Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

State hearings on legislative bills derive from town hall meetings, which predate state and federal constitutions. The Puritans established town meetings at the same time they established various New England colonies. The animating spirit that informs both the town meeting and state hearings on legislative matters is much the same: Governors and legislators in a Republic derive their authority to govern from the people. There is no place in a Democracy or a Republic for authoritarian rule. Indeed, there is no place for authoritarian rule in a state in which men are ruled by laws rather than other men: Even under a monarchical form of government; such was the guiding principle of the founders of the American Republic.