The Three Branches Of Democracy

518 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Role of judiciary

Democracy, as defined by Marjorie Tallman in “Dictionary of American Government”, is the rule by the people. It is a system of government in which the people have representatives in the government so that the government does not have absolute power. The United States government follows the democratic form because they wanted to avoid the same ruling they had under the British (Trethan). They have three principles stated in their constitution that define their democratic government. Having three branches of government, using the system of checks and balances, and having a living constitution define their democratic form of government.

As stated in their constitution, the U.S. government is divided into three branches. Article 1 of the constitution states the legislative branch, which
This is so that all the branches have equal power and there is no dominating branch (Israel). For example, when the legislative branch makes a law that has to be approved by the president, the president may veto the law. When this happens, the legislative branch can still pass a law if two-thirds of the senate votes for approval of the law. The judicial branch then judges if the law is unconstitutional or not (Overview of United States Government and Politics). This is how the system of checks and balances work to maintain equal power among the three branches.

The US constitution is considered a “living constitution” because it didn’t go through major changes throughout the years. It has been relevant from generation to generation. Many advocates believe in different ways the constitution can be considered a living document (Wandrei). Some believe that it changes according to how the society changes. Others think that the language used in the constitution is broad, and so it is open to many interpretations as the generation changes

Show More
Related

  • Robert Dahl's How Democratic Is The American Constitution?

    820 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Checks and Balances: The Three Branches of Government

    1299 Words  | 3 Pages

    Checks and Balances. Checks and balances is a system that is a part of out U.S. Constitution. This system was put in to place so that no part of government would have too much power. The three branches: judicial, legislative and executive are constantly granting and checking the other branches actions, this is to make sure no one person can gain an excessive amount of control in government. For example according to ," the legislative branch is in charge of making laws. The executive branch can veto the law, thus making it harder for the legislative branch to pass the law. The judicial branch may also say that the law is unconstitutional and thus make sure it is not a law.The legislative branch can also remove a president or judge that is not doing his/her job properly. The executive branch appoints judges and the legislative branch approves the choice of the executive branch. Again, the branches check and balance each other so that no one branch has too much power".

    Read More

  • Comparing the United States Constitution with Local State Constitutions

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is much debate in political theory about the definition of a constitution. Generally, it is considered as a “single governing document”. If that is the case, then the U.S. Constitution is the oldest in the world (Berry, 2011). The Framers, upon writing it, aimed to create a document that would stand the test of time. Despite changes in population size, racial and religious components, and even the modern day technology, the objective has clearly been achieved. Elkins claims that this is primarily due to its flexibility. Judicial review interprets the document with the rapidly changing society in mind (as cited in Garza, 2008). Many state constitutions, on the other hand, have not survived as long. Since many have been written with specific people and localities in mind, they have not been able to adapt to change well. Louisiana, for example, has had 11 state constitutions. It is common today, for states to consider overhauling their current constitutions (Morris, Henson, & Fackler, 2011).

    Read More

  • Athenian Democracy Dbq Analysis

    350 Words  | 1 Pages

    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,

    Read More

  • Power of the Branches

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Legislative Branch is Congress, which has just two branches - the House of Representatives and the Senate. To understand the power held by the Legislative Branch, we should refer to the Constitution itself. Per Section 8 of Article I, Congress may only act within the powers granted to them explicitly in the Constitution, these are called enumerated powers. But this doesn’t mean the powers granted to them were diminutive. The entire legislative power was constitutionally delegated to Congress. The House and Senate serve, for the most part, to work together (though not necessarily in harmony) on passing laws, and both House and Senate must approve all bills. The framers began with the forming Article I: The Legislative Article for a simple reason; law making is an extremely important function for our government. I believe they dug their heels in here first because they intended for it to be the longest, most thorough article in the Constitution, and every word truthfully serves a divine purpose of laying out the structure of how our Legislative Branch should run. With a mere 2,...

