American Democracy

This paper will serve as a way of introducing the three competing theories of American democracy, which are Pluralism, the Elite theory, and Hyper pluralism. The following theories can all be applied as a lens to see American politics through, each serving as an essential part of government. Among this paper, we will come across a bill (S 256), this bill was fighting to overhaul the federal bankruptcy code, making it harder for people to file for bankruptcy. To file for bankruptcy individuals would have to go through the means test first. This paper will also examine what theory of American democracy is best portrayed within the bill.

Pericles , a famous Greek statesman once wrote a document called the Funeral oration (document 3) in which he describes what a democracy. This is the form of government which was instated during the Ancient Greek civilizations and is instated in the (modern-day) the United States. Democracy is made for the majority and not the minority. It is not based on the few leading, rather everyone gets a voice in society. It gives

Democracy, as it is used today, means “ the people rule.” A democracy is a form of government ruled by the people of the country through elections and representation. A democracy is really a form of republic known as a democratic republic. A republic is a government where officials elected by a small group of people that make the important decisions.

What is democracy? The origin of the word, democracy, comes out to the meaning “people rule”. Democracy is where people decide what is important and what issue should be addressed. This allows and gives people the power to make decisions and to stand or be against for what they believe in. Many countries have noticed how popular democracy is and as stated in the Greenberg textbook, democracy is “form of government that best protects human rights” compared to the other forms of governments (Greenberg 6).

The initial understanding of American democracy takes the form of an antithesis of English colonialism and slavery. Based on this understanding, there is little doubt that the foundations of the ´greatest democracy on earth´ are to be found in the darkest, the most blatantly majoritarian and atrocious times. There is little disagreement among constitutional

We live in this country for the land, and the for the free as Americans we rely on many attributes in this world in order for us to live our lives. Our government has supplied us with many great things for us to be proud of. Our government is “the institutions and processes though which public policies are made for society.” (Edwards, Wattenberg, and Lineberry, p. 7). With all these institutions which includes the President, Congress, the courts and all the federal administrative agencies. These are the institutions that make up public policies for us, and to shape the way we live as Americans. The way this system has been operating through all the years has been

From a political perspective or more specifically the Democratic side of the American Liberal Democracy, we can also find examples showing that the USA did not show favourable behaviour towards its practice of Liberalism. A law can be created, passed or vetoed by three different arms of the government: the president, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Democracy is a form of government, meaning “ruled by the people” in Greek. Where decisions made by the government are dependent on the wishes of the citizens in a state. Citizens are able to take part in government by voting independently on an issue that may have an effect on them. The government would then make decisions depending on which choice is favored by the majority. Therefore, the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few.

A democracy is a system of government where all eligible members of the state elect trusted representatives to govern the nation. The objective of a democracy is to encourage participation in public and political life. It is recommended that all citizens carefully pay attention to potential political leaders and universal news. In order to be knowledgable of a new and impending head of state, organized groups with political aims and opinions have formed political parties.

The concept of democratic government is one that has perplexed minds’ for as long as it has been around. The idea that people, not god, not a dictator, not the strongest man in the village, but the people that make up that village; are responsible for the decisions that are made and the leaders that make them. Democracy has always come in many forms. From direct democracy, where the people vote directly on leaders or issues; to representative democracy, where the people elect representatives to make decisions for them. Today, most countries have some sort of constitutional democracy, or a form of democracy that is bound by certain rules, written at its founding, that set guidelines for how democracy is to be carried out in this country. These can be considered the, “rules of the game,” so to speak, or using a basketball analogy; one cannot travel with the ball, but they can take two steps without dribbling.

A weakness of democracy is the “Tyranny of the Majority”. This is an inevitable pitfall, because in a democracy, the power is vested foremost in the people the constituting the society itself. Alexis de Tocqueville wrote on this concept:

‘Democracy’ means government ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’. People of the country hold the power to rule. City-wise, state-wise or nation-wise elections are conducted for governance.

Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Democracy allows eligible citizens to participate equally—either directly or through elected representatives—in the proposal, development, and creation of laws. It encompasses social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination.

In a wider sense, elitism can be defined as the concentration of power among the people at the top of the spectrum. According to the theory, these people are rich, intellectual and high-class, and therefore, they automatically are privileged and powerful. With a stress on material power, the elitist theory differentiates between people based on their status and possessions. It could be further explained by saying that ‘elite’ people, that usually form a small group within society, are people who have the luxury and resources of living a high standard of life. In other words, according to the theory,

Democracy can be defined as a system of governance where there is a political system in which governments are chosen through free and fair elections, there is an active participation in political process by the citizenry, laws and procedures apply equally to all citizenry. Alison Ayers argues that democracy comprises of a periodic election of political representatives, through multi party elections, rule of law, constitutionalism, good governance, and the promotion of human rights. These principles form part of the modern state, and are based on on neoliberal values such as accountability, transparency, tolerance and pluralism (Ayers, 2006) . A democratic state is one where civil, political and economic rights centre around the individual, and these individual rights are protected within a constitution, where everyone is equal before the law. Political leaders are chosen through regular elections in which two or more individuals compete against each other. These individuals align themselves with political parties, which are used as vehicles to canvas for votes which puts them in power until the next election (Ayers, 2006) .