A worth looking at, rarely discussed section of the Constitution."Much of this is straightforward. The federal government is obligated to protect each state from foreign invasion, a legitimate threat in the early days of the US when the nation faced foreign powers on its northern, southern and western borders (as well as British naval power) — and is obligated to quell domestic uprisings, from the rebellions that rocked the US as it existed under the Articles of Confederation. But what, exactly, does it mean for the federal government to “guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government”? As Madison explains it in Federalist No. 43, it means that “In a confederacy founded on republican principles, and composed of republican members, the superintending government ought clearly to possess authority to defend the system against aristocratic or monarchial innovations.”
At www.nytimes.com
