The United States is one of the world’s oldest democratic republics, but democracy as practiced here is very much a work in progress. Its continuance is not guaranteed. Politics and power weave uneasily through our relatively new experiment in democracy.

A recent article suggests: “Politics is at once integral to the democratic process in the United States and the cause of politicians’ acting against the national interest in order to win or stay in public office.” (Leslie H. Gelb, Foreign Affairs, May/June, 2009.)

With few exceptions, the history of civilizations has been the history of groups seizing power and doing all they can to retain that power regardless of what it does to others. The failure or success of the American experiment in democracy is determined by whether we give in to that natural tendency to want ultimate power or whether we overcome that tendency and respect others as part of the democratic process.

Benjamin Franklin is said to have remarked at the signing of the Declaration of Independence: “Gentleman, we must all hang together or, assuredly, we shall hang separately.”

Humility requires us to admit that no one of us has perfect understanding. We need each other. We need contrasting, and even competing ideas. We should welcome the ideas of those with whom we disagree. If we seriously consider them, we either discover a better way that incorporates our view with theirs, or find stronger reasons for believing as we do and that may persuade others to our viewpoint. And no one of us will win all the time. If we find ourselves on the losing side, we should lose with grace.