    Read More

  • Gerrymandering In The United States Government

    1726 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Understanding Federalism: A Study of US Government

    517 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are three branches of government in the U.S. There is the judicial branch, the executive branch and the legislative branch. The powers of the branches are all divided by the constitution which is called the separation of

    Read More

  • The US Constitution

    1697 Words  | 4 Pages

    The founding fathers of the American Constitution divided the government up into the following three branches to prevent the majority from ruling with an iron fist; legislative, judicial, and executive. The three braches were created by the Constitution: Article 1, Legislative branch made up of the House and the Senate, collectively known as Congress; Article 2, Executive branch, or President; Article 3, Judicial branch, made up of the federal courts and the Supreme Court. This was done in efforts to distribute power amongst the three so that one would not have more power than the other. Each branch has the ability to check the power of the other branches. This power check of the other branches is referred to as the checks and balances, better known as the Separation of Powers. This was to prevent tyriny.

    Read More

  • Popular Sovereignty Essay

    1308 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most of the American people know about the Bill of Rights, but don 't know much else about our constitution. One of the most important parts of the constitution are the rules and principles that give government its power, if these were not already embedded in there would be mass confusion on who could do what and how much power a single branch held. Luckily the United States constitution, which is 228 years old, still provides a framework for legitimate government in the U.S.. The constitution can change with the times because of the six broad principles it is based on.

    Read More

  • Should The Constitution Be Changed Essay

    1452 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1787, The United States of America formally replaced the Articles of Confederation with a wholly new governing document, written by the delegates who attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. This document, known as the Constitution, has served as the supreme law of our land for the past 228 years. It has stood the test of time and a majority of Americans still support it today (Dougherty). The Constitution was designed in a way that allows for it to be amended, in order to address changing societal needs. Article V discusses the process by which the Constitution can be altered. This feature has enabled it to stay in effect and keep up with current times. The Constitution should not be rewritten every 19 years because it would not only weaken its importance, but it would also hurt foreign relations and continuously rewriting it would give political parties too much power.

    Read More

  • The Three Branches of the U.S. Federal Government

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Three Branches of the Federal Government There are three branches of the federal government, the executive, the judicial, and the legislative. The executive branch consists of such people as the president, the cabinet, and the executive offices of the president. The executive branch is known for enforcing laws created by the legislative branch. The judicial branch entails the United States Supreme Court and the Federal Judiciary. The judicial branch must review the laws the executive branch is to enforce.

    Read More

  • Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Constitution

    1902 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Constitution which was written 229 years ago, comes with many strengths and weaknesses. One such strength is that the Constitution is a living document. A living document is a document that has the ability to be updated and or drafted upon. The original document had twelve amendments. These amendments were sent to the states for ratification in 1789 and out of the twelve, ten of them were passed by the vote of eleven states in the union. Since that time of the first change in our constitution, it has been added to twenty-seven times. The Constitution is America’s founding document that has lasted for 229 years; it has changed as the country has changed. (THE CHARTERS OF FREEDOM A NEW WORLD AT HAND) The Constitution being a living document was intended to be adapted by future generations and because of its adaptability, it could have new amendments ratified and add to

    Read More

  • America's Democracy

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    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

  • Democracy Is The Worst Form Of Government

    1302 Words  | 3 Pages

    What is democracy? Democracy a form of government in which the people freely elect representatives to govern them in a country, democracy guarantees free and fair elections, basic personal and political rights and independent court of law. There are two types of democracy, direct and indirect democracy. Direct democracy or pure democracy is where there is direct participate of the people; people make decisions for them instead of letting them representative make decision for them. Indirect democracy the decisions are made by the representative on behalf of the people that voted for them. All over the world people are having different views with regard to democracy and how it operates. “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried” ~ Winston Churchill, some have said democracy is the worst government form of government which I also think it’s! Due to the how it operates.

    Read More

More about The Three Branches Of Democracy

Open Document