Democracy In The United States

From the early 1840s to the present day, a democracy can be described as a flawed establishment which has been shaped by the power of wealth and control, complex social relations, and most importantly the people’s desire to live a fulfilling life. Throughout this time period the principles of democracy, such as equality, protection of the people’s interest, and promotion of human rights were shifting in order to increase the democracy efficiency. Therefore the continued importance of the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and Constitution remain significant since, in American today, democracy is a system that is continuously being shaped by the people within it.

Democracy a universally recognized phenomenon refers to a government deriving its power from the people and being answerable to them (Fox 2008). President Abraham Lincoln (Gettysburg Address, 1863) said about democracy "...is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not vanish from this earth ‘ (Fox 2008). The foundations of democracy in America are found within, “The Declaration of Independence of 1776” and “The Constitution of 1789”, both products of the American Revolution where equality and the rights of man were the focus of their creation (Rodgers 2001). The first half of this paper discusses the notion that despite having the best institutional powers that uphold democratic functions within the American government, this doesn’t always translate into the perfect democratic election.

Unfortunately, no matter how good the intent of those running for positions of leadership, whether in their community or in the national government, politics have a way of corrupting or inconveniencing even the most upstanding of citizens. For instance, when Congress is presented with a bill to vote upon, each senator and representative must not only vote based upon their personal ideology in regards to the bill, but must also consider other factors such as support from their constituents and even support of the president. It slowly gravitates from a decision based upon what they believe, to a decision based upon how badly they want to risk their position of power in the government. This is the very essence of a flawed democracy! This is the very reason why rhetoric and deceit and empty promises enter politics. Members of the government lose their ideological convictions and give into the mindset of megalomaniacs. Elected officials get so caught up in the “politics”, that they ignore any idea of compromise and solution, and stubbornly hold to their party’s stance on issues, doing anything to keep their seat. The willingness to compromise – something critical to the success of democratic government - has collapsed; the most likely explanation being the growing confidence, arrogance even, of the defenders of inequality and oligarchy. They believe they are winning and see no need for compromise. And that view, which may be tactically accurate, destabilizes the unending cooperation between conservatives and liberals that democracy

There are many ways states are governed and many different systems of governments. The United States of America uses a democratic system of government; a system where the common person holds power through the ability to vote and participate in politics. Although this holds true for a majority of the operations carried out within the state, some may say the United States has shares particular characteristics of a dictatorship; a system of government where politics are controlled by a small subset of individuals, rather than the power being held by the people in a democratic system.

The United States was a country built on values of fair representation and freedom. Americans disagreed with the monarchy of British reign, and thus declared the United States to be a democratic - a government in which the masses elect the leaders and thereby act in the interests of the people. Regulations were established to reinforce these ideals, including three different branches of government and a term limit for the president in order to prevent a monopoly. Yet there are major flaws in the country that hide behind the ruse of democracy. This form of government is a source of pride for the United States, but that pride blinds people from the blatant issues that plague the country. The underlying corruption and oppression in the United

Many people believe that democracy did not exist during the first few decades of U.S. history. I agree to this. Democracy, the word Democracy has been characterized in different routes by numerous individuals everywhere throughout the nation. This word has suggested different things during the time as things changed all through the United States. People in the past had alternate points of view on Democracy in light of the way that life in those days was altogether different than it is today. Individuals now fully understand that they truly have a voice and an opportunity to battle and vote in favor of what they put in. The word democracy is actually from the Greek words of “demos”, meaning to people and “Kratos”, meaning power. The Greeks actually

“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” are the ideals the United States was founded on. This means that everyone has a right to live and go after what makes them happy. They are able to do this without fear of punishment, retaliation, or persecution. However, some countries throughout history, believed that this was not the correct way for their people to live. They felt that the government should have outright control over everything the people did. In light of this, such a country may be led by someone who is formally known as dictator. Americans that have been born and raised with the belief in freedom and choice find this way of thinking to be unprincipled and undeserved. The idea of freedom and choice is known as democracy; which is the way the United States government has been run since 1776. Both of these forms of government are in some ways very similar. For the most part, however, a dictatorship is very different from a democracy.

Democracy is the solitary example of a genuine political system in most of the world. According to the text, “Today, sixty-two percent of the countries in the world are democracies.” For example, if the United States did not have the power to spread democracy, it could not influence the International Community to the benefit of national interests. The national interest of the United States not to spend limited resources on warfare when it can be used in a more productive manor. The growth of democracy puts the United States in smaller amounts of positions causing them to make the decision to go to war. A democracy generally does not go to combat with another democracy. The United States is a greatly functioned democracy. Along with Democracy,

The United States is perhaps the most well known examples of a democratic society in the modern world. In spite of this, it is largely flawed and rife with divergences from the true definition of democracy. First, the power is not in the hands of the people nearly as much as it is claimed to be. In contemporary America, “the influence of money undermines the one-man one-vote ideal. Gerrymandering renders most congressional elections utterly uncompetitive” (R.L.G. 1).

The United States of America is not fully a democracy. People tend to vote for the issues and laws directly yet, most of the issues are resolved by representatives that are voted in by the people. Somehow, both of these are examples are a democracy, yet our country is mainly run by the second definition. However, republic has a better suited definition to the way our country works and allows things to be controlled. Republics have the power to vote for electives and others for the population to rely on. The federal government is a full on republic, however, looking more into state and local levels of governments, it is more along the lines of democracy. Yet, since the government that hold absolute power in the laws and decisions is mainly

Democracy has come to America. With the foundation of democratic by the Greeks and Romans, of English roots was the first to experiment and democracy was the answer for the Americans. By its equality of everyone has a role to vote, its voting vested in the people of supreme power through the representation of elections. With "that all men are created equal," and without the regulation of state power, that democracy could not survive. We learn from the mistakes, or to utilize critical parts is use today in America.

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

Accurately defined, a democracy is a form of government in which the people decide policy matters directly through town hall meetings or by voting on ballot initiatives and referendums. A republic, however, is a system in which the people choose representatives who, in turn, make policy decisions on their behalf. So, when the question is posed “how democratic is the United States” it becomes hard to answer with so many other factors that you must include. For example, having an Electoral College voting system is not democratic due to the fact that not every voice is heard and or counted. Another problem is that when the founders considered various forms of government they were extremely fearful of pure democracy. Everything they read and studied

Within the United States of America, there seems to be a consensus that this land was and is made for the free people of the earth. Most of us believe that the democracy we have in place is infallible, that nothing short of God could destroy it. And although some of us have complaints with what the government is doing, most of us believe that our voices are heard loud and clear, if only we would be caring enough to say anything. Yet I believe there are pros and cons to our "democracy", that although there is representation, powers that we cannot control keep it from being what some would call total democracy. And to its credit, it might not even be a bad thing to keep it the way it is. Within this essay, I am first going to go over

Modern democracies have continually developed throughout the 20th century. These democracies have culminated from revolutions,wars, and even economic development. As democracies continue to grow democracy promotion has been a key issue for world governments, especially the United State of America. History has shown that building democracy is a very strenuous and a difficult task to accomplish. With the inception of government, democracy has been a seemingly difficult concept to understand as well as create and implement. Although, democracy is inherently difficult to create and uphold, democracy promotion can be accomplished with careful understanding of normative approaches to democracy as well as realist,