No Perfect Form of Government

2011 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Rousseau's idea of democracy

The struggle to create the perfect government has been prevalent throughout human history, and has resulted in significant turbulence and bloodshed for mankind. Despite thousands of years of progress, the challenge to find the ideal government was still prevalent during the Enlightenment period. During the 18th century, numerous philosophers developed various new ideas about how the ideal government should perform its duties. Philosophers like John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau, for example, conceived the idea of a government in which the majority rules through a system of democracy. A bloody conflict finally brought some of these ideas into practice. From the American Revolution, the United States was born, and its foundations were based upon many of the principles previously envisioned by these philosophers. The founding fathers envisioned a government that would free them from the oppression of a tyrannical king, perpetually protect the civil liberties of its citizens, and ensure the security and happiness of its people. Today, however, this government has struggled to reach and maintain the ambitious goals set forth by the founding fathers. The democratic system of government conceived by thinkers like John Locke and established by founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson has ultimately failed because it is overly ambitious, creates severe partisanship among the people, and has been unable to provide its citizens with basic necessities.

The founding fathers believed that the ideal government should ensure the happiness and security of its people, but the United States has consistently failed to maintain this vision because of the difficulty of maintaining the delicate balance both of these principles. Thomas Jefferson...

... middle of paper ...

.../document/index.htm>.

Locke, John. “Republican Government.” The Founders' Constitution. Web. 10 Jan 2010. .

Bensen, Amanda. "Poverty in America: One Nation, Pulling Apart." Penn State University. 05 Aug 2006. Web. 10 Jan 2010. .

Toner, Robin. "Disdain for Bush Simmers in Democratic Strongholds." New York Times 04 Aug 2003. Web. 10 Jan 2010. .

Rousseau, Jacques. "The Social Contract." Constitution Society. Web. 10 Jan 2010.

.

Frates, Chris. "Rep. Foxx: More to fear from reform than terrorism." Politico. 02 Nov 2009. Web. 10 Jan 2010. .

Show More
Related

  • Articles Of Confederation Dbq Analysis

    841 Words  | 2 Pages

    During and after the turmoil of the American Revolution, the people of America, both the rich and the poor, the powerful and the meek, strove to create a new system of government that would guide them during their unsure beginning. This first structure was called the Articles of Confederation, but it was ineffective, restricted, and weak. It was decided to create a new structure to guide the country. However, before a new constitution could be agreed upon, many aspects of life in America would have to be considered. The foremost apprehensions many Americans had concerning this new federal system included fear of the government limiting or endangering their inalienable rights, concern that the government’s power would be unbalanced, both within its branches and in comparison to the public, and trepidation that the voice of the people would not be heard within the government.

    Read More

  • Flat Broke with Children: Women in the Age of Welfare Reform

    1129 Words  | 3 Pages

    Federman, M. et al. What Does it Mean to be Poor in America? 1996 (2009). Pp. 296-310

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Jefferson And John Locke

    523 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American ideals in regards to freedom along with other human rights are not unique to the United States. In fact many of these freedoms and other rights found within the American declaration of independence were in fact copied from the Englishmen John Locke who wrote extensively on the subject nearly a century before the declaration even came into existence. John Locke was many things throughout his life mainly a philosopher and was also heavily involved in politics and psychology. This is evident throughout Locke’s writings. One of his most renowned works is his Second Treatise of Civil Government in which he discusses his views in regard to the state of nature, why people form governments and the benefits they gain from doing so, along with analyzing the extent of parliament’s

    Read More

  • Articles of Confederation Remedied by The Constitution

    1723 Words  | 4 Pages

    The year of 1776 was a time of revolution, independence, and patriotism. American colonists had severed their umbilical cord to the Mother Country and declared themselves “Free and Independent States”.1 The chains of monarchy had been thrown off and a new government was formed. Shying away from a totalitarian government, the Second Continental Congress drafted a document called the Articles of Confederation which established a loose union of the states. It was an attempt at self-government that ended in failure. The Articles of Confederation had many defects which included a weak central government that lacked the power to tax, regulate trade, required equal representation and a unanimous vote to amend the Articles, and had only a legislative branch. As a result the United States lacked respect from foreign countries. These flaws were so severe that a new government had to be drafted and as a result the Constitution was born. This document remedied the weak points of the federal government and created one that was strong and fair, yet still governed by the people.

