Introduction:
Children across the country can be heard pledging allegiance “to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands;” however, research shows we no longer have a democratic republic in the United States. When the desires of the majority are systematically subverted to the desires a small and powerful minority, as is often in the case in the US, that system is an oligarchy. The democratic republic envisioned by the founding fathers has been replaced by an oligarchy to which they would have objected. With no express discussion of corporations in the constitution, the responsibility of defining the role and privileges of corporations in the US has been left largely to the United States Supreme Court.
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According to a Newsday poll 93.7% of Americans opposed the decision. Supreme Court decisions have eroded the protection of private property of the individuals in favor of a concept of “public good” that is defined by elites. When the country was founded “interests of the voting constituency and the interests of economic constituency were the same,” because there were no large enterprises and each family represented a single voting unit. Finally, Anderson states “Money is power; it can—and does—buy politicians and armies.” The great distance between the founding of the country and the modern day has allowed a perversion of the philosophy the country was founded upon. Corporations can exist in both oligarchs and democracies, but left unchecked have a tendency to become oligarchs (Anderson
On January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Citizens United v Federal Election Commission allowed for corporations and capitalist enterprises to be treated as individuals during an election period. This ruling allows corporations to spend or give an unlimited amount of money in contributions to their party or candidate of choice in any given election. With the loss of corporate financial regulations, our entire political system runs the risk of being corrupted by corporations whose sole objective is to satisfy its share-holders. This ruling affects all Americans their "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness." President Barack Obama had this to say about the ruling:
The Republican Revolution, Revolution of '94 or Gingrich Revolution refers to the Republican Party (GOP) success in the 1994 U.S. midterm elections,[1] which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House of Representatives, and a pickup of eight seats in the Senate. The day after the election, conservative Democrat Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama changed parties, becoming a Republican. The Democrats only picked up 4 seats in the House, all of which were open seats. No Republican incumbents were defeated at any level.
Corporate advantage is often times very controversial in government, from funding candidates with money, to swaying the mind of the voters, to making PACs and superPACs; this topic is not at rest with the F.E.C. or other government programs or agencies. In this case we see “Citizens United” ,a special interest group, fight with the F.E.C. about this advantage and the right to set restrictions on spending money for the purpose of engaging in political speech. In a 5-4 decision, Some may think that the court ruled correctly on corporate expenditures ; yet lots of people think that this advantage is corrupt, here’s why.
“Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Justices Antonin G. Scalia, Samuel A. Alito, and Clarence Thomas. Justice John Paul Stevens dissented, joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor” (2). The majority supported their decision by stating that corporation donations to a candidate election is a method of free speech, which means it must be protected by the First Amendment. On the other hand, those disagreeing with this stance viewed corporations as businesses, rather than people, and believed that having no regulations and limits on contributions would cause the voices of individuals with average means to be drowned out by the money donated by major corporations. The protection given to corporations by the First Amendment basically meant that corporations were seen as people, rather than as businesses. Additionally, the majority also ruled that the disclosure requirements set by the McCain-Feingold Act were constitutional for the movie because there is “governmental interest in providing the electorate with information about election-related spending resources” (3). Despite all the changes made regarding financial contributions towards candidates, the ban on direct financial donations and aids to candidates from corporations was upheld by the Court.
The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government,” Thomas Jefferson. This quote explains one of the many reasons Jefferson created the Democratic-Republic party. The Democratic-Republicans resisted the idea of a new federal constitution, they stood for states rights in opposition to a central Govt, and strict interpretation of the constitution. If we could, the people of 2016 America would vote for the Democratic-Republic party because of their stance on immigration, funding the national debt, and the Jay Treaty. The main idea of the Democratic-Republican party was, to represent the interest of the common free man.
In stark contrast to the majority, Justice John Stevens wrote a dissenting opinion, stating that “[t]he conceit that corporations must be treated identically to natural persons in the political sphere is not only inaccurate but also inadequate to justify the Court’s disposition of this case.”Invalid source specified. Stevens observed that, “[a]although they make enormous contributions to our society, corporations are not actually members of it. They cannot vote or run for office.”Invalid source specified.
