Essay about elections and democracy

Democracy in the United Kingdom has changed a lot over the years however the definition has never changed. The right for people to choose and decide how a country is run. This essay will help decide whether the United Kingdom still follows that definition of being a true democracy and analysing how this has affected the people of the UK.

In the most basic sense, democracy can be defined as a system dominated by elections. Handelman states that democracy can be defined as, “... a political system that holds fair, contested elections on a regular basis, with universal adult suffrage.” (Handelman, p. 30). Additionally, Handleman offers up another, more thorough, definition of democracy that fully explains the intricacies of the ideology. Handelman expresses,

This nation's success lies in the hands of its people. America is extremely fortunate to live in a democracy, a government in which the citizens elect the leaders and representatives. The idea of it began in the Athens when an emperor wanted his people to be involved in creating rules and choosing overseers for their society. This idea became highly popular in the Middle Ages, but empires like the “Holy Roman Empire” overruled it for dictatorship, but people soon began to fight back (Karen Carr). America’s fight was to succeed from England in the revolutionary war in hopes of having the basic rights that democracy promises. The citizens demanded a voice in their government so they fought hard and though lives were lost, the United States won its independence from England. The actions, dedication, and perseverance of the citizens were the main reasons why this country gained its freedom. Citizens are the vital key to success so it is important for them to be active in electing proper officials, recognizing past mistakes and correcting current ones in today’s society.

Over the centuries, the media has played a significant role in the shaping of societies across the globe. This is especially true of developed nations where media access is readily available to the average citizen. The media has contributed to the creation of ideologies and ideals within a society. The media has such an effect on social life, that a simple as a news story has the power to shake a nation. Because of this, governments around the world have made it their duty to be active in the regulation and control of media access in their countries. The media however, has quickly become dominated by major mega companies who own numerous television, radio and movie companies both nationally and

American democracy may be winning but, are both democratic and non-democratic elements working for our good? Although, our government has become extremely corrupt, and inefficient, the American people still have hope. Unfortunately, this has been demonstrated many times when it comes to creating laws that benefit all citizens. Just as, the issues of our electoral process is also a concern, along with the impact of the media and interest groups. Consequently, the question is raised can government programs solve the issues we face?

With the public participation in elections is diminishing among developed countries, the elected governments of those countries become less representative of the entire population. The UDHR asserts that the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government. If the government is elected by the minority of the population, the elected government does not truly reflect the will of the entire population within that country, and impliedly lacks the authority to rule the country. To remedy this problem, the implementation of compulsory voting dramatically and effectively raised the public participation in elections, and thus supported the legitimacy of the newly elected government to rule stably. It is possible to argue that compulsory voting ultimately leads to a more stable society because every citizen has been given an opportunity to choose their government and there will be no excuse for people to overturn their government that is reflecting the public will. This demonstrates that compulsory voting is consistent with the notion of preserving public order and safety manifested in the UDHR and the ICCPR.

I believe the title of the textbook The Struggle for Democracy aims to explain the people’s fight for equality, either economic, political, or social. As the authors explain in the first chapter, the main idea behind democracy is that the people have the capability of ruling themselves (5). By voting, individuals are making policies that best suit their interests. However, democracy is ruled by the many. Therefore, is a continuous work in progress, for even today’s America, some individuals do not yet have the right to vote, or fail to participate in political decision making. So, based on the title The Struggle for Democracy, I believe this semester will teach me about the political practices in America, for example, the quality of democracy—as to how benefits or provides disadvantage for the people. Moreover, will demonstrate the changes American society and government have experienced over the

It is without a doubt that the United States of America is not a true democracy. By definition a democracy is a form of government by the people for the people, in which everyone is entitled to equality of rights and privileges. Never has a nation been able to truly withhold these political ideas, including the U.S.. Simple aspect such as economic values, references to religion, and the adaption of the common core have caused large separation between the people of the state and the leader of the state.

Throughout the course of history, few nations have turned out, from a political standpoint, to seem as great as America has. One might argue that America's political status as one of the top nations is largely due to its solid governmental system. America's democratic republic has paved the way for the core of the nation, the American citizens, the shape the nation as they desire. America takes pride in its democracy, and as a result, it has become a nation where everyone single person has an equal opportunity to succeed.Supposedly. America's perception of being a "true" democracy is only an elongated fallacy that has only gotten worse over the course of time. If one was to really look back in detail over of history, they would see how many

Democracy is the “Rule by the People through free and fair elections and other forms of participation” (Collier, 2012). There are several fundamental principles that have been determined to have a democratic government in place. These values were composed by various philosophers around the globe as mutual core components of equal opportunity government (Collier, 2012) . In my opinion, they are all needed to have a real democracy in place. However, after briefly researching each of the principles, I have selected three primary values that I believe to be essential. I have also chosen two that I find to be necessary but a little less imperative.

Scholars define democracy in various ways. However, they all agree that democracy is the participation of citizens in a political process without limitations. A democratic political process primarily includes free and fair elections. The essay will examine presidential elections as part of a democratic process.

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.

Over the years democracy in our country has improve extremely. Compare to back then to now there is less mistakes being made as in individuals voting. Dahl says there is five standards of democracy which is “effective participation, equality in voting, gaining enlightened understanding, excising final control over the agenda, and inclusion of adults”.

During elections in countries with corrupt governments, for example, it has to be decided whether the guarantee of every individual’s right to vote or who wins is more important. (Wong, Lecture, October 24) Moreover, deep divides continue to exist and separate groups in democratic countries by race, religion, language, and class, resulting in tension and, in some cases, oppression. Thus democracy, despite its emphasis on liberty, equality and plurality, can still be problematic.

Limitations:The only limitation the source has is that it fails to also give us a vison of the specific countries outside of South Africa that used media and in what way and what media was most used.