by William B. Trescott

There are two conditions necessary for democratic self-government to exist:  first; that no one can enact a law that they themselves do not have to obey, and second; that no one can enforce a law that they themselves do not have to obey.  As long as these conditions are met, even a monarchy such as in Britain can be considered a democracy when the laws made are general enough that they apply to everyone.  Even the Queen of England must obey the law.

A "republic" is a government in which the supreme power is held by its citizens.  Not all republics are democracies.  The two great republican experiments this century, Communism and Nazism, were both based on majority rule, but they were not democracies because their leaders made laws that they themselves did not have to obey.  The Nazis made laws that required Jews to die in concentration camps.  Only Jews had to obey the laws and the Germans who enacted the laws did not have to obey.  Even though the majority of Germans were in favor of the laws, the laws were not democratic because the Jews were denied their democratic right of self-government.  In a democracy the majority only has the right to enact laws that apply to the majority.  Only members of a minority have the right to enact laws that apply exclusively to themselves.  Only the residents of a town have the right to make laws for a town.  Only the residents of a State have the right to make laws for their State.

Sometimes governments make laws that appear to apply to everyone but actually do not.  For instance a law might say: "while driving trucks, citizens shall shall not exceed 55 mph."  The law appears to apply to all citizens, but if the lawmakers do not drive trucks themselves, then the law is undemocratic because they are enacting a law that they themselves do not have to obey.  Similarly, it is not democratic for a police officer to try to enforce a speeding law unless, under normal circumstances, he must obey the same speed limit.  

In order for laws to be democratically enacted they must be general enough to apply to everyone.  For instance, all vehicles on the highway must be limited to the same speed.  If special laws are needed for special groups such as doctors, lawyers, and truck drivers, then the government must recognize governmental bodies for these groups such as the American Medical Association or the American Bar Association or the Teamsters Union.  The Teamsters could pass a by-law that no Teamster will exceed 55mph, but this would not apply to all truck drivers unless all truckers were required to join the Union as a condition of obtaining a drivers license just as all lawyers must pass a bar exam.  It would not be democratic unless the government of the Teamsters was in fact a democracy.

The government could nationalize the federal highway system and create a federal highway district with the same legal status as the District of Columbia.  Truckers and others who live on the highway could then register to vote as residents of the Federal Highway District and elect a government that would have the power to democratically enact and enforce uniform trucking regulations nationwide.