During the Reconstruction era after the Civil War, blacks in the South had many rights that they lost when the occupying Union army was withdrawn and democratically elected state governments took over, ushering in the Jim Crow era.
Extending Jefferson's logic, it also holds that religions must not interfere with the running of the democratically elected state, prevented from doing so by this same wall of separation.
When the United States forced the airplane of Evo Morales, Bolivia's democratically elected head of state, to land in Austria, after compliant France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy denied him the right to travel through their airspace, all South America took it as an insult and a violation of Bolivia's sovereignty and international law.
To Egypt, then, and Mr Blair's declaration that the military removal of a country's first democratically elected head of state represents exciting progress for the Middle East, along with the violent crackdowns and human rights abuses that have followed.
His actions range from the much-publicized move to strip collective bargaining rights from powerful public unions to the less-noticed efforts to add more political appointees at state agencies and take away responsibilities from Wisconsin's democratically elected secretary of state.
Mr. Obama responded in the meeting by saying that his administration does not promote the overthrow of any democratically elected head of state nor support assassination of leaders of any country, Mr. Jagdeo said.
By the beginning of July, Egypt should have its first democratically elected head of state.
The prospect of a democratically elected head of state standing trial in Europe has reawakened memories of colonialism and Western dominance here.
Under Indonesian law, Mr. Wahid, who is Indonesia's first democratically elected head of state in 45 years, will have 90 days to explain his actions to Parliament.
For the first time in living memory (perhaps in history), a peaceful and prosperous democracy will freely choose to abandon this feudal relic in favour of a democratically elected head of state.
Asked to comment on her dealings with Farr, Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty, emailed a short statement: "An irritant to six democratically elected secretaries of state, I was generally treated with courtesy and even kindness in their company.
