...Why the United States of America is not a Democracy Many people think of the United States government as a democracy, but on the contrary the United States is more of a Republic than a Democracy. A Democratic government is a type of government which allows the people to have a voice for their self interests, and voting for things that the majority wants, in brief words the “majority rule”. The United States is said to be a democratic nation, but are we really that type of government? The answer is no because as a “democratic country” the people don’t vote directly for the things we want. In this paper I will be discussing key points on why the United States is not a democracy. The people of the United States elect representatives who help create laws that fit best for the interest of the people. This goes for the democrats as well, but the republican government has a difference. If the United States was actually a democratic nation, then the people or the majority would be able to vote and not be restrained from the government in any way. On the other hand the United States government goes by the law and can’t take away the right of the minority which leans more to the republican government. As an example, in a democracy if the majority wanted to vote on whether there can only be a certain religion like Christianity, the minority wouldn’t be able to practice a religion other than Christianity, because the majority has the power to do that if it were a democracy. Another...
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...Democracy, a form of government that many people like and many people dislike. This form of government is used in the United States of America, and many other countries. It was formed to bring more power to the people and less power to the leader(s). The democratic form of government in the United States started in 1776 and George Washington was the first to witness this form of government for us. I believe that the word “democracy” means, government of the people. I believe it means this because one of the main reasons it was used in the United States was because after the American Revolution, the Americans wanted to make their government a government that would give more power to the people so it’s as equal as it can get. What makes democracy...
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...The United States was founded upon the principles of ending tyranny and creating an efficient system that represented its people with a separation of powers within the government, and an election process by which the people could hold a voice. The founding fathers wanted to prevent a resurgence of tyranny and create a system that didn’t provide a few people with supreme power. However, there are still Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle like John Conyers (D), serving from 1965, and Don Young (R), serving since 1973, who have remained in the legislative system for over forty years (King). Does this not challenge the notion of restricting political power of an individual? Serving in Congress is supposed to be for public service and...
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...In the United States, we seem to think of ourselves as the epitome of democracy. As a country believed to be founded on freedom and rights we have credited our founding fathers for the constitution and its ability to structure our society. There are many democracies all over the world, many whom have recently recently experienced a democratic transition. Many political scientists have been studying this trend and have been trying to determine what makes countries choose to become democracies and what factors allow them to thrive as democracies. In order to answer this question it is important to first define the term democracy. The most common definition of democracy today is a system of government that is ruled by the people. In order for...
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...Principles of Democracy Franklin D. Roosevelt described American democracy as “The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a president and senators and congressmen and government officials, but voters of the country”. Our government was created with the intent to oppose the oppressive monarchy of Britain. As a result, we created a democracy, which gives us the power to choose and elect who governs over us. American democracy is based on five principles, which include popular sovereignty, rule of law, and checks and balances. Popular sovereignty-- the idea that the power of the government lies with the people-- is a principle of American government. In our government, the opinion of the people is expressed through elections and majority rule. Majority rule allows US citizens to decide who represents them in Congress. Currently, candidates are running for Arkansas governor. there are four candidates--Mike Ross, Asa Hutchinson, Josh Drake, and Frank Gilbert. They will be elected on November 4, 2014 and the term will last for two years. Another principle of democracy is rule of law. This principle states that the law applies to everyone, even those who govern. In our government, we apply this principle by charing elected government officials when they break the law. For...
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...Public Education and Democracy The American system of education has not been performing to its expectations in the United States. Education was essential because it enlightened people about their rights. The United States was a democratic country, and therefore, people had to be informed about their rights. This forced leaders like Thomas Jefferson to push for public education for all Americans (Dewey 2). People had to be educated about the democracy and their rights so that they could choose leaders wisely. Education is an essential part of life because it enlightens people about how to choose leader wisely, This paper explains the importance of public education and democracy in the United States. Early American leaders saw the danger of...
