By Greg Martin

Americans who pay attention to political campaigns have grown accustomed to the phrase “anti-establishment,” with candidates on both sides of the political aisle recognizing that challenging the status quo can be a powerful message.

This rhetoric isn’t new. We witnessed it in 2008, as former President Barack Obama promised “hope and change” and spoke of fundamentally transforming America. President Donald J. Trump has pledged to “drain the swamp” in Washington, DC, and cut waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal bureaucracy.

And while there are a select few who call for abolishing the Senate and the Electoral College, this sentiment is centered not on the institutions that make our nation, but on the people who warm the seats of power.

It’s true — our government is far from perfect, and our elected officials certainly fall short. But the constitutional system established by our founders has endured for 250 years because it was designed to restrain power, protect liberty, and allow “we the people” to govern ourselves.

The system does not require perfect people. It was designed precisely because people are imperfect.

Our founders understood, however, that our nation requires citizens capable of preserving it. Former President James Madison repeatedly emphasized the importance of civic virtue to republican government. Former President John Adams similarly argued that our Constitution was designed only for a moral and religious people.

The United States has marched toward a more perfect union precisely because of this foundation, laid by some of the bravest men the world has ever known.

Our Constitution and institutions are not at fault. The system doesn’t need to be replaced. The real problem is that far too many people are more interested in self and power than in service, freedom, faith, and virtue. As theologian James Freeman Clarke observed, a politician thinks about the next election, while a statesman thinks about the next generation.

The United States has endured and thrived for 250 years. We can remain the world’s greatest nation, but we must see a revival of the three foundational American ideas that propelled a struggling collection of colonies into a superpower.

First is self-government, which is more than simply choosing who occupies public office. It means recognizing that citizenship carries obligations and properly governing our own lives. Former President John F. Kennedy captured this spirit when he urged Americans to ask not what their country could do for them, but what they could do for their country.

Too many now look to government for needs and wants, caring little about the direction of the nation or the people in charge.

Second is the religious liberty guaranteed to all Americans. Our founders rightly rejected the European model of government-established religion, choosing instead to protect freedom of conscience. They knew that virtue comes from faith and recognized the divine hand in our creation.

Finally, we must recover our understanding of the separation of powers that holds our system accountable. The founders knew that concentrated power is dangerous because people are imperfect. Congress, the presidency, the courts, and the states were deliberately designed to check one another. It’s easy to look at Washington and to conclude that the system is broken. But when the branches clash, we should remember that the Constitution was designed to make the exercise of power difficult.

Our answer to political frustration should not be to dismantle the institutions that define us. It should be to strengthen the foundation beneath them.

That foundation is virtue.

Virtue was central to the founding of our nation because the founders understood that laws alone cannot make a free people good. They recognized that a constitutional republic depends on citizens of good character who see virtue as a civic responsibility.

From the signing of the Declaration of Independence to Normandy — and the generations of Americans who built their communities — we have been strengthened by people willing to sacrifice for something greater than themselves.

Today, however, we often celebrate celebrity more than character, outrage more than civility, and self-promotion more than self-sacrifice. We have become remarkably skilled at “virtue signaling” while sometimes neglecting the more difficult work of becoming virtuous.

Many speak as if America is irredeemable. They forget that our story has been one of opportunity for all. The United States has never been perfect. The founders themselves were deeply flawed men. But they were aspirational, firmly believing people and our nation could be and do better.

That should be our aspiration as well.

Our nation is a place where people of every background can rise. Our task is not to dismantle the system but to renew the virtue, faith, and freedom that made it possible.

State Rep. Greg Martin represents District 26 in the Tennessee House of Representatives.