What Does It Mean To Be An American Democracy

The Founding Fathers wanted our government to be a republic because the people wanted their opinion to be heard in the laws that were made and the taxes that were being set. The people wanted to have a decision in what happens to their country. When the government is a republic the people have a say in people that represent them, but there are still laws and there is still rules to stand by. The people are still free and still have restrictions, but there are people to protect you such as police

Democracies have been around for hundreds of years, dating back to before the word democracy was created by the ancient Greeks. Democracies give the citizens of the nation power and let them have a say so in politics. Also, the people have many freedoms guaranteed to them unlike other types of government. The people elect local, state, and national government officials. The local government deals with many different cases. State government shares most of its power with the national government. Lastly, the national government oversees all the smaller forms of government in the land. [Thesis] American Democracy fits the definition of democracy because the people are represented fairly through local, state, and national government.

When writing the Constitution, one of the most prominent arguments focused on whether America should be considered a Democracy. A large percentage of the founding fathers feared the term “Democracy” because they strongly believed that if the people had control, then there would be disorder and violence. As James Madison stated in Federalist No. 10,

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

In the American form of democracy, representatives are chosen to represent the citizens, and to make decisions for them (USHistory.org, 2016). This is unique to the American democracy. In other democracies, citizens meet to discuss the policy issues and the majority rule decide the issues (USHistory.org, 2016). However, a representative democracy makes the government more manageable whereby only the elected representatives actually vote on the issues (USHistory.org,

When the United States (or any other nation) is referred to as a “democratic republic” we then know two things about that nation’s system of government. First, the term “democratic” tells us that the citizens of a nation rule its government and that those citizens are afforded certain rights. These rights include the right of speech, free press, free elections, and religious freedom. Secondly, the term “republic” refers to the process of a nation’s citizens voting in/electing their own representatives. So, when someone describes the United States as a “democratic republic” they are simply stating that we the citizens rule our government, that we have certain rights, and that we choose our representatives. An example that demonstrates that the U.S. is a democratic government is our Constitution. Our constitution helps to limit the power of the government and keep the power in the hands of the people, therefore making us democratic. While an example illustrating that the U.S. is a republic is Election Day where we elect our president.

“We’re a Democracy”, by William P. Meyers, states that we have become a democracy overtime but we are also still a hint of a republic as well. People who are so against democracy only see democracy as a direct democracy. But in reality, there’s also the representative democracy, which is quite similar to a republic. Over the years, with the help of all the amendment changes the U.S. has moved greatly towards a democracy. I actually agree with Meyers, both of these forms of government choose representatives to speak on their behalf, so whose to say we don’t actually have a democracy.

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

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

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.

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

“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.

In our very own Pledge of Allegiance it states “and to the republic for which it stands”. In school we are taught that the United States could be both and in a way they are right. However the way we operate as a country shows all the signs of a republic. A republic is defined as a form of government that in which the supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch. While a democracy is defined as form of government in which the people decide policy matters directly--through town hall meetings or by voting on ballot initiatives and referendums. The United States of America’s government is a republic rather than a democracy.

The United States is a nation that has constantly prided itself on the democratic system of government that it possesses, but how democratic is the system really? A democracy is a form of government where the power truly lies in the hands of the people, whether shown through direct or indirect elections of representatives and laws. Based on this definition, the Constitution, the very entity of US government, is democratic based on the initial convention held to ratify it that was based on representatives of the people and that it can be amended with enough support from individuals and their representatives. The Constitution establishes a democracy because it was ratified by representatives of the people and can be amended by representatives

Ancient Greece was the first to establish a democracy. In Greek democracy, every citizen was expected to participate or receive a punishment, but they had to be citizens, only twenty percent of Athenians were considered citizens, so only the free men could enjoy the rights and responsibilities that