    Read More

  • The Glass Castle Stereotypes

    1391 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poverty in America is a very complex issue that can be looked at from many directions. There are a plethora of statistics and theories about poverty in America that can be confusing and at times contradicting. It is important to objectively view statistics to gain a better understanding of poverty and to wade through the stereotypes and the haze of cultural views that can misrepresent the situation.The official poverty line in America begins with a person making at or below $12,060. To calculate the poverty line for a family, an additional $4,180 is added to the base of $12,060 for each additional member(“Federal Poverty Level Guidelines”). According to the last U.S. census, over 45 million or 14.5% of Americans are at or below the poverty line(Worstall). At this level, the U.S. poverty level has not changed much from the 1970s when the government began a “War on Poverty.” However,

    Read More

  • Aristotle's Legacy In The Federalist Papers

    2064 Words  | 5 Pages

    In 1789, the Confederation of the United States, faced with the very real threat of dissolution, found a renewed future with the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. This document created a structure upon which the citizens could build a future free of the unwanted pitfalls and hazards of tyrannies, dictatorship, or monarchies, while securing the best possible prospects for a good life. However, before the establishment of the new United States government, there was a period of dissent over the need for a strong centralized government. Furthermore, there was some belief that the new constitution failed to provide adequate protection for small businessmen and farmers and even less clear protection for fundamental human rights.

    Read More

  • Questioning the Revolutionary Impact of the American War

    1041 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Democracy; racial and sexual equality; individual liberty of lifestyle; full freedom of thought, expression, and the press; eradication of religious authority from the legislative process and education; and full separation of church and state” (Jonathan Israel, A Revolution of the Mind: Radical Enlightenment and the Intellectual Origins of Modern Democracy). They wanted to create a new political framework that used those principles as the basis of the most important documents that founded the US. The reason to create this new political forms came from the need to calm the civil unrest, suppress rebellions and guarantee stability on the whole country. Those documents are still effective nowadays thanks to those political revelations that thorough the Revolutionary War made this country one of the most powerful in the

    Read More

  • Anti-Federalist vs Federalist

    2017 Words  | 5 Pages

    After winning the Revolutionary War and sovereign control of their home country from the British, Americans now had to deal with a new authoritative issue: who was to rule at home? In the wake of this massive authoritative usurpation, there were two primary views of how the new American government should function. Whereas part of the nation believed that a strong, central government would be the most beneficial for the preservation of the Union, others saw a Confederation of sovereign state governments as an option more supportive of the liberties American’s fought so hard for in the Revolution. Those in favor of a central government, the Federalists, thought this form of government was necessary to ensure national stability, unity and influence concerning foreign perception. Contrastingly, Anti-Federalists saw this stronger form of government as potentially oppressive and eerily similar to the authority’s tendencies of the British government they had just fought to remove. However, through the final ratification of the Constitution, new laws favoring state’s rights and the election at the turn of the century, one can say that the Anti-Federalist view of America prevails despite making some concessions in an effort to preserve the Union.

    Read More

  • John Locke: America’s Forgotten Founding Father

    1721 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ituted Locke’s ideas into the American system of government. They sought to uphold equality, govern by consent, and protect the rights of man. In doing so, the Founders established a government that operates within the bounds of reason and nature. That government stands today as the United States of America, in part to John Locke, the philosopher.

