America’s Democracy
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,
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The founding fathers came up with ideas that shaped the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, which was signed on September 17, 1787. The Constitution establishes laws that guarantee basic rights for its citizens. It was created to have national unity and to divide power among the three branches of the government since there was no power to respond to in critical times. As a strength, the U.S. Constitution is the foundation for a strong central government to enforce citizen’s rights, to protect, to give equality and liberty. “All individuals can jointly have rights to life, liberty, and property” (Dorn, 2014, p. 2, para. 2). The U.S. Constitution was made so that these laws would be abided by. Furthermore, the amendments were put in place so that the vagueness of the words would be better defined and clearly understood. Everyone should be treated equally, and considering the Constitution, equality means having equal rights under the rule of law and they shouldn’t be interfered with (Dorn, 2014). If every citizen believed in equality for all, the Constitution would be utilized as it is intended. Yet, one of the weaknesses is that the first amendment isn’t …show more content…
Constitution is for Americans to realize “the connection between freedom and equality” (Dorn, 2014, p. 21, para. 3). The government should appreciate the Constitution as it is designed. It was designed to protect American citizens and that should always be kept in mind. When Americans force to achieve equality by rioting and protesting in rage, it destroys freedom. The government and the citizens should put their society first. (Dorn, 2014). To maintain the Constitution for its strengths, no one should be able to twist the words or find loopholes to treat anyone unfairly. One option to correct the weakness of the U.S. Constitution is to remember why the Constitution was put into place and to use it as it was intended. It isn’t easy for everyone to see eye to eye in exercising freedoms especially with religion. The first amendment protects religion but many Americans feel as if there is only one religion that is superior to others and that is problematic. “Changing the mind of an opponent requires some common ground” (Tingley, 2016, p. 4, para. 2). Without common ground, everyone’s views of what freedom truly means will always leave this country
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.
The word democracy comes from two Greek words: demos, meaning "the people," and kratein, meaning "to rule." These two words are joined together to form a democracy, literally meaning "rule by the people". Nowadays democracy could be referred as a rule of the majority. It is a system of government in which the citizens exercise power directly or choose delegates from among themselves to form a governing body, such as a parliament. The Greek system of government was maybe more like a true democracy or administered by the general population than any other ever. On the other hand, most American politicians with mindfulness and knowledge have realized that the U.S. is not a Democracy as a country, regardless of the way that most people declare it to be a Democracy. Greek and American democracy have some similarities such as the amount of nationalism and patriotism saw in the people when a lack of representation for a city-state or nation as a whole is seen, and they both vote for their political leaders.
People talk about the United States being a democracy, but what exactly is a democracy? A democracy is basically power that is given to the people and is used
The United States Constitution is set up for democracy like the colonist wanted. The constitution prevents anarchy and protects your rights. As a citizen you are protected by the Bill of Rights. We are entitled to freedom of speech, religion, and have dual process. We have guaranteed rights, separated powers of government to prevent tyranny, and we elect our representatives under The United States Constitution. The United States Constitution is set up to keep up with changing times.
Democracy is known as a system of government when all eligible people of a state can voice their own opinions as well as elect representatives. Democracy is not once mentioned in The Declaration of Independence. Pros of a democracy are, its by the people and for the people. Democracy is meant for everybody to be eligible to vote and they are able to vote. The people are also able to participate in what they think, feel , and voice about the political, social, and economic issues that are presented to them. It's in the people's best interest not just the governments. The goal is to find solutions with decision-makers best interest. The main goal is to is find solutions that are best for the people and regulate conflicts between states and government. A democracy imposes equality, the people's votes carry the same weight, which makes all individuals to be heard and make them feel as if their opinion is important. Other than in elections of the state a citizens
The first amendment is the most important part of the Constitution because it has been the most exercised right by U.S citizens. First amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Meaning, as citizens, the Constitution protects our freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition the government. This amendment is a good reflection of what America represents, equality for all.
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
They had been in love with the thought of liberty and believed foreseen rights for man would be good for man’s nature. Knowingly experiencing tyranny from the grand countries, the Fathers constructed the Constitution very carefully in order to avoid tyranny and a government for the people, by the people, and of the people would be developed. The First Amendment was created to ensure that the government would not and could not interfere with American citizens basic civil rights. Being that this Amendment was so important, many states refused to approve such documents as the Constitution until there were amendments that would protect people’s rights in the future. The Founding Fathers made the constitution to where eventually even in today’s days it would protect the rights of American citizens. There is always leeway with in the amendments to where not only does it protect the people of the past, but it protects the
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 first amendment is as powerful as a weapon, without it citizens would not have the power to petition or peacefully protest our opinion or thoughts. Meaning that us as a society would be powerless and have no say in our government, or how it’s run. Any person who habitats in this country has the liberty to say how they feel thus having the power to be heard. The constitution was written during the 1700’s, from authors who have personally felt and lived through the inability to be vocal. Many people believed during that time that every citizen is entitled to basic human rights, leading to the framers creating a document which is composed of the first ten amendments now known as “The Bill of Rights”. (“History of the First Amendment.” JEM
The United States government has fulfilled the American democracy however, there has been major fulfilments that have not been completed. The start to our democracy begin with our Enlightenment ideas which influenced our founding fathers. These ideas dealt with Natural Rights, Social Contract, and Revolution. The Natural Rights idea comes from a famous philosopher named John Locke. He basically states that every human has certain rights that are not given to them by the government and those rights that aren 't mentioned are called Natural Rights. This idea was put into effect with the 9th Amendment, this Amendment means there are other rights that may exist aside from the ones directly mentioned in the constitution, and even though they are not mention it doesn 't mean that they cannot be violated.
The freedom of religion, speech, and petition are some of the rights that make up the first amendment. Before the first amendment became part of the Bill of Rights in 1791 James Madison united a series of the proposed amendments, which only twelve were approved by Congress (book). The anti-federalists sent more than 200 potential amendments to Congress because they wanted a protection for individuals that did not agree or were against the power of the central government (book). These amendments have shaped the way the United States is today. Many individuals consider the first amendment the most important amendment because it guarantees the protection of people’s rights. Groups such as anti-federalists show how the first amendment is
Democracy and respect for human rights have long been central pieces of U.S. foreign policy. Supporting democracy not only promotes such American values as religious freedom and worker rights, but also helps create a more secure, stable, and prosperous global arena in which the United States can advance its national interests. In addition, democracy is the one national interest that helps to secure all the others. Democratically governed nations are more likely to secure the peace, deter aggression, expand open markets, promote economic development, protect American citizens, combat international terrorism and crime, uphold human and worker rights, avoid humanitarian crises and refugee flows, improve the global environment, and help human
The people of today’s world often take for granted what our founding fathers have fought for and accomplished. A good portion remains unaware of the freedoms and liberties we have now that were merely just a thought in the past. Unfortunately, when speaking about the government and laws, not many know of its origins and how they came to be. Simple rights such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and the right to petition are all examples of the Bill of Rights, which defines the first 10 amendments of the Constitution. These amendments are not just added, they must go through a process. In order to understand the process, there needs to be a clear understanding as to what exactly is a constitution
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