So what stage is the US at now?

apathy ethics

While I am not sure you can call that quote attributed (probably erroneously) to Tyler an "article," it does offer an intersting concept. Here is what Snopes.com has to say about the quote, however:

"The quote from "Alexander Tyler" is very likely fictitious. His name was actually "Lord Woodhouselee, Alexander Fraser Tytler," and he was a Scottish historian/professor who wrote several books in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

However, there is no record of The Fall of the Athenian Republic or The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic in the Library of Congress, which has several other titles by Tytler. This quote has also been cited as being from Tytler's Universal History or from his Elements of General History, Ancient and Modern, books that do exist. These books seem the most likely source of the quote, as they contain extensive discussions of the political systems in historic civilizations, including Athens. Universal History was published after, and based upon, Elements of General History, which was a collection of Professor Tytler's lecture notes.

Tytler's book, Universal history, from the creation of the world to the beginning of the eighteenth century, is available for viewing and searching on-line: http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=ABW5010

The complete text was searched for each of the following phrases:

Athenian Republic
democracy
generous gifts
public treasury
loose fiscal
fiscal
bondage
200 years
two hundred years
spiritual faith

In no case was text identified that was remotely similar in words or intent to the alleged Tytler quote."

I'm sure that many have an aversion to warnings from past historians as does appearently snope. My question is whether the concept is correct? Has anyone ever analyzed this progression and verified it is the method of decay? Is there any way to exit the progression? Has it been done? Also lets be careful of the details. Rome was a republic which started with a supreme law. America was a republic that started with a constitution. Both have lasted more than 200 years. Half of the Roman empire was governed by Constantinople which lasted over a thousand years. Barry Magrill

The Roman empire was not a republic during the time of the rule from constantinople. It stopped being a real republic with Julius Ceaser.
Whether or not this quote is correct it is good food for thought.
We all no that apathy does not accomplish anything but depression.
If we stay focused on the true nature of democracy we can avoid the pitfalls of previous governments.

I have heard this little saying since I was a kid. I have been looking but could not find any reference to it on the internet. I am sure that civilizations have lasted longer than two hundred years eg Egypt, England, China, Russia and the U.S.A. I dont think that was the point...that the age of the world's greatest civilization has been limited to two hundred years. The issue was that a free society may not last more than two hundred years. Those nations which have progressed through this sequence have started small achieved greatness and declined when people discovered they could vote themselves free money. The fall of Rome was attributed to economic failure...The troops deserted because they werent paid.