An informed, involved electorate

To the editor:

Celebrating the 4th of July, I am reminded of a Benjamin Franklin quotation that has always stuck with me. When leaving the Constitutional Convention, he was asked what kind of government had been created. His answer was, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

In light of the recent Supreme Court decisions, we need to return to the wisdom of an elderly Ben Franklin remembering that the essential meaning of a democratic republic is not only based on the consent of the people, but also dependent on the active and informed involvement of the people... our democracy depends on it.