Liberal Democracy And The Constitutional System

The second point is that liberalism upholds the principle of equality for all regardless of name, social status, and gender, racial, cultural, or ethnic background. Liberalists advocate for a level playing ground which calls for the government to strictly control the economy and also have more power in the social arena so as to protect people from economic exploitation. Liberalists strongly push for controlled corporations, an economy that is well

Classic liberalism is a political ideology that advocates limited government constitutionalism, rule of law, due process, individual liberties including freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and free markets. The Age of Enlightenment was a cultural movement of intellectuals in Europe and the United States, whose purpose was to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted science and intellectual interchange and opposed superstition, intolerance and abuses by church and state.

Since the dawn of human civilization, individuals have been constantly immersed in conflict with each other. Whether these conflicts stemmed from socio-economic inequalities, political disputes, property rights, religious disagreements, or any other contentious matter, the creation of human governments has necessarily been to handle, organize, and resolve conflicts between people within communities in the least destructive manner possible. Governments act as a formal instrument through which individuals in a society can agree upon shared rules, solve problems, and engage in cooperative behavior, and it helps avoid the severe repercussions resulting from revolutionary social upheaval. The purpose of government – as spelled out in the Preamble of the Constitution – is to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” While countless forms of government have sprung up over the centuries, only one has been resilient enough and has had the pervasive influence necessary to stand the test of time: democracy. While there are many different types of democracies, this paper will focus on liberal democracy specifically. A liberal democracy is a form of representative democracy that operates under the paradigm of classical liberalism. According to the Center for Research on Globalization, liberal democracy is defined as:

Liberalism started with the ideas of the Enlightenment. Two of these ideas were freedom of speech and freedom of the individual, and kept growing from there. Liberalism is the belief in a small central government and no monarchy. The liberalists defended the ideas of the definitive rights of an individual’s liberty, equality and property. The liberalists wanted their government to be established on written laws and a constitution based on equality.

Therefore, liberation ideology can fully thrive in a liberal democracy that promotes individual freedom and equal opportunity giving equal rights to all individuals without infringing on the rights of others.

Since the ratification of the Constitution, more than 11,000 amendments have been proposed. The Constitution of the United States of America was Officially ratified in 1789. This makes the document over two-hundred years old. Since the time of its writing and eventual ratification, the document has been amended and interpreted in many ways. Whether it be prohibition to the abolition of slavery. The Constitution has been constantly updated over time. It has not laid stagnant with the time. The Constitution has remained the document off of which we have based our country for many years. A major question that has been posed is, why do we as a country still feel bound to this document written so many years ago? The reasons are fairly simple. The Constitution of the United States can and has been over many years amended, the laws and thoughts of a people can be expressed through the Constitution, and the constitution has functioned, with a few bumps in the road, fairly well over the last two-hundred years. The people of the United States should still stand behind this Constitution because it infact still serves us well today in many ways. A few being that it can be amended and “Fixed”, and another being that it does still protect our rights as citizens.

In the United States, we have a liberal democracy meaning our rights and liberties are protected. The US also has a multiparty electoral system with free and fair participation and a checks and balances system that prevents a single party from taking sovereign control. Liberal democracy is a political system that is supported by free and fair elections, but also a separation of powers between branches and the protection of its citizens basic liberties such as, freedom of speech, assembly, property, and religion (Zakaria 22). Constituitonal liberalism is mostly based on limiting power in government, while democracies tend to be more about its accumulation and use (Zakaria 30).

However a reason why liberals support democracy is that it shows each individual is equal- one vote per person, gives everyone equal influence on how countries governed. Since voting is done individually, it constraints the collective pressures of groups within society.

Refer to Table 1-1 of The American Democracy, and in 100 to 150 words, identify and explain America’s 3 core political ideals and the 3 rules of American politics.

Within Liberalism the government works towards making the world we live in more inviolable for the better of society and a more liberal democracy. Everyone also has there own rights and freedoms which are enhanced and protected by the government. Canada holds certain measures to keep Canada a strong democracy that acknowledges the rights of citizens. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom is one example, it assures rights and freedoms of Canadians. It gives us rights to act a certain way and also provides us with protection by the government and laws.

The United States of America utilizes constitutional democracy as its form of government. This type of government allows to people of its country to directly or indirectly make decisions and is based on the principle of equality and freedom and majority rule (Difference Between Monarchy and Democracy, 2011). In the Unites States, democracy is shaped by a constitution, which allows a clearly defined respect for an individuals and minorities basic individual rights and liberties, including freedom of speech, the press, and religion, to be protected (ushistory.org, 2017). Although this form of government does not allow absolute freedom, it leaves room for different types of citizens to compete for leadership positions, express personal opinions, and to be governed by laws that apply equally to leaders and citizens (Quigley, n.d.). Constitutional democracy is the antitheses of the arbitrary rule and is character sized by popular sovereignty, majority rule and minority rights, limited governmental powers including punishment and social control, and institutional and procedural limitations of powers (Quigley, n.d.).

Liberalism is a collection of political, social and economic philosophies that is centered around the rights of personal liberties, civil rights, economic freedom, controlled and democratic government and the rule of law. A controlled and democratic government is instrumental to liberalism. A controlled government is one restricted by the law. The most common example of this can be found in the United States Constitution. The Constitution has outlined the roles and restrictions of each branch of government while also setting a system of checks and balances.

Which means controlling the power that is created. The liberal constitution serves to protect the state from impulsive or overreaching decisions. This shows that the law will be fair and gain the state’s ability to have a co-operation without use of force. Next, democracy has a lot of good principles that affected the constitution. They are citizen participation, equality, political tolerance, accountability, transparency, regular free and fair elections, economic freedom, bill of rights, control of the abuse of power, human rights, accepting the results of elections, multi party system, and rule of law.

First, liberal democracies are more open with the people. The philosophical traditions of a liberal democratic republic are democracies, liberalism, and republicanism. Democracies try to be equal with all, it stresses public rights, it reaches for what the majority wants, and it is very protective against authoritarianism. In liberalism, natural rights can’t be violated, private rights are very important, no one is above the law, and the government has no rights. In republicanism the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. The chief executive is chosen through lections, and every citizen has their right to vote. Political

However, since direct participation was not possible in large societies, Mill thought the `ideal type of a perfect government would be a representative government'.