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The American constitution as democratic
The American constitution as democratic
Origin of democracy
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When we hear of the word democracy we think of a system of government where the people are in control or have most of the power. Most system of government tend to use the democratic way of leadership today around the world because of how popular it became in America. There are many influences that lead to this change in democracy that helps to shape it in the way it is used today. many social movements and interest groups has influenced and impacted a positive change in this new and reformed way of leadership. I will further elaborate and discuss what has led to this new democracy in the U.S.
democracy was first introduced in ancient Greece in the 5th Century BC to denote the political system then existing in Greek cities-states notably Athens. In the U.S. Democracy was first introduced in the constitution in 1788. Democracy did not originate with the founding of the United States. The term "democracy" comes from the Greek words "demos" meaning the people and "kratia" meaning power of authority. so of course democracy is a form of government that gives power to the people. But how, when and to which people? the answer to those questions changes through history.
The modern democracy was influenced by can be traced back to the Magna Carta in January of 1215.
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there are two major happenings that I want to pay keen attention to that helped to influenced the drastic change that influence today's democracy. in the year 1789 a major thing happened in America something that would help to shape the America in a way that would beneficial to both government and people.
The separation of power happened, this political doctrine according to which the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government are kept distinct from in order to prevent abuse of power. This U.S. form of separation is associated with the system of checks and balances. The Constitution introduced a system of democracy that made it fair and square in a way that it only be right for both government and people. in the constitution citizens elect their leader, people have the right to change leaders, people choose their leaders through elections which were held frequently and they have civil
rights.
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.
Democracy is the structure of government still used today in many countries.The definition of democracy is a system of government where people who rule directly are freely elected representatives.In addition, democracy comes from the Greek word demokratia. Demo meaning people and kratia meaning power of rule. For instance, here is an example, Great Britain has a democratic government since elected officials and laws are voted on by the people and also the representatives they elect. Therefore Athens exemplifies a democratic government. “Athenians would meet and vote on a simple question …. is anyone becoming a threat to democracy? If a simple majority voted yes,then they dispersed and reassembled two months later,
Democracy is a system where society takes control of voting and chooses presidents to their liking; voting was based on the people’s interests. The Missouri Compromise, the Corrupt Bargain, and the Spoils System were all conferring factors in the rise of democracy. Democracy became a way for people to vote for their best interest.
Democracy developed in Colonial America from 1607, at the founding of Jamestown, up to 1783, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Democracy is defined as 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. Ideas from documents created in England, such as the Bill of Rights, were brought over to the colonies. These ideas were implemented into the society of the colonists. The colonists also created their own democratic documents and ideas.
The political culture that defines American politics shows that despite this compromise, America is still very much a democratic society. The very history of the country, a major contributor to the evolution of its political culture, shows a legacy of democracy that reaches from the Declaration of Independence through over two hundred years to today’s society. The formation of the country as a reaction to the tyrannical rule of a monarchy marks the first unique feature of America’s democratic political culture. It was this reactionary mindset that greatly affected many of the decisions over how to set up the new governmental system. A fear of simply creating a new, but just as tyrannic... ...
"United States can be seen as the first liberal democracy. The United States Constitution, adopted in 1788, provided for an elected government and protected civil rights and liberties. On the American frontier, democracy became a way of life, with widespread social, economic and political equality. The system gradually evolved, from Jeffersonian Democracy or the First Party System to Jacksonian Democracy or the Second Party System and later to the Third Party System. In Reconstruction after the Civil War (late 1860s) the newly freed slaves became citizens, and they were given the vote as well." (Web, 1)
Democracy of today can be traced back to the Funeral Oration speech of Pericles‘. We can outline the ideology behind democracy from his speech. Democracy is now the largest form of government to exist in today’s society. There are two forms of democracy’s that exist: Representational which is used by the United States, and Direct which allows the people to get involved and was used by the Greeks. So its said that Athenian democracy are more democratic than ours. Some even say that Pericles’ speech is the foundation of democratic society.
The term democracy is ambiguous, but Abraham Lincoln (1863) defines it as the “government of the people, by the people and for the people.” This modern take of democracy should guarantee basic personal and political rights to every individual person, everywhere, every day. Josiah Ober (2007, p.4) points out that “the Greek word dêmokratia conjoins kratos, a term for ‘power’, and dêmos, a term for ‘the people’.” It therefore means ‘power of the people’. But the Athenians did not call it democracy at the time, “they called it ‘isonomia’ or “equality in law”, writes Bernard Randall (2004, p.86). The earliest forms of democracy were formed by the ancient Greeks around 510 B.C in Athens.
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.
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
Yes America is a democracy because we have rights as U.S Citizens. Some people think that America is Undemocratic because of how we can’t use some of our rights as Americans, but I strongly disagree with that because we have more rights than any other countries out there. What democracy is looked at today is its that we have presidents and we can vote for whoever we would like to. Not anyone can become president not anyone can be apart of the government and also no one is more powerful than the other in our governments. America is a democracy and it always will be and it always has been.
When people acknowledge the word, Democracy, most of them associate it with America. Many times people believe that America has created the idea of democracy and a voice for all government. Though, thats not true because the term democracy has been derived from the Ancient Greek City-State, Athens. Democracy played a huge role in Athens, and America had inspiration from the Athenian democracy, to create a democracy which was evolved and in a way transformed. Although Athenian and American Democracies can be similar, the Athenian democracy was considered more democratic because it was direct which allowed citizens’ voices to be heard, and it was the origin of the terms democracy and freedom in a type of government.
One of the contemporary definitions of democracy today is as follows: “Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives; Rule by the majority” (“Democracy” Def.1,4). Democracy, as a form of government, was a radical idea when it manifested; many governments in the early history of the world were totalitarian or tyrannical in nature, due to overarching beliefs that the strong ruled over the weak.
America’s democracy was created to serve the will of the people. Therefore, individual citizens vote for those they feel best represent their beliefs into office. Thus, the opinions and views of the American people are proportionally represented and expressed by the government. However, this may not be the case within the legislative branch. More specifically, voters may ultimately not be choosing who represents them in the House of Representatives. Through gerrymandering, politicians are able to legally compromise voter representation for their own political benefit. This blow to democracy needs to be effectively addressed, so that the United States can continue to be respectively referred to as a representative democracy.
In the modern world, democracy is one of the most popular forms of government. Its attractiveness comes from the freedom of the majority to make changes to policies. The United States of America popularized the concept, which was then adopted in different ways by countries around the world. Part of its attractiveness to groups from various backgrounds is that it can also adjust to the needs of the people. Despite its popularity, democracy has both positive and negative outcomes in response to what is desired.