...that has been debated is the Constitution. The Constitution was written in 1787. The Constitution is a nation’s basic laws. It creates political institutions and divides or assigns power among governments (Edwards, Wattenberg, & Lineberry, 2008). When the Constitution was written all those years ago the founding father were putting a system together to make sure that no official received to much control and go power crazy. One of the best pros to the constitution is that the power is divided among government officials. As stated in the paragraph above, this helps to keep power equal among those government officials. For example, a president is only able to serve two terms in office and the president has to be elected back in office at that. This keeps new ideas and new people in office. Where there are pros, there are always cons. One con that comes with the Constitution is it is very hard to have the Constitution amended. There have only been a handful of times that the Constitution has been amended. The Bill of Rights is one that was able to be amended, and it was for a good cause. Another thing that has some American’s questioning the democracy in America is voting. Although there are many American’s that do not vote there are still several that do vote. Some American’s feel as if their vote does not even count because of the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a unique...
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...and undermining its power constantly in this time period, the Supreme Court essentially undermined the power of the citizens of the United States. The people elect officials to run both the state and federal government. If the Supreme Court begins tampering with the balance of the two, then they are stripping away the power of the people and redistributing it where they see fit. The Supreme Court has no right to redistribute power between federal and state government for their needs at the time. They must uphold the Constitution and maintain the balance of power in all branches. These cases show that they are giving themselves power above the federal government. Their ability to strip power away from...
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...of freedoms. Although the entire nation is supposed to have equal rights, the white male majority has the power to control freedoms, which could result in a loss of freedom for all, and the destruction of America. The idea of losing freedoms because of the control of power is shown through many works, including: Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, Toni Morrison's Beloved,...
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...Should Americans be Required to Vote? Why would a country that revels in the fact that they have more freedoms than most countries obligate their citizens to vote? It is clear that american citizens should not be forced to vote. People feel that if they were given a day off work on election day, they would be able to vote. Another way is if citizens were able to vote early. Should the eligible citizens of america be obligated to vote? There are three reasons why Americans should not be obligated to vote. First of all ignorant voters are dangerous,the fact that citizens do not participate as much shouldn't be masked, and the higher level education people receive the higher percentage of them will vote. One reason why Americans should not be required to vote is that ignorant voters are dangerous. Evidence supporting this reason is “must you vote?” new York times by randy Cohen. A quote that I found on this site explaining the dangers of ignorant voters is, “It is irresponsible to encourage the unaware to put their ignorance into action so aimlessly...you might as well urge the unpracticed to Rollerblade and use power tools simultaneously. At least they'd injure only themselves.” this evidence helps explain why Americans should not be required to vote because when the ignorant vote their vote could possibly be the vote that takes a...
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...One power of Congress is “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers.” This compliments Lee Hamilton’s statement as the power allows Congress make laws for the people as new situations arise. From this, it is agreed with Hamilton that “Congress is the most important link between the American people and their national government.” Congress takes new opinions and problems from citizens and applies them when making laws. Also, the stipulations for a member of the legislature ensures the bond between the people and the government. Members of the House have short two-year terms, while Senators have six-year terms, allowing new members to appeal modern policies to Congress to service recent...
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...every four years, and people head off to vote, they are actually voting for electors. When those electors are put into a group this is where the word “college” comes from. Based on the population of each state determines how many electoral votes they get. The Electoral College comprises of 538 voters. A state can have 3 to 54 electors. In order to choose the President a dominant part of 270 appointive votes is needed. The electors are named by the political parties in each state. For example, if you were to vote for the Democratic...
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...ways in solving controversial issues. Next, a presidential debate will occur in which each candidate will present their concerns and solutions to the problem. Usually, the debates are used to persuade the citizens into voting for him or her. During the election period, voters are welcome to head to voting polls to cast their vote. Days before election day, early voters flood the polls to cast their vote to avoid the crowd during election day....
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...If college and the Electoral College have anything in common, it is that they both throw away the importance of what was once important. Grades have less value in college; popular votes, as in the public’s votes, have less value in the Electoral College. Nonetheless, both have a plethora of differences, a major one being that no one wants to terminate college whereas the fate of the Electoral College is hotly debated. Should the Electoral College be abolished? To conclude an answer, one should understand the functionalities of it. The Electoral College is a process, penned by the Founding Fathers hundreds of years ago, that is used to determine the United States’ President and vice-president indirectly. Each state will receive a certain amount...
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...who ever makes world changing decisions should not be elected through such an outdated system. This election should not be taken lightly. Although it may seem dramatic, The Iraqi war and its expenses along with major cuts to the government's revenue, hostility to anything regarding climate change, the cost of health care near doubling and nearly crippling the economy. Although while in office Bush did implement Education programs which increased scored and a HIV relief program saving millions of lives (Matthews, 2013), and like any human being put under the stress of the most demanding job in the world, will make difficult choices and some have good results and others have horrendous consequences, but in the end he was elected by the majority of the american...
