From this balcony overlooking the Aegean, I watch ferries slip in and out of Naxos’ harbor, just as ships did in the age of Athens. The waters shimmer with history, and I cannot help but think of democracy itself—an idea as enduring as these seas, yet as fragile as the boats that cross them. My thoughts return home, to the United States, and to the lessons we have learned—and the ones we seem determined to forget.

More than 2,500 years ago, the Athenians chose a daring path. They rejected kings and strongmen, daring instead to trust ordinary citizens with extraordinary responsibility. It was messy, imperfect and fragile, but it offered something no monarchy or tyranny could: the promise that citizens themselves could shape their destiny.

The Framers of our Constitution looked to that exa

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