What makes a government survive? Why do some governments, like that of the United States at least to the present day, survive, while other governments are overturned by their own people?

In The Necessity of Governmental Integrity and Survivability of American Constitutional Democracy, Dr. George Gatgounis argues that a constitution — a piece of paper — does not make a nation into a democracy. Democracies exist because the prevailing cultural and social values prompt the people to want a democracy.

Dr. George Gatgounis argues that governments last as long as people want them to. When governments have integrity, they have credibility. When they have credibility, they have legitimacy. When they have legitimacy, they have survivability.