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...most basic rights we as Americans hold dear is the right to free speech. This is a civic issue that has been at the forefront of our country since its inception. This right is imposed on the minority just as it is for the majority of the citizenry by the government in an effort to recognize every citizen and their right to voice an opinion or even disagree about the majority opinion. Our current system of government stands true to the original ideas of the framers of the Constitution yet has also stood the test of time, moving forward as we grow as a nation, and still keeping the original ideals while amending those that become outdated with more relevant laws. The key to our democratic principles remaining in place is our commitment to our civic responsibilities in the country as a whole. The Constitution includes a system of checks and balances set there to make certain that all three branches of our government, the legislative, the judicial, and the executive, all must work together to make policy. This separation of powers and the requirement that all be included in policy making is what sets our country apart in its pursuit of democratic values. It was a disturbing omission in the initial Constitution of the specific meaning of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". The later ratification of the first ten amendments did go a long way towards clarification of the rights of the citizenry. If I had been a part of the original framers, I might have been more specific in...
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...duties of an American citizen. The president embodies the morals and beliefs of the people, and he or she is responsible for many of the elements that hold this country together. Therefore, the system by which the president is elected should be efficient, accurate, and most importantly, democratic. However, the current Electoral College system is anything but that. It was established in the constitution in 1789, and was created as a compromise between election by vote of congress and popular vote of citizens. Out of the 538 electors assigned to states across the country, 270 of their votes are needed for a presidential candidate...
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...from domestic politics and foreign. We have every day customs and traditions. In this class I have learned a lot about American government and how it works. I have been surprised at how much power the government has and the way the government works. There have also been a lot I have already known about the way the government works. I will discuses some of the ways they work and how I think they can improve so areas. I have found in doing this class that there are many ways I think they can improve. Consider the challenges to democracy I think the challenge that poses a particular threat to our current system of government is lack of separation. The lack of separation between parliament and the executive is a particular threat to our current system of government. According to (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2011) “Such a separation limits the possibility of arbitrary excesses by government, since the sanction of all three branches is required for the making, executing, and administering of laws”(para 1). In America the discloser of separation of powers is more a name than a description. None of these three branches of the national government are separate from one another. A crucial problem is that split power inevitably entails split accountability. No wonder then that so many difficulties in American government spring ultimately from its divided power system. We have a lot of civic power groups that have powers in today’s society. The American civic values and what I appreciate...
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...Constitution, however there is much debate on whether it should remain or be done away with completely. In this essay, I will give a brief history on the Electoral College, how it works, and why it was created in the first place. Despite the shortcomings and limitations of the Electoral College I believe that it should not be abolished because it contributes to the cohesiveness of the country, it maintains a federal system of government, and it maintains the interests of minority groups. To begin with, I will discuss how the Electoral College works. The Electoral College operates by having each state allocate a number of electors equal to the number of its U.S. Senators (always 2) along with the number of its U.S. Representatives (varies from state to state depending on its population). Next, after all their caucuses and primaries, each party nominates their candidates for president and vice president. After that, the people from each state vote for a party’s slate of electors. Whichever party slate gains the most popular votes becomes the slate of electors for that state. Then, the electors meet in their respective state’s capitol and cast their votes for president and vice president. Finally, the candidate for president with the most electoral votes is declared president and the same rule applies for the position of vice president. If a situation arises in which none of the candidates for president receive a majority of the electoral votes, then the U.S. House of Representatives selects...
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...registration lines only to be denied. These American citizens, who are also felons, are being denied the right to vote due to disenfranchisement laws. In the United States, “Two states, Vermont and Maine, allow convicted felons to vote while in prison. Nine states permanently restrict certain felons from voting (until and if granted the state governor's pardon) even if those people have served their prison sentence, parole, probation, and paid all fines. The remaining 36 states fall somewhere in between,” (ProCon.org, 2009). Felons should have the right to vote, as they have paid or are paying their debt to society, and the millions of missing felony votes impact all of us. How many times have you voted in a close race and your candidate did not win? Imagine if just a fraction of the felons that share your views were allowed to vote just like they are allowed to pay taxes. Millions of Americans in our republic are not represented at every election due to non-felony voting, which can be said to be undemocratic, and as such, felons should be allowed to vote in all states. “The legislature has sent a clear message that voting is a fundamental right that should not be stripped away from people who are working, paying taxes and contributing to their communities, “said Steven Brown, Executive Director of the ACLU of Rhode Island. According to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, the right of citizens of the United States to vote is a fundamental right. An author from...
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...ethical ideals, principles, myths, doctrines, or symbols of a social movement, institution, and class that explains how society should work and offers their political and cultural blueprint for a certain order. In America, we have various parties including two major political parties known as Democrat and Republican. One ideological difference between the Democrat and Republican parties is their view on personal security. The Democrat party believe that governments should not only secure the U.S. borders but to also advance on personal security. This belief has been translated into policies that extend health care access to as many citizens as possible, raising the minimum wage and expanding unemployment insurance as a result. Republicans on the other hand, vigorously opposes this use of government, insisting that we should not be compelled to our brothers’ keeper. A second ideological difference between the two parties is personal liberty. Democrats believe that governments should not only secure our borders but also advance our personal security. As reflected in recently enacted state laws, that belief translates into policies extending health care access to as many as possible, raising the minimum wage and expanding unemployment insurance (Finkleman & Walenstien, 2001). Republicans vigorously oppose this use of government. They insist we should not be compelled to be our brothers’ keeper. Thirdly, Republicans believe marriage means a union of a man and a woman. Because...
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