From Spoiled Sons of Liberty to Surveillance Leviathan: America’s Six Republics and the Myth of Eternal Union
Most Americans, unfortunately, believe that we are still living in the constitutional republic created in 1787. That was five republics ago.
Source: Mises Institute
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DW NOTE
The Mises Institute marks the 250th anniversary of independence by arguing America has cycled through six distinct republics, each stripping away more constitutional restraint. The thesis is correct but incomplete: the expansion wasn't organic drift — it was financed. Every leap toward centralisation required a fiscal mechanism the Founders never authorised, from greenback issuance in 1862 to the Fed in 1913 to deficit monetisation today. The $1.9 trillion FY2026 deficit isn't a symptom of institutional decay; it's the engine.