Unmasking the Myths: US Democracy or Republic?

1271 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: What is the difference between democracy and a republic

The majority of Americans when asked what type of government their country practices, will answer with a strong and proud, “Democracy!” but the reality is vastly different. The Unites States is not strictly a democracy. Democracy as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary is, “a system of government in which all the people of a state or polity… are involved in making decisions about its affairs, typically by voting to elect representatives to a parliament or similar assembly,” (Oxford English Dictionary) and if you observe our practices including gerrymandering, the electoral college, the intentions of the founding fathers, our history of racism and discrimination, and a republic vs. a democracy, you will see that the U.S. is in fact, not …show more content…

Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!" (Ben Franklin). The intentions of the founding fathers was to create a Constitution based Republic regardless of the beliefs of the majority of people today, who believe their intention was to create a democracy. “A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.” (Thomas Jefferson) said Thomas Jefferson founding father and 3rd U.S. President. The founding fathers of the United States new the difference between a Democracy and a Republic, and the clear intent was to create a Republic in America. There’s proof of this in documents and various quotes. In Article IV Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution it states, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion”, and there it is clearly stated. Democracy is not declared anywhere in the Constitution. Founding father James Madison, the 4th President of the United States warned of the hazards of democracies, "Hence it is that democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and in general have been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths... A republic, by which I mean a government in which a scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect and promises the cure for which we are seeking." (James

Show More
Related

  • James Madison and the Federalist Papers

    739 Words  | 2 Pages

    James Madison, who glorified the benefits of the system of government outlined in the Constitution, wrote the tenth essay in the Federalist Papers. In his essay, Madison advocated a republic system of government instead of a democracy because it “promises the cure for which [they are] seeking.” According to Madison, in a republic, unlike in a democracy, a “small number of citizens [are] elected by the rest.” In other words, one difference between a republic and a democracy is the fact that a republic is based on representation, while a democracy is based on the rule of the majority (mob rule). Madison favors the republic form of government because representation (republic) recognized the inalienable rights of all individuals, while democracy is only concerned with the views or needs of the majority. Therefore, in Madison’s mind, a democracy is an unsuitable government, especially for the United States; Madison thought democracy is just handing power over to the ...

    Read More

  • The Athenian and American Systems of Government

    1594 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Ratification of the United States Constitution

    961 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Founding Fathers accepted that the basic rights of individuals, rights to life, liberty, and private property, were not arranged by the government, and so when the Founders composed the Constitution, they were not surrendering new rights to people. It was just to create a steady form of representative republican government that would assure that the basic rights of mankind were less likely to be compacted upon. The objective of the Framers was not to make a extreme form of “democracy” (which the Founders reviled for its strong inclination to throw off the rule of law) in which everybody had the equal kind of say in government or in which nobody felt as if they were in a minority.

    Read More

  • Constitutional Democracy In The United States

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    The scenes in creation being intellectual, the put together of constitutional democracy was very empirical. The Constitutional Convention was convened to formulate the constitution. What had to be clear was that the only way to assure a functioning constitutional democracy was the public's discussion. In philadelphia the delegates compromised. The outcome was to integrate states with large populations and states with small populations with a bicameral legislative branch. Also compromises that guaranteed say from both slave owning states and non-slave states could be listened to. The Bill of Rights

    Read More

  • The Federal Reserve System: Modern Fascism And Absolute Power

    1640 Words  | 4 Pages

    Most Americans feel the United States of America is a beacon of democracy and raw capitalism, the leader of the “free” world. The founding fathers had every intention of turning the new world into a full fledged democracy, devoid of any monarchy or source of totalitarian power. The constitution itself demands that our government be “of, for and by the people”, and be divided into complex units of checks and balances, designed to thwart any potential power struggle by one specific branch. In essence, the constitution of the United States is a perfect blueprint for democracy in its purest form, with power and control in the hands of its citizens. Unfortunately, this is not the case today. By giving up the right to print its own currency in 1913, the US Government bequeathed its powers to a select few, who have owned and operated this country ever since. They are the true masters of US domestic and foreign policy.

