Ministry of Culture: “The Culture of Democracy in America”

Address (Delivered in French)

Ambassador Roger A. Meece
Saturday, 4 February 2006
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Conference Hall
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Mr. Minister,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for the privilege of participating in this series of conferences on the culture of democracy.  Today, I propose a few reflections on our experience as Americans and as a nation.  For more than two centuries, Americans have developed an unshakeable belief in democracy as the best form of government.  We know that democracies make better neighbors; democracies tend not to go to war one against the other.  What better reason for promoting democracy?

In my remarks this morning, however, I would like to talk about democracy within the United States, rather than relations between countries.  I would like to discuss how freedom, the rule of law, civil rights, and equal opportunity contribute to our democratic culture.

Children in the U.S. are often taught the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  I remember often having this repeated to me.  Parents and teachers use this to mean: Treat people fairly.  As with the young everywhere in the world, I and other children were being taught the difference between right and wrong.

As with other children, I also started learning about democracy at a young age.  I confess that I was not much interested as a young boy in structures of government, or inter-institutional relations.  What I did learn about, however, were the principles of democracy, including basic freedoms, and the responsibilities that accompany the freedoms needed for a successful society.  Much of this is sometimes summed up in the phrase “majority rule, minority rights.”  That is to say, in our highly diverse, multicultural population in the U.S., majorities of people are constituted for purposes of governing and setting policy.  At the same time, however, there must be a strong set of principles, laws, and institutions to protect the rights of all citizens, especially those who are not part of the majority, to ensure that all components of society fully participate in American society and its government, and contribute to the general welfare.

As we grew older, we learned to put these notions in historical context, particularly that of the momentous events of 1776.  That year, now 230 years ago, the United States created itself when its thirteen constituent colonies declared themselves independent of British rule.  The passionate emotions of that time inspired Americans to dedicate themselves through what proved to be several years of war and much sacrifice to throw off the chains of an unresponsive authoritarian government – to establish basic liberties and establish the then-radical notion of a government deriving its sovereignty and authority from the consent of the governed.  It is the basic principle that guides us to this day, embodied in the first three words of our Constitution deliberately written in letters much larger than the rest of the text, “We The People…”

There was, however, another vital idea embodied in those early critical efforts to establish the United States.  This idea was captured in words written by Thomas Jefferson, inscribed in our Declaration of Independence: “…all men are created equal…they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, … among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

However eloquent the language of our Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776, it took victory in battle, a Revolutionary War against Great Britain, and a lot of subsequent events and struggle to back up the brave intent of those inspiring words.  Indeed, we are still working to improve our society; to ensure that our values and principles are applied and benefit all equally.  Democracy and a just society require a permanent ongoing effort. They are not achieved by a single event or act, not even by a single electoral law.

Following the Revolutionary War and independence, and after some years of experimentation to define a practical, popularly-based national federal government, representatives gathered to write what has become our constitution.  It is now almost 220 years old, the oldest written Constitution in use.  It is not a terribly complicated document; it contains only seven articles.  It does, however, establish the basic separation of powers and a system of what we call “checks and balances” that have served us well as a country.

Our Constitution’s First Article established the national legislature – our lawmakers.  It was viewed by the Constitution’s authors in many ways as the most important arm of the government, most directly embodying the will of the voters.  The Second Article created the executive – to carry out the law.  The Third Article established the Supreme Court and inferior national courts to rule on violations of the law.  The message throughout the document is clear: The United States is ultimately and fundamentally, and from its beginning, governed by laws … Un Etat de Droit.

President Abraham Lincoln was our 16th President during a terrible time – the U.S. Civil War.  At the battlefield of Gettysburg, he gave a ringing summary of all that I have said so far.  He said, we conceived ourselves to be a nation based on liberty…meaning free association, free expression…and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, meaning equal before the law.  Ours was to be a nation that continuously rededicates itself to the rule of law, not the rule of man.

President Lincoln gave this speech at the height of our Civil War, 143 years ago, which was fought, in part, because many among us at the time – namely, slaves – were not equal before the law.  President Lincoln was among the many thousands to pay with their lives because of that war.

