Many of us go about our lives taking many things for granted. One of those things being our freedom. We never stop to ask ourselves, how democratic is our country? If we take a closer look at the origin of our Constitution, our government, and our country we can have a better idea and draw more accurate conclusions to our questions.
Our Constitution was written by the Framers in order to establish a national government and set the basis of laws in our country. This may seem like a democratic action by some, while others view this as an undemocratic and elitist action. The Constitution has many democratic aspects to it as it establishes a Separation of Powers by breaking up the Federal Government into three separate branches in order to prevent the
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The legislative branch is tasked with making the laws, and is made up of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Lastly, the Judicial branch which is headed by the Supreme Court and tasked with not only interpreting laws, but also with interpreting the Constitution. The constitution also sets a division of power between the State and Federal Governments, better known as Federalism. "Federalism is a way of organizing a nation so that two or more levels of government have formal authority over the same area and the people." (Edwards pg. 75). This division of power may seem like a democratic action to some, however; the Constitution gives power to the federal law over state law. This is why many believe the Constitution to be undemocratic as the Constitution would give too much power to the Federal Government. This was a major issue when the Framers were creating the Constitution as many of the anti-federalist feared a strong centered Federal Government and favored more powerful local state governments. This was due to many of the anti-federalist being farmers and having more local state connections and power within their states as well as fearing the
It is generally understood that the United States is built upon the principles of democracy, in which the majority consensus of the citizens helps to define the shape of issues or elections. However, in assuming that the Constitution - the document upon which such practices are founded – is inherently democratic is only partially accurate. Indeed, it has been frequently argued that the U. S. Constitution is representative of the rule of law from a federation as opposed to a pure democracy; in a federation, elections occur among the majority of the citizenry but this process results in elected officials who then determine the direction of the country. In short, a federation
When writing the Constitution, one of the most prominent arguments focused on whether America should be considered a Democracy. A large percentage of the founding fathers feared the term “Democracy” because they strongly believed that if the people had control, then there would be disorder and violence. As James Madison stated in Federalist No. 10,
Overall The United States national government does a pretty good job. They may have some things they need to work on, but all and all they do a good job. The U.S. constitution is the cornerstone of our federal government. It establishes a basic operational framework that enables the three branches of government- executive, legislative, and judicial- to interact and function as a unit. No Child Left Behind, a law passed by Congress in 2002 that requires schools to meet certain educational outcomes, as usually demonstrated through standardized tests.
In more than 200 years, the American government has stayed democratic. But what does this mean? It means that each person has an opportunity to have a say on major decisions that are made in this country. But this has not always been the case. This means that no matter how much money you have, you should still be able to participate and to be involved in the government, but that is simply not the case but, throughout history, there have been refinements that have made this idea become true.
According to James Madison, the author of Federalist Paper No. 10, pure democracy is defined as, “A society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person.” In other words, Madison was trying to tell his audience, all Americans, that the government revolves around them in which they have both direct and indirect powers through representation. The purpose of this is to protect citizens’ rights, promote the law, provide a common defense as well as public services, and to support a strong economic system. The Founding Fathers wanted to step away from the previous monarchy they suffered under in which the Crown had all the power. The only way to do so was to establish a new form of government that limits the highest offices and instead reinforces it in the people’s hands. Democracy in the United States would be different
Upon the opening words of the Constitution, "We the People do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America," one must ask, who are these people? While the American Constitution provided its citizens with individual rights, many members were excluded. Elite framers manipulated the idea of a constitution in order to protect their economic interests and the interests of their fellow white land and slave owning men ' by restricting the voices of women, slaves, indentured servants and others. Therefore, the Constitution cannot truly be considered a "democratic document." However, because it is a live document, malleable and controllably changeable according to the interest of congress, it has enabled us to make
The Constitution does not represent a true democracy. A democracy is a form of government in which the majority rule has the utmost power. The power is supposed to be vested within the citizens of the nation which decide on policy. The constitution fails to grant power as it provides indirect representation through the people of the United States. Examples in presidential elections, checks and balances, popular public opinion, gender and racial equality, and gerrymandering, prove that the United States is in fact, not a true democracy.
The three levels of authority in the United States are the federal, state and local government. Powers are divided within the three branches as means of checking and balancing one another. The three branches of the United State federal government consist of the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branch. The Legislative branch consists of the Senate and House of Representatives. The legislative branch are responsible for controlling government spending and for making laws and present them to the president. The executive branch is consist the Executive Office of the President. The executive branch is responsible for carry out or veto laws. The judicial branch is consist of the Supreme Court system. The judicial branch is responsible interprets
Dahl (2003) says that the Constitution of the United States is both democratic and undemocratic in different ways. It is democratic in the sense that the Constitution is democratic as it allows for its people the right to expression and it is present in the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is a list of amendments. The other democratic aspect of the Constitution is that it can be changed or amended through a democratic process as it is the elected representatives of the people who amend it. The Constitution cannot be said to be truly
Starting with the government in the United States, we are a democratic nation, and we largely took that from the Greeks. When the founding fathers were drafting the foundation of this country, they looked for the last great place where democracy worked. They didn’t want a monarchy, which had been the primary form of government for a while, they wanted voting and representation. The founding fathers also lived during a time when most educated
In the United States of America our founding fathers built the country upon the democratic style of government through the composition
The system in place is more democratic, but as spoken about throughout the seminar, the system resembles more of a republic than a democracy. Citizens do elect officials to represent their beliefs and values, but once in office these officials are allowed to choose whatever options they may. Throughout the course of history, strides have been made to expand the democratic side to our government. As discussed in the seminar, tradition and many acts have added to the democratic ideas in the current government system. The Jeffersonian democracy and Jacksonian democracy were some of the first periods of time when democratic ideas truly began to expand in the government of the United States. Over the previous hundred years, the federal government’s power has exploded (as stated by Mr. Engels), yet our government still is considered to be democratic, even though power relies more in the government versus the people. Our government system relies on its democratic ideals, but it is not fully
Democracy is the rule of the majority, the Party which is elected by the majority of the people will rule in the state. So it is the opinion of majority, MNAs, MPAs and local body members are elected by the people of the country. These members are helpful for the people and try to facilitate their society because they know that if they will not perform then they will not elected in next elections.
A democracy is a system that adheres to rules that are designated for all civil liberties. A great exemplar of a democratic system has to be the Constitution. The reason that why it embodies democracy is because its foundation was influenced by the sole purpose of promoting a cohesive structure of society while lessening rigidity. Although the Constitution does have a democratic foundation, there are limitations on the power that citizens hold; these restrictions are in favor of balancing the power that the branches of government exudes while protecting civilians, regulating the United States’ political system, and reviewing the ethics of societal issues.
Granted the newly founded government was not a real democracy, but rather a democratic republic in which people vote for individual representatives that speak for the people that elect them. This system was not all-inclusive. To vote in this government you were required to be male, not be African American, and to own land. These restrictions on elections