Is Democracy Throughout The United States Working?

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.

Could the American Dream not be what it used to? In an opinion piece titled Requiem for the American Dream; The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power published by Seven Stories Press (2017), American political activist and notable social critic Noam Chomsky discusses how the American Dream is not what it used to be and argues that the reason for this is because the rich control the United States. Chomsky supports this claim by acknowledging that the wealthy and powerful created American government so they will always be in control, identifying that ordinary people can create power when they come together, and finally by discussing problems about inequality. Chomsky’s purpose is to show how the American society is controlled by

In two world wars, Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf, Americans fought and died so that democracy would prevail around the world. In the minds of many Americans, America is the bastion of democracy. But how democratic is America? Today’s America was “born” with the signing of the constitution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There, it was determined how democratic America would be. And every American should ask himself how democratic America was made at that constitutional convention in Philadelphia.

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

Unkept promises diminish day by day. What once may have given people ambition and zeal has transformed into a superficial and consumerist ideal. In the nation’s youth, the American Dream was a promise to the people which has failed to impart its values to future generations. This promise traces back to the foundation that “all men are created equal” and Dictionary.com’s first definition defines the American Dream as “the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American.” This is closest to the originally intended meaning of the American Dream which perhaps only a minority of the population still recognizes. Politics and economy have contributed to the significant change in meaning and

The American dream is all but a figment of the imagination that is unrealistic to attain since it is becoming harder and harder for any middle class to sustain itself in the middle or the poor society to prosper to the intermediate class. What once was possible is almost impossible to achieve success and wealth through hard work, persistence, and action. The top one percent of the American society is making it impossible for the lower class to hold on to hope for a better future. The richer are getting richer by remarkably increase profits. Yet, the lower class wages have either decrease in some sectors of employment or have remained stationary resulting in “income inequality. That is “…the extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner among a population” (inequality.org). Today it is even more evident that the lower class is stuck, unable to go nowhere. Savings is almost none existence to the middle and poor classes yet, they are working harder than ever before. Fortunately by having a free democratic society take control over “wealth inequality” the economic difference can stabilize through unionization for all low-wage labor.

The American political system is built on simple but revolutionary principles from our founding Fathers. These principles state that self-governance is an absolute right and the governments purpose is to serve the interests of the people. Characteristics which are essential to a healthy, functioning democracy. But America has stumbled upon a formidable roadblock to the realization of our founding fathers dream, as Lincoln said, of a country that is "of the people, by the people and for the people"( Citizens at Work, 2003). There are many factors that distort this reality and the main

“How Democratic Is the American Consitution?” written by Robert A. Dahl is a novel that’s main purpose is to “suggest changes in the way we think about our constitution” (Dahl 2003, p.1). Robert A. Dahl revolves his book around a few questions. However, the main focus of all the questions are “why should we Americans uphold our constitution” (Dahl 2003, p.1)? This question is asked because he questions why we uphold something that was written more than two centuries ago. He also questions how democratic our society is because of our constitution. Dahl examines the fact that some Americans have no problem with the constitution as it is today and then he also states that some find it to lack in some crucial areas. Dahl explains that there are seven crucial areas in which the constitution lacks democracy. These include: slavery, suffrage, election of the president, choosing senators, equal representation in the Senate, Judicial power, and Congressional power.

Our American democratic system is effective by its definition being “to the degree to which something is successful in producing a desired result.” In the Federalist Papers, Hamilton, Jay, and Madison, outlined the reasoning behind the system of government set up by our Constitution. Madison states in Federalist 10 that an “extended republic” is the key to “controlling the effects” of factions. (3). Madison believed, as did many other Founders, that government is created to protect the diverse interests of the people. This means government should not be controlled by the majority as every interest counts, even the minority’s. This is the system of American democracy, created through the implementation of a constitutional republic. Through checks

Small groups of people can have a more potent impact on Congress than a majority of the populace. Congress accommodates to narrowly based organized interests if it is appealing (Quirk and Binder, p. 531). For example, special interest groups and lobbyists flood the Congressional floor and meet privately with House of Representatives members and Senators in order to push specific legislation. This legislation often benefits the businesses and interest groups while the rest of population is not represented. On the contrary, large groups have made it incredibly difficult for Congress to balance the budget and properly distribute funds (Quirk and Binder, p. 532). The public often fights against Congress’ proposed budgets due to an underlying disdain for the legislative body. Specific constituencies have different concerns about where the money should be used. This creates favoritism for certain groups of people in different regions of the United States. The Congressional budget is divided to aid the favored groups. Despite this, when the legislative branch and the executive branch agree on financial matters, Congress is viewed to be doing a good job. However, when Congress and the President do not agree or political parties are clashing within, Congress is portrayed as being inept and unable to pass any meaningful legislation. It is interesting to view the depiction of Congress through the

This disillusionment sentiment experienced by American society towards its wealth biased government is substantiated as many members are wealthy or has direct ties to wealth, perpetuating the trend of income inequality through policymaking. The legislative branch of the government, or the branch that is directly involved in policymaking and lawmaking is populated by various members of massive wealth that represents many sectors of the economy that had a hand in the financial collapse of 2007 and 2008. As a whole, the members of Congress are undeniably more wealthy than the constituents that they represent in the government. In 2012, the “median wage” for a member of the Senate was around $2.7 million dollars and the average wealth for a

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.

Democracy: a government by the people, in which citizens rule either directly or through elected representatives - the latter description more relevant to today’s societies. Quite evidently, democracy is not perfect; like any other political system, it is subject to a plethora of flaws. For instance, it is no secret that voters tend to make illogical decisions – not out of sheer malice, but as a result of being wrongly informed. Politicians also make erroneous choices, whether they do so because they are dishonest or simply out of touch with the true will of their constituents. Further, anyone who has studied the government of a parliamentary democracy knows gerrymandering can have a powerful say in determining elections. Despite these and

Americans live in a representative democracy with a capitalist economy. This means citizens withhold different values in both political and economic aspects. Most Americans will allow some economic inequality because it leads to healthy competition. Political equality, on the other hand, yearns for equality. The vast majority of citizens agree that we should approach politics with equality. Through amendments, court decisions, and movements like suffrage, equality has been a core belief in the constitution. However, money has began to threaten and corrupt this ideology. Some citizens believe that limiting money is a violation of the first amendment; however, without restrictions the wealthy will have an unfair amount of power, the winning candidates

Although our nation’s government relies on the fundamentals of liberal democracy, it still has many flaws. Articles written by Francis Fukuyama share a clear message suggesting that America’s political institutions are decaying and its flaws will not be fixed unless we have good leadership within the government that yields good policies. It is still not too late to make reformations in the system. Today, US citizens share a distrust for the inner workings of our government, and through the years, there are many things that must change. Although our government is able to withstand failures right now, it may cause an expansion of problems that will cost us indefinitely. The existence of interest groups has caused an exponential increase in the elite control of the system, thus creating people’s lack of trust for the government.