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Human Rights : Polished Synthesis Essay

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Michael Mekonnen
Prof. Laura McBride
English 102 Section 4005
01 Nobember 2017
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How Democracy Relates to Human Rights: Polished Synthesis Essay Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve. This synthesis essay is analyzed from two essays. The first essay that was written in 1788 by James Madison is titled The Bill of Rights. The second essay that was written in 1835 by a French aristocrat Alexis De Tocqueville is titled The Idea of Rights in the United States. Tocqueville wanted to analyze the democracy in the United States in order to determine its strengths and weaknesses so that governments could be formed to reinforce democracy 's strengths while counteracting its weaknesses. Even …show more content…

The Second Amendment, which says, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" (67), is very confusing and not easy to interpret. The language has created considerable debate regarding the Amendment’s intended scope. The phrase "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms", creates an individual constitutional right for citizens of the United States. On the other hand, the phrase “A well regulated Militia”, states that citizens do not have an individual right to possess guns and that local, state, and federal legislative bodies therefore possess the authority to regulate firearms without implicating a constitutional right.
Freedom of the press is the other weakness of the Bill of Rights. If the media are free to write about government, they can report on the performance of government, and the public can learn information necessary to form opinions about government. Media freedom is essentially a limit on government power. Media freedom also allows a range of ideas to be shared and tested. When there is press restriction, the news will always be one sided. However, the press abuses their power and reports incorrect stories. Tocqueville thought that freedom of the press could potentially produce political evils. Media manipulation, which is the result of freedom of press, is a series of related techniques in which

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