Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis Wednesday morning, for the second time, suspended a Black elected Democratic State Attorney and replaced them with an appointee of his own choosing.DeSantis, who is also running for president, says he is suspending Florida State Attorney Monique Worrell "for ...
Things like this always make me wonder if a state could legally turn into a dictatorship.
Could Florida legally change it’s constitution to say “All governing power rests entirely in Ron DeSantis” and dissolve it’s representative bodies? Obviously it would still be beholden to voters for national elections (representatives and senators), but statewide there could be nothing.
Technically, no. The Constitution says “the United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,” but “republican” has historically been very loosely interpreted. Technically, China and North Korea are both republics.
Well part of the problem is that there isn’t total agreement on what a republic is. By some definitions it’s basically anything that isn’t a monarchy. Some medieval republics didn’t have elections and instead chose their officials by sortition, which is essentially a lottery. China and North Korea do have elections, but they’re total shams (and North Korea is basically a monarchy is a thin coat of republican paint, since by law they can’t have any leader that isn’t descended from Kim Il Sung).
Things like this always make me wonder if a state could legally turn into a dictatorship.
Could Florida legally change it’s constitution to say “All governing power rests entirely in Ron DeSantis” and dissolve it’s representative bodies? Obviously it would still be beholden to voters for national elections (representatives and senators), but statewide there could be nothing.
Technically, no. The Constitution says “the United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,” but “republican” has historically been very loosely interpreted. Technically, China and North Korea are both republics.
They’re not technically republics, they’re nominally republics.
Well part of the problem is that there isn’t total agreement on what a republic is. By some definitions it’s basically anything that isn’t a monarchy. Some medieval republics didn’t have elections and instead chose their officials by sortition, which is essentially a lottery. China and North Korea do have elections, but they’re total shams (and North Korea is basically a monarchy is a thin coat of republican paint, since by law they can’t have any leader that isn’t descended from Kim Il Sung).
According to Putin, from the Russian republic, there’s no need to hold elections if you know what the likely result will be.
Possibly. The problem is that the founders decided to bake in armed revolt as a safe guard instead if, you know, reasonable solutions.