Essay Obstacles That Weaken Democracy

More than two-hundred years ago, thirteen young nations defeated a tyrant thousands of miles away. The prize for such a victory was self-government. For the first time in human history, a nation had handed over supreme executive power to the masses. Exercising this power has become a hallmark of being an American. Even today it is thought of as one of the most patriotic acts one can undertake. The thought of a nation run by popular vote is a comfortable enough idea, but in the case of the United States, a self-governed population threatens to destroy itself and possibly the world through wasteful spending, unregulated pursuit of profits, and a blotted military budget.

In the midst of the prevalence of democratic transitions, a number of developing countries are seeking to achieve the successful consolidation of civil order in modern days. Among those participants, Mexico and Nigeria has been spotlighted for the completely contrastive endings at the end of their long-adventures towards democratization since their independence; Mexico, from its independence, has maintained the political stability despite the authoritarian single-party regime and even accomplished the solid democratization at the time of the 2000 election whereas Nigerian regime has been deteriorated by a series of military cues d’états and

The American democracy is one of the most peaceful kinds of government in the world although it is a long way from utopia. The democracy in which we live has many strengths and weaknesses. Neither strengths or weaknesses out weigh one another, but it is necessary to have both due to the varying definitions. A democracy is a government that is run by the people. The politicians that we elect to run our government are human and they are susceptible to mistakes based on their own strengths and weaknesses. The strengths and weaknesses they possess are reflected into our government but at least “we the people” elect them and they are not chosen for us.

In the Shadow of the Mexican Revolution by Hector Aquilar Camin and Lorenzo Meyer tells a chronological story of contemporary Mexico from the fall of Porfirio Diaz in 1910 to the July elections in 1989. The time period that Camin and Meyer portray in Mexico is one of corruption, civil war, and failure. While Mexico would undergo an era described as the “Mexican Miracle” where the Mexican country would begin to see a positive output in the country, it would be short-lived and Mexico would continue to fall behind as other countries progressed. While In the Shadow of the Mexican Revolution is comprised of facts throughout history, one cannot help but feel a sense of sympathy for Mexico. While their corruption, political, and economical,

Mexico is the eleventh most populated country in the world with a $2.2 trillion economy (CIA, 2017). It is also an extremely popular tourist destination for Americans and Europeans alike. Moreover, its people have had the highest average annual hours worked in the world every year for the last three years (OECD, 2017). Despite this, their unemployment rate is estimated to be 3.6% and their underemployment at 25% (CIA, 2017). I am going to expand on this country’s issues with corruption, organized crime, violence, the economy, and how I assess their future will affects us here in the United States.

Democracy, as most people think of it today, did not exist during the first few decades of U.S. history.

In the nineteenth century, when the influences of a recent democratic society began to spread among the Americans, the equality of gender, the role of women, and the family began to change into an individualistic culture. In the United States, democracy opens up new beliefs on equality among the role of gender. In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville argues on how Americans were able to see the roles of gender more equally important than the Europeans. The Americans recognize the roles of the women and men important in being part as a contribution in the community. Each of the gender contains the same understanding that makes the American gender undetectable. For example, Tocqueville notice, in the United States, that the American

What is democracy? According to the online version of the Miriam Webster dictionary, democracy is "government by the people" also "is a government in which supreme power is invested by the people and it is exercised by the people directly or indirectly through a representational system in which periodically held free elections." Venezuela as well as other countries in Latin America has undergone constant changes in their democracy, produced by their rulers. The primary function of the government is to ensure the safety of the state, its territory and its inhabitants. Also their objective is to strength the democratic institutions that ensure the democratic liberties and rights. Unfortunately, not all the leaders are capable of respecting

Some background facts about Mexico: The place of advanced Amerindian civilizations, Mexico came under Spanish rule for three centuries before achieving independence early in the 19th century. A devaluation of the peso in late 1994 threw Mexico into economic turmoil, triggering the worst recession in over half a century. The nation continues to make an impressive recovery. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income

Democracy: A political system in which citizens enjoy a number of basic civil and political rights, and in which their most important political leaders are elected in free and fair elections and accountable under a rule of law (26). In the studies we have undertaken, comparing and exploring various countries and systems politically, economically, and psychologically throughout the quarter, this outcry of democracy has prevailed as a main theme. Successful countries such as the United States and Great Britain are based upon such democratic ideals. It is no wonder that countries have striven more recently toward this goal of democratization. Both the Russian and Mexican revolutions prove that democracy is an attainable goal in the next

Mexico is a country located in North America. It borders the North Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. Mexico has two mountain ranges that are extensions of the Rocky Mountains from northern North America. Mexico has a federal republic and a free market economy where the prices of good and services are determined in a free price system. They are quite easy to do business with in the world, being 47th out of 188 countries. Mexico has a population of over 129 million people and the growth rate in 2017 is 1.27%, which is actually 50% lower than it was in 1980. With so many people being born each year, more and more areas are becoming populated, and there is no room to really grow. This was a factor of why my friend Emilio Yepez moved from Mexico. Him and his family knew that there could be a better life in the United States rather than staying and living in Mexico due to the socio-economic gap that is very wide, and the fact that rural areas are often neglected in Mexico. There is also thousands of people who die due to gang related violence. There are powerful cartels that control the drug trafficking in South America to the US. Mexico has rampant gang violence, corruption within the government and it is also a weak state with little authority. The Hofstede’s Cultural Values are very interesting to compare to the United States. The power distance in Mexico is two times better than the United States’s; however, the United States is three times greater in the

Since the middle ages, corporatism has taken a leading role in countries by involving different organizations into a group of people to develop cooperative associations on the basis of shared interests. In Europe, corporatism was the main objective of people in a country. For example, Lewis Mumford note that the basic society "was based on classes and ranks" and there was no guaranteeing demand through security and no power that did not recognize the legal obligations of a corporate profile (Mumford). Once democracy began to spread and become definite in the United States, the Americans began to experiment with new ideas and values. In America, corporatism began to evolve into a new system where the knowing of freedom and justice was

Also democracy provides political rights, civil liberties and freedom of press, freedom of association and freedom to oppose to their governments without being afraid of the consequences. Each nation has a unique democratic way of controlling things and under a democratic system people in Latin America could be govern by the government that they choose to and not the military authority or dictatorship. In order to form democracy in Latin American there had to be revolution against authority and the violence that imposed to their citizens. (Isbester K., 2011) O’Donelli defines democracy as ‘patterns, formal and informal and explicit or implicit, that determine the channels of access to principal government positions; the characteristics of the actors who are admitted and excluded ... and the resources and strategies that they are allowed to use for gaining access’

Democracy is a unique type of government, and the purpose of this essay is to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses that a democratic government provides. I will detail that many components of this type of society are both strengths and weakness as each component has beneficial aspects as well as unavoidable pitfalls.

Churchill’s claim that “democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried” is deliberately provocative and intended to challenge the reader’s simplistic ideal that democracy is without faults. There are an estimated 114 democracies in the world today (Wong, Oct 3rd lecture). A figure that has increased rapidly in the last century not necessarily because democracy is the best form of government, but primarily for reason that in practice, under stable social, economic and political conditions, it has the least limitations in comparison to other forms of government. Be it the transparency of a democratic government or the prevalence of majority rule, all subdivisions of democracy benefit and hinder its