How Does Capitalism Affect Procedural Democracy?

One of the most troubling tensions between operational democracy in terms of equality and fairness of outcomes, and capitalism occurs in our incarceration industry. Before delving into this topic deeply it is important to recognize the massive scale of this issue. The United States

In the late 1700s-early 1900s utopian idea and industrialization changed social life and influenced government. This was by the cause of three main topics Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism. It influenced the government each time within the end results not as how they predicted. Adam Smith is a Scottish economist laid the foundation of capitalism. Also, the evolution from Utilitarianism to socialism. Lastly, about the Karl Marx idea of the best and a fixed mind set on things. Utopian idea and industrialization led to development progress in social life and positively influenced government from the late 1700s-early 1900s through abusive capitalism, idealistic socialism, and realistic communism.

Seymour M. Lipset2 contends that negative traits that plague the American landscape, such as “high crime and economic inequality”, are fundamental characteristics of and are inherently linked to a capitalistic and openly admirable democratic society. Not only does American history reside in the nature for “disdain of authority”, but current American norms signal that everyone must elevate their own status and rise above the ranks, both economically and socially. In analyzing the trends of high crime, acts such as theft, narcotics production and distribution, fraud, etc. are a means to

In this examination of economic inequality and the experience of punishment, I express how the American justice system fails to accommodate lower class criminals with the standards it equally guarantees to all citizens. Assessing each level of the correction process will allow me to shed light on the struggles that poor convicts face and apply theories which support my analyses. Highlighting the unsuccessful employment of equal due process, I

Despite being one of the oldest and most consistently stable democracies in the Western world, the American government, and American democracy as a whole, has frequently come under fire in recent years. Whether it is political parties, pundits, bloggers or citizens, Americans and non-Americans are all lining up to take shots at what they diagnose as a storied democracy crumbling before their eyes. Two of Robert Dahl’s criteria for a healthy democracy are enlightened understanding: are citizens able to acquire the political information necessary to participate in their own democracy, and control of the agenda: do the American senators and members of congress have exclusive and

The International Prison Studies Centre determined America’s high incarceration rate through the number of people in prison per 100,000 of the population (Western & Muller, 2013). The findings conducted by the International Prison Studies Centre demonstrate the U.S incarceration rate in 2009 was 743 per 100,000 inmates, which means the U.S exceeds Russia by 25 percent (Western & Muller, 2013). The United States prides itself on being a democratic nation, and advertises itself as a country that enforces freedom. A nation demonstrating such substantial incarceration rate, typically is not a characteristic of democracy especially when it is being compared to a less democratic country like Russia (Kearney, 2014). America’s extensive incarceration rate exceeding a non-democratic country is a sign that something is wrong, and makes this so called “democracy” questionable (Western & Muller, 2013). The United States being the global leader in Mass Incarceration has unfortunately led to many countries following them by

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,

The process of law making is shadowed in comparison to the process of getting reelected (Kettl). I deem that in modern democracy the Jacksonian idea is completely abolished by today’s government. The Jacksonian democracy expanded voter participation and gave light to the political era of the common citizen (Ginsberg). The idea that the President or even Congress serves the people over themselves is completely non-existent in today’s democracy. As a result, the relationship of government to economic and political power is becoming deeper. Money has always played a role in the democracy of the United States, but in modern democracy money is the key to reelection and power (Ginsberg); which gives little meaning to the idea of democracy. Money can provide a gateway for a candidate who may not even be fully competent to hold an office in Congress or the Presidency, but money is so powerful that people will still see them as a viable candidate and ultimately vote for them because their campaign is

Many refer to the United States of America as a democracy: a republic that is of the people, by the people, and for the people; where ideals such as truth, justice, and equality reign. However, if one looks closer with a more cynical lens, they might find that this is nothing more than a half-truth. For America is not truly a democracy, as many say it is, but rather a strange mix of a constitutional republic with a dash of democratic ideals. Nowhere is it more evident that America doesn’t truly rely on democratic ideas than in the system of voting used to elect the “Leader of the Free World”: the Electoral College.

Individuals play the role of consumer in a capitalist system. In order for the system to work consumers have to buy goods and services. If consumers stopped buying these things the capitalist systems would fail. Business would have to close, people would lose jobs, and consumers would spend less. The circle would go around and around making the economy bad. Opposite to that when consumber buy more, there are more jobs and consumers would spend more. This circle would go around and around making the economy good.

When people say that an American political culture is procedural, they are referring to the concept of procedural guarantees, which states that the government should insure fair rules and processes that will work smoothly in order to treat everyone equally with no promise of a negative or positive outcome. On the contrary, when people say that an American political culture has an individualistic nature, they are referring to the concept of individualism, which states that what is good for society is based upon what is good for individuals. These two concepts can correlate and relate to the three core American values of democracy, equality, and freedom. Americans refer to democracy as representative democracy, where it is based on consent

For years now, business owners and political organizations have abused their power and position to corrupt the democratic process by using the American people for their own political and economic agenda. Millionaire business owners have been exploiting their position to make more money while also taking away their workers’ right to vote. This kind of exploitation exists across the country; in California, the Southern Pacific Railroad company has used their power to overprice their services and in New York, an large ice company has doubled the price of ice for their consumers. The situation becomes even more fraudulent when one discovers that many companies, including these two, have been paying government representatives to avoid legal trouble and forcing their workers to vote to keep these corrupt officials in office (“Progressive Era…”; “The Case for Tammany…”).

The government in the United States supposedly revolves around American ideals such as equality and diversity; however, this is simply not the case as perpetuated by class inequalities. The meaning of democracy has been skewed in the United States to represent something entirely different than it did in 1776. Today, American democracy behaves more like an aristocracy, where the upper class exercises power within the government and state, influencing discourse and therefore the laws and resources in our country, which are purportedly “for the people”. Democracy is presumed to provide everyone with equal political power, but the government in today’s America, although seemingly following this ideal model, does not. Instead, the elite upper class has a monopoly over the political influence and are the sole benefactors from public policies due to their influence over the policy making process. The upper class has an overall benefit from class inequality, as it greatly impacts American ‘democracy’ through the significant power gained through money and status, leadership roles that impact government, and the influence in the policymaking process that creates upper class advantages.

The United States of America is one of the oldest contemporary democracies, is currently the second largest democracy, and is ranked the 16th best democracy in the world (Campbell et. Al, 2014). Yet there is a legitimate question over whether or not the United States can still truly be considered a democracy, with some studies even suggesting it has begun to resemble an oligarchy (Chumley, 2014). In this essay, I will use Dahl’s criteria of voting equality and effective participation to determine whether or not the United States are truly a democracy.

Prevalent flaws within most modern democracies are evident in their social and economic systems. One such problem, in a system that advocates freedom to do whatever you please, is the consequential wealth disparity (Wong, Oct. 24 lecture, tutorial). Aristotle once said that, “democracy is the form of government in which… the free are the many and the rich are the few”. This highlights a paradox of democracy in that it attempts to be equal to all, yet often the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer, and an increasing wealth divide will influence governance. Constant writes (pg. 12), “wealth is a power more readily available at any moment… more