What I Learned

I am done auditing a Hillsdale College course on the Constitution. One professor lectured that the Constitution gives effect to the consent (the people consent to be ruled by their elected representatives, and that the Constitution locates the sovereignty of America in the people--the people's will--not in the government. The people are ruled by their elective representatives, excluding the sovereign from the ordinary operations of government.

My hunch is that the people were sovereign but not directly involved in running the government for two reasons. First, the sheer size and complexity of running a federal government, even in 1792, required representatives to have the time, energy and focus to conduct the country's business.

Second, if the people were sovereign and their representatives passed laws binding upon the people consenting to be so governed, the ruling and administraitng undertaken by the politicians kept the majority will of the people from declining into majority tyranny or mob rule. The Founders were ever wary and concerned about keeping liberty maximized and power distributed and not concentrated to forestall tyranny becoming the law of the land.