American Democracy
4 "It violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system. Now it is just an oligarchy with unlimited political bribery being the essence of getting the nominations for president or being elected president. In addition, the same thing applies to governors, and U.S. Senators and congress members.
Therefore, now we have just seen a subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors, who want, expect and sometimes get favours for themselves after the election is over. At the present time the incumbents, Democrats and Republicans, look upon this unlimited money as a great benefit to themselves. Somebody who is already in Congress has a great deal more to sell." – Jimmy Carter,
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Is an Oligarchy Not a Democracy - Says Scientific Study." I reported stating, "The clear finding is that the U.S. is an oligarchy and no democratic country at all. American democracy is a sham, no matter how much it's pumped by the oligarchs who run the country (and who control the nation's 'news' media)."
I then quoted the authors' own summary: "The preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy." The scientific study closed by saying: "In the United States, our findings indicate, the majority does not rule--at least not in the causal sense of actually determining policy outcomes." Author - Eric Zuesse, Investigative Historian, Posted on 08/03/2015 11:48 am EDT Updated: 08/03/2015 1:59 pm EDT.
6 It's obvious the U.S. and its pseudo-democracy are in big trouble, and it's just as obvious the nation's political and economic leaders aren't going to do much about it other than give us the same old baloney. The real obstacle is the American political system, itself: the pseudo-democratic system that specifically prevents common Americans from participating in the political process—allowing financially powerful, organized men to influence and corrupt
Lani Guinier, in her essay titled “Tyranny of the Majority” (1944), justifies her political ideas and explains that as a result of these ideas, she has explored decisionmaking rules that prevent The Majority from “exercise[ing] power unfairly or tyrannically.” She supports her justification by incorporating childlike anecdotal stories, quoting loved American patriots, and creating conceptual analogies. Guinier’s purpose is to convince her opponents, as well as Americans with moderate political orientations, that her views and ideas aren’t too radical, in order to convince them that in order to make America a “true democracy,” they must consider her methods and strategies for desegregating The Majority. She adopts a patriotic, idealistic tone
The "silent majority" of the American people is now accepted as the status quo, the way things always have been and will be. Voter turnout is now the litmus test for political participation. Non-voters are becoming rampant in our democracy, with voter turnout hovering around a low 60% for general elections. At this rate, a candidate would have to win over 80% of that 60% vote in order to have true majority support. Thus, inactivity in voting threatens the very legitimacy of our government. In the recent November 7, 2013 midterm election, a few counties reported a mere 4% of eligible voters actually participated, in some cases to vote for a policy referendum that would aff...
Janda, K., Berry, J., Golman, J., & Hula, K. (2009). The Challenge of Democracy: American
“In a meaningful democracy, the people’s voice must be clear and loud – clear so that policy makers understand citizen concerns and loud so that they have an incentive to pay attention. (Verba)” There is no doubt there exists a severe inequality in the participation of the American political process. Kay Lehman Schlozman, Sidney Verba and Henry Brady, a trio of university professors, set out to explain that it is not about how many people participate in our democratic process, it is about who is taking part. In the article: “The Big Tilt: Participatory Inequality in America,” published in the liberal non-profit magazine The American Prospect, the authors conclude that political participation is not equal amongst the social and economical classes in America. Verba, Schlozman and Brady begin building credibility by referencing their own book while also citing
By its use of majority rule, America’s democracy models a collectivist society. Take elections for an example. Although, Americans vote individually, the decision ultimately is based on the country as a whole. The use of majority rule relates to the representation of the ideas of the masses rather than the ideas of the individuals. As expected, there is always a number of people who disagree with the majority's opinions. Disagreement is frowned upon, which Andrew P. Naplitano highlights in his book, It Is Dangerous to Be Right When the Government Is Wrong: The Case for Personal Freedom. Due to America's use of the majority rule, this title often holds true.
America is in the hands of a select few. A tiny fraction of the population holds any real political power, while the rest simply sit idly by. This goes against the very principle of democracy. Aristotle said of this
Bond, R. & Smith, K. (2013). Analyzing American Democracy: Politics and Political Science. New York: Routledge. p. 55-59, 111
Many Americans are proud to live in a country that claims to be a democracy. They are enlightened to know that “the people” have the power to actively participate in the decision making process of the government. They constantly show pride and faith on the principles of democracy everywhere they go. Yet, there are many who also seem to disapprove of the process that others so claim to be the best form of rule of government.
Adding this all up, I have concluded that the United States democracy is unhealthy, yet I still believe there is hope. If I had to give the current condition of democracy a letter grade, I would give it a C. I got this grade because even though the United States maintains many civil right and liberties, a strong number of interest groups, and diverse political parties, it just isn’t enough to carry the poor conditions of ideologies, voter turnout, education, economics, and media. Democracy is surly not thriving in America, but at this point, there is still hope.
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
Democracy is rule by the people; the people elect governing officials based off of their personal values and beliefs. Different political parties rule the political scene and are serving to represent the people’s opinions in the best ways possible. Previously, I had a belief that my political view was essentially the only one possible and therefore it was the best. These views changed quickly once I learned the different political parties, their views, how they represent the people’s views, and how public opinion shapes politics. The government is formed around differentiating opinions on which policies should be in place and which social aspects need to be considered first. Not only is the government guided by opinion, but the people’s lives are guided by opinion as well. Each individual holds a different view, and each view can have an influence on society. Fortunately, after roughly eight weeks of studying American Government, I now have a better sense of complexity and the value of
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.
point number 1. " I'm the best you can get" is the quote that shows
The American Democracy Many people may think that the American way of doing things is the right way of doing things; well at least Americans may think so. I for one reckon it is strange that, like Britain, the US consists of a two-party system, which in my opinion eliminates many thoughts and point of views. Although there are smaller parties in the US today, they do not achieve much power. Therefore the presidential position can only be taken by either a democrat or a republican.
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