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...The United States is a democracy. A democracy is a form of government where the people vote to make decisions. This form of government can be found in different countries around the world; however, the U.S. is one of the oldest countries with a democracy. The Constitution was written using five different principles of democracy. Three of the five principles are separation of powers, checks and balance, and federalism. Separation of powers is the fact that the federal government is divided into three different branches. We learn at a young age that the federal government is made up of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Having three different branches helps the power be spread out. Each branch as its own powers and responsibilities....
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...reaches for her black umbrella. “We were elected we don't have to-” Jennette pleads only to get cut off by Margo who raises her hand. “Appointed,” she remarks as she walks out the door in the pouring rain, “true democracy in this world is dead.” Years had passed since the last successfully democracy; all that was left was the stories in textbook the government would allow. They stories went as a people dividing against each other instead of uniteding as one. Riots broke out and the past of now historical United States of America now stood as Venice Project owned by the Germanic Nation....
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...What does Representative Democracy really mean in the United States? by Christian Gallardo Democracy has been traditionally defined as government by the people. However, here in the U.S. we know by democracy, what is known as representative democracy. In this model, the people transfer, through voting, their sovereignty to some “Representatives”. This model has been used over time to justify the exercises power of a social minority over the majority. To do this, they use legislative and presidential model, which uses the franchise as a way to assume the representation of the people, monopolizing the form of politics. The U.S. Constitution is clear about its political system, which is based on the representation and not in citizen participation. The important decisions are made by a very small group of people who are not accountable for what they do, so the people cannot do anything at the end against them as we are going to explain in this paper work. If we analyze the case of Wall Street in 2009 we realize that society has no way to reclaim their “Representatives" by act or omission errors they have committed. Nothing could be done to prevent the disgraced tycoon Bernard Lawrence "Bernie" Madoff through his investment firm that bears his name, swindled the American people the amount of US$ 50,000 million dollars. There was no law to protect the common citizen desires of unscrupulous businessmen on Wall Street. And though Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison...
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...Converting Afghanistan into a democracy should be a major priority of the United States for many reason, one being, it would open up trade with the country. Democratic states tend to be more open to trade, trade to a greater extent, and have less trade barriers. This is because democratically elected leaders open up trade as it benefits the people they govern, which boosts their popularity1. Afghanistan is one of the wealthiest countries when natural resources are considered. Recently, large veins of valuable minerals such as copper, iron, and gold have been discovered across the country. It is estimated that Afghanistan also sits on nearly 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves2. Afghanistan also supplies the world with nearly 90 percent of all opium supplies which is used to create painkillers and heroin for medical purposes3. The wealth of Afghanistan is important to the United States as 12 percent of US natural gas reserves are imported and consumption of natural gas in the US is expected to increase by 11 percent by the year 20304. The United States imports 100 percent of 18 select minerals such as aluminum and magnesium, and imports 50 percent of 41 other minerals such as cobalt and copper5. If the United States managed to convert Afghanistan into a democracy, it would allow them to reap the benefits of their abundance of resources6. The attacks on US soil on 9/11 were conducted by a terror group known as al Qaeda. Al Qaeda is one of the more dominant terrorist...
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...Political Theory Professor K 07/11/2012 Democracy The term democracy is defined as: “a political system by which the citizens of a country govern themselves.... where their elected representatives make laws; the executive branch administers those laws and is responsible for the way it does so.” (www.duhaime.org). This simplified definition of the term democracy adequately defines what it is that the U.S. wants to spread and administer thought all countries around the world. After the Cold War ended, promoting the international spread of democracy seemed poised to replace the containment of democracy as the guiding principle of U.S. foreign policy. Scholars, policymakers, and commentators embraced the idea that democratization could become America's next mission. In recent years, however, critics have argued that spreading democracy may be unwise or even harmful. Because of this, the debate of whether or not the United States should spread democracy or put it on the backburner is never ending. Critics of the spread of democracy argue, “democratic peace is a myth; that the process of democratization increases the risk of war; and that democratic elections are harmful in societies that are not fully liberal.” (belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu). This idea of democratic peace is that countries that have established democracies rarely, if ever, go to war with each other. Critics argue that even though it is rare that countries that have democracies go to war with each other, the fact that...
