the laws we want, then replace them through the voting process.