Democracy Builders
working together for Virginia
A Virginia non-profit organization,
Democracy Builders is working to hold
elected officials accountable
to the U.S. Constitution.
Our Foundation
“The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon.”
- George Washington
"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny."
- James Madison
"... the powers of government should be so divided and balanced among several bodies of magistracy, as that no one could transcend their legal limits, without being effectually checked and restrained by the others."
- Thomas Jefferson
"That the Government, though not absolutely perfect, is one of the best in the World, I have little doubt. I always believed that an unequivocally free & equal Representation of the People in the Legislature, together with an Efficient and responsable [sic] Executive, were the great Pillars on which the preservation of American Freedom must depend."
- George Washington
"We know what real democracy constitutes;
we understand its implications. It means the rule of law for the leaders as well as the people. It involves limitations on the power of the state over the people. It means orderly debate and meaningful votes."
- Ronald Reagan
"... the shared values that make democracy possible:
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A belief in the intrinsic dignity and worth of all people, and that no one is above the law or beneath its protection
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A belief in checks and balances in our government, and an accountability that comes with an independent judiciary and a robust free press
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A belief that our military and law enforcement owe allegiance not to any president or political party, but to the people and our Constitution
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A belief in the peaceful transfer of power after the people have spoken in fair and free elections, recognizing that in a large, complicated society like ours, no group or faction gets its way 100% of the time
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And a belief that qualities of character, honesty, integrity, kindness, compassion, a sense of duty and honor, those things matter in our public dealings, just as they do in our private lives
These are the values and traditions I believe in, and they are not Republican or Democratic values. They’re American values we can all share, regardless of party, values every president here today, as different as we are, has tried our best to uphold, values that John McCain and Mitt Romney believed in, no less than I did.
It is our greatest inheritance, the story of America at its best, because it reflects a basic faith in the decency of our fellow citizens and the possibility that despite all of our differences, we can see each other and understand one another and make common cause together."
- Barack Obama
"We have one country, one Constitution and one future that binds us."
- George W. Bush
"Service to a cause greater than oneself, a virtue cultivated in military training, is accessible to all regardless of whether they wear the uniform. In ways big and small, Americans can recognize this milestone of 250 years as a moment to rejuvenate the national interdependence that our founders proclaimed along with independence."
- Former Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff General C.Q. Brown, Peter D. Feaver, and Andrew Kragie in Foreign Affairs, 7/3/26
"But when presidents use the armed forces for more politically contentious missions, such as addressing domestic crime in cities, the work of the military becomes more fraught. Resorting to a military solution rather than fixing the underlying incapacity or dysfunction in civilian institutions diverts the military from focusing on its primary combat mission. And, as Washington knew, it is not the military’s job to save the republic from political impasses."
- Former Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff General C.Q. Brown, Peter D. Feaver, and Andrew Kragie in Foreign Affairs, 7/3/26
“The most sacred of the duties of a government [is] to do equal and impartial justice to all its citizens."
- Thomas Jefferson (The Anas, 1792)
Our Values
Here in Virginia, the ink of liberty first dried.
This is the ground where Thomas Jefferson and James Madison distilled ideas that would outlast their moment and reverberate around the globe. Drawing heavily on the Virginia constitution, they established that government should derive its just powers from the consent of the governed.
From the foothills of the Blue Ridge, Jefferson and Madison envisioned the world's greatest experiment in self-governance, rooted in a Constitution not of kings, but of We The People. Thus, our extraordinary democracy was imagined into being.
A nation was born that placed the law above the ambitions of those who wielded it. It was to be a country in which ordinary people, given liberty and responsibility, would govern themselves
with wisdom and grace.
Power would be held accountable.
That is what makes America great: the architecture of freedom — the separation of powers, the protection of rights, and the absolute insistence that
no person stands above the law.
Democracy Builders carries that inheritance forward.
We are working to protect a democracy that honors the balance of powers, the bedrock on which
this Republic was built.
The ballot box is not a privilege.
It is a right.
It is the very heartbeat of self-governance.
We The People deserve better than representatives who flout the principles that have distinguished our nation for centuries. We demand leaders who treat the Constitution as a covenant.
The Founders were not perfect — but their framework was profound. It was designed to outlast them, placing the responsibility on every future generation
to defend democracy
and the liberty and freedom that define it.
