The practice of democracy existed, under many names or without realization, in numerous places even before the Greeks had the word written and recorded. However, the concept of giving citizens of a nation equal power in influencing decisions that affect them had been a monumental achievement in human civilization. The strength and fortitude of such a concept can be seen in the modern era where a great majority, if not all, of the governments of the most developed countries in the world are a form of democracy or have a great democratic aspect to them. The United States of America is a noticeable example of this. The US is a republic where citizens elect representatives who represent their views and make decisions in their name. However, with …show more content…
Democracy is a political system where citizens have equal power to influence and control the decisions that affect them. It is often exercised in a group where group members would vote who the leader would be or how a workload divided. The greeks were the first, or at least, most recognized in applying a more elaborate version of this exercise in a grander, national scale. Modern Democracy in a nation can be recognized by multiple characteristics. One is the right to vote. Elections should be competitive, open, and honest and all citizens must have equal power in voting on an issue they wish to participate in. As such, while the majority rules, the minority have rights that cannot be taken away, which could turn them into the new majority. All citizens also have certain rights and liberties that cannot be taken away, like rights to free speech, religion, privacy, and opportunity. Much, if not all of these characteristics apply to the US one way or another, since most of these are listed in the US Constitution, but like with all things, it cannot be just that simple. Things like the certain rights and liberties are ignored in favor of the interests of the powerful like surveillance of the populace, threatening the press to silence sensitive materials, etc. So while it is true that the US have the characteristics of a democracy, these characteristics are mostly ignored when the power of the powerful is …show more content…
The people have their certain liberties and rights that protect them, and they have the power to vote for issues that influence their way of life, but all of these do not matter since the real power belongs to the rich and powerful. The rights and liberties of the people can be ignored and bypassed if it is within the elite’s interest. The real voting power is also in the elite’s hands as they have the final say in outcome of politics. They use their money and the vast amounts of resources of power they can amass to affect anything that might threaten their
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary Democracy is a form of government by the people; especially: rule of the majority(Webster). This is what the United States is represented as, and this is based on the United States Constitution from which the United states draws all legal powers. In Robert Dahls book How democratic Is the American Constitution? He challenges this idea by trying to appeal to his readers in a way that they may view the United States Constitution in a different light. Dahl does this by pointing out flaws that the Constitution has and, draws on facts based on the other democracies around the world that the United States is compared too. He points out how many democratic ideas and innovations have a occurred since the conception of the American Constitution yet it has only adopted some of those idea.
Before that can be established, I think a definition of democracy should be stated so that it may be called upon later in this essay. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, democracy is stated as "the principle of social equality and respect for the individual within a community" .
Athens of ancient Greece had perhaps the most advanced system of government of the ancient world. The system of Athens was called a Democracy. That is, every citizen voted on everything. People have claimed that the United States is also a Democracy. This is not true. The government of the United States is a Constitutional Republic (Every). United States citizens vote for representatives, who then vote on the laws. They themselves are limited by a constitution. Democracy is a flawed government system. The Constitutional Republic is also flawed, however, it is better at safeguarding individual rights, when applied correctly. Therefore, a Constitutional Republic is a better system than a Democracy.
A democracy is a form of government where the people rule directly on everything that has an effect on their everyday lives. In a democracy the government’s power is from the people and it relies on them to use that power. Citizen’s rights to the decisions made by the government can be handled directly by entering their positions personally or by representatives. Since government decisions are not made by the majority vote except for in a small amount of all lawmaking, the United States is not a direct democracy. The United States contains elements of a democracy and a republic. A republic is a government where the people rule indirectly through elected officials. Since the United States combines these two forms of government, it is generally
However, seldom is this the case with American politics. There are far fewer politicians then there are low class workers or unemployed, and yet these politicians decide upon most all of the important decisions the country is faced with. The only time the rest of the people are involved is when these politicians spew out money and promises in an attempt to gain the p...
The Ancient Greeks were the first to put the power of a nation in the hands of the average citizen, they created the idea of the democratic government, practiced as a direct democracy. Voting, political assembly, and official citizenship are all concepts that can be traced back to Classical Grecian ideas .The Romans developed the concept of the representative democracy .This was best exemplified by the Roman Senate. The upper house of the US Congress is the Senate in ode to this ancient ideal. Although American Democracy is defined as a Representative Democracy, that is to say citizens elect those who make decisions, they owe a great deal to Greek ideas and concepts.
Democracy- a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives (Dictionary.com). The Constitution starts out with the phrase “We the People”, but is the constitution properly representing all the current people in the United States and providing us with a true democracy? The constitution is outdated and does not properly take into account the current typical American lifestyle. Along with being outmoded the Constitution has created an undemocratic legislative process in our country resulting in many unnecessary or unsuccessful legislative decrees.