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...Democracy is a right that many citizens hold dearly to their hearts. From small issues such as school funding to large issues like voting for president, nearly every citizen desires that their voice be heard and their opinions be carefully considered. Democracy has effectively shaped the United States as a whole. Democracy has created a sense of pride within the nation based on the ideals of freedom and opportunity. Furthermore, the country has been molded by the principles of democracy in the form of politics, morals, values, and social responsibility. The idea American Democracy was founded in the American colonies. Although at this time they had no interest in declaring independence from Brittan, they realized that they were over 3000 miles away from England and a system of government that brought the people closer together was necessary in order to thrive. As a result of this they formed the Mayflower Compact which set a precedent that the government received its power from the people. This was the first time that these Englishmen were able to elect their own ministers, church officers, and vote on which religion the group would follow. This is officially the first form of democracy in the United States....
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...the difference in political beliefs and policies of the two superpowers soon developed into a lot of conflicts and struggles called the Cold War. Cold War, which is the war between the United States and its allies called NATO, and the Russian and its allies called the Warsaw Pact (Soviet Union) without real military attack, was a race on how strong a country is by showing what it got in terms of supporting countries that were in state of war with other nation; in terms of nuclear weapons; In terms of science and technology (Space war); and even in terms of sport competition (Olympic). In the end, the Cold War ended by the United States and the Soviet Union themselves by the failed system of the communist. I’m the one that believed that “In the cold War the United States was the good guy who fought against the evil empire of the Soviet Union to defend freedom, democracy, and human rights around the world.” Firstly, the two countries had fundamentally different beliefs. So, how do we know who really was the good guy and who really was the evil? The first thing we need to do is to consider their different beliefs, because these factors could link to different actions such as the political and economic systems they used, including the way they dealt with the situations. The Ideology of Democracy gives freedom to all individuals to express their idea to other and agree on the majority; promote human rights and equality; and uses the economic system of capitalism. On the other hand...
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...viewed themselves as the guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity. In light of the following documents and your knowledge of the 1820’s and 1830’s, to what extent do you agree with the Jacksonians’ view of themselves? According to the Jacksonians, they were guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity; this I agree with, for the most part. There are things in which evidence does not support the Jacksonians’ protection of the U.S Constitution and individual liberty. However, there are multiple examples of the Jacksonians guarding political democracy and equality of economic opportunity. Many documents from the time period of the 1820’s to the 1830’s provide obvious proof of the Jacksonians’ preservation of political democracy and equality of economic opportunity. The Jacksonians plainly guarded the political democracy through the people’s part as a whole in government, (doc E) especially in elections. Some refer to “democracy” as “mob rule” and with good reason as (doc E) Philip Hone’s Diary of Philip Hone described many riots during the election times. These riots seem negative as persecution of blacks also took place during the election and law riots, but nevertheless theses riots are evidence of political democracy. The Jacksonians’ claims to conserving political democracy are also proven true in (doc D) Harriet Martineau’s...
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...others from his real objective. Alexis De Tocqueville is traveling to the New World to secretly study the great American Democracy. The purpose of this you might ask? The French must better understand American behaviors in how they feel and act, upon the essential nature of their freedoms. The French must take these learning and place them into their own practices to ensure they have a long last Democracy. In the Introduction chapter of “Democracy in America” by Alexis De Tocqueville and Richard D. Heffner, Heffner goes into length to describe all of the extravagant and detailed descriptions Tocqueville gives about the way Americans feel and act, due to the essential nature of freedoms from their Democracy. I have organized this paper into six different paragraphs that will be described in the following: First, an opening paragraph will let you know what literature I am referencing to when discussing this topic....
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