Is Too Much Initiative A Bad Thing?

It’s been argued ever since the constitution was made how in touch the congress members where with the people who elect them and this argument still goes on today. With the 425 members of the House each has a district which averages nearly 650,000 people, this is a vast number with many arguing that there is little chance that congress can be in touch with the people when they have to represent such vast numbers. However, the other side of the argument displays evidence that in fact the members of congress are able to stay in touch and represent the people who elect them.

Fourth, the definition of the word "democracy" has changed. The way Americans see the word doesn't refer to a static system as it once did, it is ever changing and improving.

“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.

The United States is no longer the democracy it stands for. Democracy stands for a government controlled by the majority of the population. The United States is no longer controlled by the majority. America is controlled by the powerful corporations and rich elite. The combination of an uninformed, disinterested public, a flawed election process, and an economy controlled by 1% of the population have all led to the formation of the American Oligarchy.

In 1787, one of the most debated issues was the size of the House of Representatives. During the Constitutional Convention, the delegates proposed that 40,000 citizens should be represented by one congressional district. However, George Washington intervened and argued that 40,000 was too high, and reasoned that 30,000 was more reasonable and allow people to be represented adequately Washington’s proposal was incorporated in Article One, Section Two of the Constitution which states “representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State.” While the number of representatives did increase throughout the history of the United States, the number has been set at 435 members since 1929. Congress in 1929 passed the Permanent Apportionment Act that set the number of representatives at 435, which was set after a 1910 census. Currently each representative represents 700,000 citizens and congressional seats are redistricted around the nation based on population changes. But the currently number of representatives does not adequately represent the present population and a single district cannot represent a huge number of people. Therefore, the current number of representatives must be increased.

Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution states that, “Representatives…shall be apportioned among several states...according to their respective Numbers.” Apportionment is the mathematical process of dividing and allocating the four hundred and thirty five seats in the House of Representatives among the fifty states based on the population figures collected by the Census Bureau. This process, according to the Constitution, must be conducted “within every subsequent Term of ten Years.” Each of the fifty states is guaranteed one representative. The number of House of Representatives from each state fluctuates every ten years due to population deviation.

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 it comes to a democracy always committing suicide, I believe it. In the letter written by John Adams, when referring to a democracy, he states, “It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself.” Unequal representation in the colonies is one reason the British government crumbled and led to The American Revolution. Today, I feel that there is an overwhelming amount of unequal representation in the United States among different races and backgrounds. In some ways, we are treating these people the same way the British treated us. We expect them to confide by our rules, and pay taxes, yet we don’t treat them equally, and in turn we oppress them. When John Adams wrote this letter, he saw the big picture. He saw how the British government ended,

Congressional districts are the 435 areas from which members are elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. After the apportionment of congressional seats among the states, which is based on decennial census population counts, each state with multiple seats is responsible for establishing congressional districts for the purpose of electing representatives. The boundaries and numbers shown for the congressional districts are those specified in the state laws or court orders establishing the districts within each state. Congressional districts for the 108th through 112th sessions were established by the states based on the result of the 2000 Census. Congressional districts for the 113th through 115th sessions were established by the states

population of about 710,000 individuals. Each district elects a representative to the House for a

“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.

Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines democracy "as a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by the people" (www.merriam-webster.com). But the one big problem is that "We the people" are not exercising their "supreme power" to determine the U.S. government. Less than half of the eligible electorate showed up at the polls for the 1996 U.S. presidential election. While lower turnout has marred previous presidential elections, 1996's voter turnout dipped below 50 percent for the first time in more than 30 years. It appears that the people's increasing cynicism about politicians that they lie to get elected and the perception that people have no respect or confidence in the

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

We as the people should maintain the most crucial political power within our designated states. Let’s not allow one entity to govern all of us, when those representatives do not know what each state and those who live in it need. Our focus must remain on us. A strong National Government under the Constitution would give them too much power.

Today’s Congress consists of 535 members; “100 senators (two from each state) and 435 voting members of the House of Representatives “(Oleszek, Walter J., 2013). The House of Representatives has so many more people because the House represent individual districts