The assumption of citizens having power in the political process is correct to a certain extent. Citizens do gain power in the political process by participating, but it must be done in the masses to be successful in getting what they want. Individually, the people have very little say on what goes on, however, every person 's vote counts and will make some difference in the outcome. If every person participated in the political process, they would have more power towards electing political officials, choosing what laws are passed, and they also have the ability to get public issues noticed when they feel they are being neglected. On the other hand, even if every person in the country voted, there is still that possibility that the people could be ignored due to a bigger and louder voice known as the wealthy. The people who have most of the power to affect the political process are the few people in the world that hold most of the wealth. These people have the ability to convince congressional representatives to vote against a certain law that is not in favor of the wealthy. They do this by supporting the political officials financially by donating money for their campaigns. Overall, citizens do have some power in the political process and have the ability to force the politicians to hear their opinions, but there is always the chance that the wealthy can overrule the people 's vote with the power of their
The United States is run by a democracy. There are many pieces to democracy that must be in good health in order for democracy to be effective and work. In this essay I will critique some of the most important parts of democracy in America and go deeper. I will first focus on the strengths of United States democracy and then I will dive into categories of democracy that I believe to not be thriving. I believe that the current conditions of United States democracy are becoming a hindrance to this nation, because the opinions and freedoms the public possess are being stripped away through poor media, education, and economy.
Democracy is not a contemporary phenomenon. It did not originate here in North America. Rather, its practice began---more than 2,000 years ago---in Athens, a city-state, in the Greek Mediterranean. The philosophers Aristotle and Plato attested to that fact in their writings. It is in Plato’s Republic that one finds the earliest definition of democracy, which is briefly, “the rule of the governed.” Plato compares democracy to monarchy, or rule of the one, oligarchy, or rule of the elite, and lastly, timocracy, or rule by property owners. Interestingly enough, the Republic’s author believed the rule of a philosopher-king was preferable to that of the masses. The Politics, written by Aristotle, provided a very robust explanation and justification of democracy, which will be detailed later in this paper. Nevertheless, democracy is synonymous with popular sovereignty or the notion that all within a human community have a say in the matters that affect them all.
America's Democracy The United States of America is a republic, or representative democracy. Democracy, a word that comes to us from Greek, literally means the people rule (Romance, July 8). This broad definition leaves unanswered a few important details such as who are the people, how shall they rule, and what should they rule on (July 8). Defining the answers to those questions means defining a model for a democratic system.
The term democracy comes from the Greek language and means "rule by the people."(Democracy Building 2012) The democracy in Athens represents the events leading up to modern day democracies. Like our modern democracy, the Athenian democracy was created as a reaction to a concentration and abuse of power by the rulers. Philosophers defined the essential elements of democracy as a separation of powers, basic civil rights, human rights, religious liberty and separation of church and state. The most current definition of a democracy is defined as a “government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.”(Dictionary.com). The American democracy was greatly influenced by the Athenian democracy. The Founding Fathers of the American democracy borrowed ideas from the Athenian way of governing. Presently, Americans live in a democracy that is much different than that the Athenian democracy, and what the Founding Fathers of the American Democracy envisioned. Although there are some commonalities between Athens and what our Founding Fathers intended, there are major differences as well. Differences between the modern American democracy the Athenian democracy and what the Founding Fathers envisioned are size of the democracies, the eligibility of a citizen to participate in the democracy and how a citizen participated.
The government in the United States supposedly revolves around American ideals such as equality and diversity; however, this is simply not the case. The meaning of democracy has been skewed in the United States to represent something entirely different than it did in 1776 when the country was founded. Today, our democracy behaves more like an aristocracy, where the upper class exercises power within the government and state, influencing discourse and therefore the laws and resources in our country, purportedly “for the people”. Democracy is presumed to provide everyone with equal political power, but the government in today’s America, although seemingly following this ideal model, does not. Instead, the elite upper-class have a monopoly over
A memorable expression said by President Abraham Lincoln reads, “Democracy is government of the people, by the people, and for the people”. Democracy, is a derived from the Greek term "demos" which means people. It is a successful, system of government that vests power to the public or majority. Adopted by the United States in 1776, a democratic government has six basic characteristics: (i) established/elected sovereignty (where power and civic responsibility are exercised either directly by the public or their freely agreed elected representative(s)), (ii) majority rule(vs minority), (iii) (protects one’s own and reside with) human rights, (iv) regular free and fair elections to citizens (upon a certain age), (v) responsibility of
The United States is defined as a democratic state or commonwealth, according to Bodin’s qualifications. He argues, that we must first assess “who has sovereignty to know what its state is…. if all the people have a share than we will say the state is democratic…a democracy or popular state, is when the whole people, or greater part thereof, have sovereign power as a body” (Bodin II.1.89-90). Why is the U.S. considered democratic? Because the majority rule prevails; meaning positions of power in the United States, the right to make laws, the reformation of laws, and the enforcement of laws are put to a vote in a free and transparent manner.