    Read More

  • Democracy In The 19th Century

    1358 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the construction of the new Constitution, many of the most prominent and experienced political members of America’s society provided a framework on the future of the new country; they had in mind, because of the failures of the Articles of Confederation, a new kind of government where the national or Federal government would be the sovereign power, not the states. Because of the increased power of the national government over the individual states, many Americans feared it would hinder their ability to exercise their individual freedoms. Assuring the people, both Alexander Hamilton and James Madison insisted the new government under the constitution was “an expression of freedom, not its enemy,” declaring “the Constitution made political tyranny almost impossible.” (Foner, pg. 227) The checks and balances introduced under the new and more powerful national government would not allow the tyranny caused by a king under the Parliament system in Britain. They insisted that in order achieve a greater amount of freedom, a national government was needed to avoid the civil unrest during the system under the Articles of Confederation. Claiming that the new national government would be a “perfect balance between liberty and power,” it would avoid the disruption that liberty [civil unrest] and power [king’s abuse of power in England] caused. The “lackluster leadership” of the critics of the new constitution claimed that a large land area such as America could not work for such a diverse nation.

    Read More

  • Struggle Between the North and South

    861 Words  | 2 Pages

    As a free country that aimed to develop republicanism, the United States of America had to carry out several constitutional changes during the early period of development. Of course, there were several factors which contributed in shaping the United States of America during the early national period, and they occurred in political development, religious development, and economic development of the United States, the most important aspects of every modern country. Each of these three aspects were interconnected. Institutions and individuals working in these fields influenced the shaping of America and its Constitution after the Independence War. Although their main influences were the ideals that arose during Enlightenment, there were several obstacles in using ideals from the Age of Reason in creating a liberal republic, so several changes had to be made. The ideals that inspired the Revolution had to be influenced to create a functional reality-based system, not one created on ideals. The biggest influence in many political and economic decisions was the growing tension between the North and the South which fought constantly for interests, followed by the influence of religious groups on the Constitution. However, liberalism was still an important influence in objective political decisions on a federal level.

    Read More

  • The Guidance of a Government

    1005 Words  | 3 Pages

    People have their own perspective of a government that they envision for their people. Thomas Jefferson has been the president of the United States and ruled under a monarch. Jefferson couldn’t tolerate the abuse from a monarch, so he rebelled against the British crown. In 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote The Declaration of Independence, and declared the colonies were free from British rule. Before he became the author of The Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was established “ as an ardent republican and revolutionary” (Jacobus 77). Jacobus states Jefferson is, “one of the most versatile Americans of any generation” (Jacobus 78). In The Declaration of Independence, Jefferson and the founding fathers envisioned a government that would govern the people, and the people would be free. The people must be governed with rights, Jefferson implies it’s the government’s duty to guide and secure the people, therefore, he believes the government’s obligation to the individual is more important than the individuals obligation to the state.

    Read More

  • Essay On American Exceptionalism

    801 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the ideologies of America was that the best government was a small government. Our country was founded by settlers who wanted to get out of the grasp of Great Britain rule. These settlers wanted to have the natural rights that they felt were guaranteed to them by god. The Declaration of Independence was written to declare that the thirteen colonies were claiming themselves as independent states. Then U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights were written. These important papers spell out freedoms guaranteed to Americans and the laws that protect those freedoms. They talk of a government that works for the people.

    Read More

  • Poverty in America

    661 Words  | 2 Pages

    Several citizens in America may not empathize with many social conflicts which transpire in America. Unfortunately, when poverty is mentioned people of diverse gender, race/ethnic, and age can relate to poverty in America. Although several societies have not experienced the undesirable measures of relative or absolute poverty; several people know poverty exist through many channels, such as the media, social networking, history and charities.

    Read More

  • The Relationship between Immigration and Poverty

    731 Words  | 2 Pages

    Raphael, Steven. "Immigration and Poverty in the United States." Immigration and Poverty. Institute for Research on Poverty, 8 Jan. 2010. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. .

    Read More

More about No Perfect Form of Government

Open Document