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The Government Of The People

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Democracy is, and will always be, as one of America’s past presidents Abraham Lincoln stated in his Gettysburg Address, “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” The exact definition for democracy is a system of government by the whole population of a state, typically through elected members. The original idea of democracy that America’s Founding Fathers promoted has shifted throughout the years. America was founded on the principles of freedom and liberty and many of these freedoms and liberties are being stripped away, or are at risk of being stripped away, by the American government. America is no longer a democracy, but it is an oligarchy. America is considered an oligarchy because of one reason, and that reason is that power lies in the hand of the elite wealthy. The majority of the population in America belongs to the middle class. “The preferences of most American citizens have little impact on government. Instead, the responsiveness of government is strongly tilted towards the most affluent citizens” . Those who reap the benefits are the ones creating policies. As U.S. supreme court justice, Louis Brandeis, stated, “America can have democracy or it can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but it cannot have both.” Oligarchy and democracy cannot coexist. It is true to say that since the founding of America, freedoms and rights of all who have inhabited this land have greatly increased. However, in recent years, these rights have

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