I grew up in America during the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, when many members of our black minority bravely and convincingly showed Americans that, one hundred years after our Civil War, all men were still not equal before the law.  These heroic people reminded us that, though we had rule of law, some of our laws were unjust and they perpetuated inequality.  Some laws were based on the principle, widely adopted after the Civil War, that separate could be equal. 

Our Supreme Court struck down the principle of “separate but equal” in 1954.  The Court ruled that separate schools for blacks and whites could not be equal in quality.  However, it took many more years of civil rights struggle for bad laws to give way to better laws, and for better laws to be implemented, especially at the state and local level.  We learned to associate people such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King with that struggle, and admire them for it.  The enduring legacy of the Civil Rights movement is a reinforced sense of social justice and of the value of diversity in American culture.  We learned from the Civil Rights movement that laws have to be just, and justly enforced, to be deemed legitimate.  I lived through much of this period myself as a student in school, and I well remember that this was not an easy period.  It has yielded, however, critically important results to enable America to progress and improve, strengthening the application of our own values and principles.

A week ago, when asked to comment on the Hamas victory in the Palestinian legislative elections, Secretary of State Condolezza Rice acknowledged that she did not like the outcome of the election, but said that the United States has to stand for democracy and accept the results of the ballot box.  The United States, she said, has been through its “own struggles with democracy and we probably ought to be a little more tolerant and a little bit more understanding of the struggles of new democracy.  …Perhaps we have to step back and remember,” she went on, “that our own journeys to democracy were also rocky and difficult.”  Secretary of State Rice illustrated her point by saying she came from a part of the United States where her parents were not really guaranteed the right to vote until 1965.

These “struggles with democracy” have strengthened our Constitution over the years.  Through reasoned debate and compromise by lawmakers, through few and widely-accepted amendments, and through judicious decisions by our highest courts, our Constitution and its jurisprudence have been the cradle of our civilization and political culture.  Whether we are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, African-Americans, American Indians, of European descent, or whatever mix, our common heritage as Americans, that which makes us proudly salute our flag is respect for the law, just law, and the institutions which uphold the law.  For us, no one is above the law, not even our president.  I should say, especially not our president, because it is the president, the Chief Executive, who must embody that respect for the law.

Our Constitution is a relatively brief statement of principles, which has made possible the extension of its application as our country grew from 13 struggling new states to 50 states.  As a document, it does not get bogged down in definitions or social engineering, leaving its adaptation to modern life to interpretations by the courts.  It also relegates much of the daily job of governing to the constituent States of the United States in accordance with principles of federalism.  Each state has its own constitution and autonomy in many areas, such as tax collection and criminal law.  It is Federal, or national, law which governs the relations between the states and the functioning of the national government.  This was a natural arrangement for us, insofar as our country began as individual states, which freely joined together “to form a more perfect Union.”  

Nor does our Constitution try to legislate economic equality.  Rather, it maximizes the value of freedom, which has tended to favor free enterprise and competition.  We have learned that freedom creates opportunities, otherwise called, back in 1776, the “pursuit of Happiness.”  If you have merit, work hard and educate yourself, you can succeed. 

Our state and federal governments are committed to providing equal access to opportunity, ensuring, first of all, that all our adult citizenry can vote and have a voice in their government.  Should your candidate or party lose the election, there will always be another election and another chance, peacefully, to change the majority. 

There is a popular expression among adult Americans – “There ought to be a law!”  The saying is often used humorously to advocate a particular taste or stylistic preference, as in, there ought to be a law against annoying cell phone rings!  “There ought to be a law,” not, There ought to be this-or-that politician.  However lightly intended, the expression means that we Americans look more readily to our legal structures to right wrongs.  Whatever politicians may be in office, and whatever the majority might be, we have the historical assurance that our institutions of government will continue to function as they should, anchored as they are in our venerable Constitution. 

We have not achieved perfection.  Nor do we believe that the answers and forms of government we have created for ourselves are necessarily the best for all other countries or peoples.  Every country, every society must define systems and governments best suited to its own culture and history.  We do believe, however, that the principles enshrined as the foundation for our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution do have value beyond our borders.  Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are goals shared by people around the world.  We continue to work to achieve full realization of these goals in our country.  We will also continue to work with people of good will everywhere to help people achieve these goals of democracy and human rights within their own societies and systems of government as well.