    Read More

  • We, the Corporations, of the United States of America

    1571 Words  | 4 Pages

    At first glance, it seems implausible the word democracy isn't written in the United States Constitution, or in the Preamble of the Constitution, or even in the Declaration of Independence. One would assume a concept so paramount to modern American culture would surely be derived from one of its oldest and most endeared documents. Alas, it is not. The Constitution only specifically mentions two entities, the government and “We the People”. Defining government is an easy enough task, but who are “We the People”? Originally consisting of only white male property owners, eventually adding in other races, income classes, women, and astonishingly, corporations, the definition of “We the People” has evolved numerous times. Corporation is another key term the architects of our government failed to define for us, perhaps that is why it found its way into the phrase “We the People”. A grave dilemma lies in this fallible defining of terms. Granting corporations person-hood legislatively shifts the power of democracy from human interests to corporate interests. This corrosion of human interest can clearly be noted when examining the battle over corporate power highlighted in the court cases of Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, and United States v. Sourapas and Crest Beverage Company.

    Read More

  • The Constitution as A Democratic Document

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    Upon the opening words of the Constitution, "We the People…do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America," one must ask, who are these people? While the American Constitution provided its citizens with individual rights, many members were excluded. Elite framers manipulated the idea of a constitution in order to protect their economic interests and the interests of their fellow ‘white land and slave owning men' by restricting the voices of women, slaves, indentured servants and others. Therefore, the Constitution cannot truly be considered a "democratic document." However, because it is a live document, malleable and controllably changeable according to the interest of congress, it has enabled us to make reforms overtime. Such reforms that have greatly impacted America, making us the free, independent nation that we are today.

    Read More

  • The Electoral College Should Be Abolished

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Founders built certain protections for individual rights into this country's founding documents. The United States Constitution was one such document. In particular, such protections guard Americans who hold minority viewpoints from those who side with the majority. For example, the First Amendment protects the right of free speech to ensure that people who hold unpopular views have just as much freedom to express those views as do people who tend to agree with the majority. The United States Constitution, therefore, was intended to protect the individual rights of Americans from a tyrannical government and majority. However, today, the Electoral College does not represent the vibrant democracy into which the United States has grown.

    Read More

  • U.s. Democracy Thriving : A Look Inside American Democracy

    2525 Words  | 6 Pages

    The United States is governed by a democracy. According to Dictoinary.com, democracy is “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” (Dictoinary.com). This means that instead of having a supreme ruler, the citizens of a country have the right to vote for and choose their elected officials who will ultimately make the decisions for them. The benefit of a democracy is that depending on the public’s opinion, they can influence the government to run the way they want. This form of government provided the public with a great amount of freedom, yet is can potentially slow down the efficiency of governmental decisions. In order for a democracy to function well, public opinions must be somewhat similar to avoid gridlock. A democracy is good for public freedom, but must possess certain characteristics to provide effective results.

    Read More

  • America's Democracy

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    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. William E. Hudson defines four such models in his book American Democracy in Peril: the Protective, Developmental, Pluralist, and Participatory models of democracy (Hudson, 8-19). Of these models, perhaps Participatory comes closest to an ideal, pure democracy of rule by the people (16-19). In practice, however, establishing a stable ideal democracy is not entirely feasible. In a country the size of the United States, it quickly becomes unwieldy if not impossible to have direct rule by the people. To overcome this, the compromise of the representative system allows the people to choose who will rule on a regular basis. The political culture that defines American politics shows that despite this compromise, America is still very much a democratic society.

    Read More

  • The Evolution Of American Democracy

    1410 Words  | 3 Pages

    "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)

    Read More

  • The Athenian Democracy Compared to Today's Democracy

    1895 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Kachotocracy In America

    673 Words  | 2 Pages

    Of all the governments that could be used to describe the United States, democracy is probably the first word that comes to many people’s minds. However, I’ll argue that this word comes no where close to describing the current political landscape of America. Instead, the word most fitting of a description for our government is “kakistocracy.” It is a government in which the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens leads. From rants on twitter to the extremely inappropriate remarks about women, President Donald Trump qualifies to be the least qualified person to lead a nation. Although, before I describe why America is a kakistocracy, I need to first dismiss the idea that it is a democracy.

    Read More

  • Characteristics Of Democracy Essay

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Communism Vs Democracy

    534 Words  | 2 Pages

    Communism is an original system of society, quite different from Democracy in many ways. While total democracy is not widely spread, many forms of it are prosperous throughout the world today.

    Read More

More about Unmasking the Myths: US Democracy or Republic?

Open Document