Deven Moron
November 12, 2014
Professor Helligso
Government
Democracy: The Misunderstanding
If you ask the average American citizen what democracy is, you’ll probably hear an answer that relates to having rights and freedoms, and being able to vote for who you want. In reality, only part of this statement is actually true. Yes, living in a democracy means you are given the choice to vote, but it does not immediately grant you rights and liberties. Most people assume this but are outright wrong, and don’t realize the difference between an illiberal democracy and a liberal democracy, which is rather significant. A liberal democracy is what we live in here in the United States of America. We are granted freedoms that not all countries have, and we are given the right to vote as well. This type of government obviously stresses the idea of liberalism, which puts emphasis on individualism and self-freedoms. Liberalism is really what separates the United States from a number of countries, especially those that have illiberal democracies. This is the true difference in democracies around the world that most people don’t come to recognize. Illiberal democracies are present in a significant amount of the world’s 118 democratic governments, and have been increasing over the last seven years. This type of government is considered a growth industry and has increased from twenty-two percent to thirty-five percent in the last seven years (Zakaria 23-24). An
Next, Illiberal democracy is also a free and fair democracy, but there are certain holds placed by the government, such as freedom of speech, religion and assembly. Illiberal governments also mostly focus on the governments overall goals “Constitutional liberalism, on the other hand, is not about the procedures for selecting government, but rather government 's goals” (Zakaria 25), proceeding to say that, “It refers to the tradition, deep in Western history, that seeks to protect an individual 's autonomy and dignity against coercion, whatever the source -- state, church, or society” (Zakaria 26). In an illiberal democracy voting is fair and free, but being that it is liberal their voter are misinformed about certain issues due to their lack
What is democracy, do we really understand the concept and the implications of the freedoms that our society enjoys. Democracy by definition is a “government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections”.(1) The United States democracy in current times can be a difficult situation to grasp, due to the fact that we are operating off of the Constitution written over 200 years ago, and individuals modern
It’s hard to define something big as democracy in few short words, but president Abraham Lincoln does it best by defining democracy as a “Government of the people, by the people, for the people” (Bleicherstrasse). The Merriam Webster Dictionary barely scratches the surface of what democracy really means. It tries to define democracy as “a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting, a country ruled by democracy, an organization or situation in which everyone is treated equally and has equal rights”, but democracy is so much more than that. For a government to be considered true democracy it must support these four key elements “A political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections, the active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life, protection of the human rights of all citizens, a rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens” (Diamond, 2004). If we go by this definition of democracy than America is not consider to be true democracy.
The definition of democracy is a system of government in which the power vested in the people.This means that the government allows the people to make decisions Many people think that the U.S is pure democracy. However it’s proven not to be truly a democracy.
When you think of the word democracy you think about a politics. I am not a fan of politics at all but when someone says democracy, I think of a system of government that the population votes in a candidate through elected representatives. The schooling system does a good job noftying children that their vote counts. These are the rights that everyone has to fight about because they are very important. People always fight for the right to vote and their voice to be heard. The word democracy just does not mean that citizens are only being heard it also means that the democracy needs to listen to the voice. I also think that democracy means that not only are you able to vote and your voice to be heard it means we as a democracy have a huge
So first of all, what is democracy? “Democracy is a form of government that is not attached to any pre-given political or ideological ends, but allows ends to be chosen by the majority vote of free citizens.”(Fish, Opinionator.blogs.nytimes). In a democracy, anyone can run for office, and all eligible citizens can participate equally by voting. Everyone’s views, whether one is part of a majority or minority, are represented, and people can also freely express themselves and voice their own opinion. Furthermore, we peacefully solve internal conflicts, without
A democracy is a system of government by the majority of the population or all the eligible members of a state, which is mainly through elected representatives. Citizens or elect representatives have the power to take it upon themselves to from a governing body, such as a parliament. Democracy is not working as originally intended. In the past, women, African Americans, and Native Americans could not vote, only white males could. The president was actually supposed to be chosen by men of the Electoral College, which is the people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president. Not by the Electoral College approving the will of the people. Senators were supposed to be appointed
“The strongest democracies flourish from frequent and lively debate, but they endure when people of every background and belief find a way to set aside smaller differences in service of a greater purpose.” This quote was said by former President Barack Obama at a press conference back in 2009. The United States of America was the underdog in the American Revolutionary War, but with the help of the strong-willed people who migrated over to this forward-thinking country and the support of our French allies, we won our independence. While residence of the red, white, and blue might have thought that the war was the end of our problems, in hindsight, it was only the beginning. We built our nation to be the best example of democracy on the planet, but it took a long time before that affirmation became true. Many lives have been lost fighting for our democracy. Before the Civil War, to call our great country a democracy would be a dishonest statement. According to Merriam-Webster, Democracy is “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.” During this time, slaves, women of all races, and white men in the original thirteen colonies who did not own land could not vote. These people had no say in the government and that is not a democracy. The United States of America was not a true democracy after we declared independence in 1776.
The Webster definition for democracy is a system of rule by laws, not by individuals. In a democracy, the rule of law protects the rights of citizens, maintain orders and limits the power of the government. All citizens are equal under the law. No one may be discriminated against based on age, beliefs, race, religion, ethic group or gender. In the United States of America, our country is known for its democracy. The people hold the power to rule and make all the decisions both direct and representative. An example of direct democracy is when we can vote on certain concerns and vote on who we would like to represent for us. A direct democracy is when the people can decide on policy initiatives. Representative democracy is when we have a representative
When you think of democracy, most will usually think of the word freedom. Freedom is linked to a democratic society which includes the right to vote or the right to not vote. Americans should not be forced or required to vote because that would be taking away our freedom. If citizens were forced to vote then there would be many problems because American citizens believe in freedom to choose or not to choose.
The authors also argue that the greatness of the government driven by democracy is the right to
Today, the word democracy has been tossed around. In the words of Zhen Han “In modern society, democracy as a symbol of social civilization and progress is cherished” (Zhen Han). Democracy in any society should be because it gives the people of the nation power and liberty. The power of democracy has changed over time and didn’t necessarily work as a positive as it does today. During the ancient Greek times, democracy was split and mostly enjoyed by white males. The same happened in US history. “In the early period of US political history, democratic rights were given only to white males in colonies; today, although all citizens have democratic rights in law, what they really have in political life, in fact, are voting rights” (Zhen Han). If the United States really is a democracy, it has to have those voting rights. “Ideal democracy means that every individual should be respected” (Lihe Dong). The reality of having an ideal democracy is
What is a democracy? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2017), a democracy is “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representations usually involving periodically held free elections.” When supporting democracy, it not only encourages basic American values but it also encourages one national interest to help secure its citizens focusing on human rights. A democracy allows the citizens to speak their minds on issues and help the government come up with ways to solve them. The United States seeks to secure peace, discourage aggression, fight international terrorism and crime, uphold worker rights, improve the environment globally,
Democracy is a political system in which the power belongs to the people by which majority rules. The source indicates that freedom of choice is an essential component to a liberal democracy as it gives the power to the people by having multiple political ideologies to choose from and elect as their government. When there is competition between multiple parties, each party has a critical opposition that can hold each party accountable and restrict their power within government. This gives the power to the people because it allows people to choose from multiple political ideologies. Without competition, a party can form an oligarchy; by which one group rules over a country. Without a critical opposition, no one can criticize the party's
Winston Churchill once remarked that “democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried”. In agreement with his statement, this paper will examine the problems of democratic governments using specific examples, and compare it to the failure of fascist governments in Nazi Germany and Italy and communist governments in the Soviet Union and China.