There has been a lot of fuss over big business influencing the government in the United States lately. Now there is no doubt that the business elite have some influence on politics. It can even be traced back to the early 1900’s, when “the People’s Party had disintegrated, but many writers and activists have continued to echo the Populists’ central thesis: that the U.S. democratic political system is in fact dominated by business elites” (). Although there are countless arguments to go against this idea, the questions still comes up today: Is government dominated by big business? Political Scientist G. William Domhoff believes that government is dominated by big business. More specifically, Domhoff believes that owners and top-level managers in income-producing properties are not only dominant power figures in the US, but they also have inordinate influence in the federal government (). Another political scientist however, Sheldon Kamieniecki, believes otherwise. He states that businesses do not really get involved in policies that affect them; and even when they do, their success rate at influencing policies is not consistent. In fact, he believes that other factions have more influence on government policies ().
Why would the Supreme Court ever make such an irrational decision that would change American Politics forever? The Supreme Court has so much power and a very important job. The Citizens United ruling gave corporations and unions permission to spend unlimited amounts of money on ads and other political tools for the battle of an individual candidate. Likewise, the court’s decision stated that corporations and labor unions were able to spend as much money as they wanted to convince people to vote either for or against a candidate. Questionable Politics and the return of campaign finance issues are becoming a reality once again due to the damage Citizens United has done to our democracy.
Proletarian literature is a scholarly works for the working class people This would fundamental include what is called 'low-degree' writing. Composing that isn't especially provocative or something that requires an awesome level of information and earlier figuring out how to get it. It was intended to be perused and appreciated by the common laborers individuals who had constrained instruction, and simply needed to have a decent time while perusing instead of perusing to think or
The best government is a Republic government. A Republic government is also known as a direct democracy. It is very effective and works smoothly. The people are big part of the government, because they vote on a leader to represent them and make decisions for them. This way of democracy is amazing because of how the people are such a big part of it. Another interesting fact is that the first Republic was the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic was an impressive system that lasted for 500 years. It was impressive because it had three branches, the Magistrates, the Senate, and the Assemblies and Tribunes. The Magistrates were elected officials who enforced laws and judged cases. The Senate are wealthy citizens who helped pass laws and controlled
We Americans have been lied to. The Founding Fathers saw the danger of corporations and big banks before the Industrial revolution even touched our shores. The created laws which the corporations and the traitors in the Supreme Court eroded to nothing, by the start of the Civil War. But in at the start of the US corporations were not allowed to own each other, nor was one person allowed to sit on the board of two corporations. Corporations were barred from spending money on elections and other public matters. Depending on the state either the public in general or the Secretary of State specifically, had permanent access to a corporation's books, so they could not hide behind creative accounting. the Lie started when they change the history
In America, we pride ourselves on being a democracy and having choices, when in fact, it is only a political illusion. In the Constitution of the United States (which we are all held accountable to abide by), it states that we are a republic with regard to the people’s desire to be a democracy, yet there is much evidence that leans towards America being an oligarchy. While a republic is a country which elects representatives to make government decisions on their behalf, an oligarchy is a system in which a small group of people controls the country. The debate of American being an oligarchy assumes that elites have power in many aspects of government, such as the Electoral College and the election process,
Democracy is a multi-dimensional complex system of which the sum is greater than its individual parts. Another perspective that can be used to better understand the conceptual framework of democracy is its identity as a contrast of communism. In the recent century, there have been periods of revolution where regimes have fallen and a democratic system replaced the oppressive communist system. The purpose of this paper is to examine and analyze Hungary’s attempt to function as a democratic republic beginning with the preceding factors that lead to the transition from communism to democracy followed by the transition process itself from 1990 to 1991. An evaluation of the political system fifteen years after the transition will be included in
ACCOUNT FOR THE VARIABLES WHICH PRECIPETATED THE COLLAPSE OF THE FIRST REPUBLIC (1960 - 1966)
Democracy varies in every country depending on the type of government or regime they have. There is the liberal democracy, which is all about giving people their rights and liberties; everything is done through fair voting and electing. The people are aware of everything that happens in their government. Illiberal democracies are basically the same as liberal, but the people in power are more secretive of their activities, and there is less civil liberty. It is essentially a partial democracy. Now Authoritarian regimes designate any political system that concentrates power in the hands of one leader or a small elite. There are no free elections and very little regard for the law. Political institutions, social structures, and the democratic rule of law all affect liberal, illiberal, and authoritarian regimes democratic quality differently.