ipl-logo

Characteristics Of A Representative Democracy In The United States

360 Words2 Pages
As a political system, a democracy is a formal way of making decisions in society, where everyone makes decisions and is informed. What we have here in the United States is a representative democracy. A representative democracy is in fact not a real democracy, the political system we have is a republic. In order to vote, you must meet certain qualifications, engage in discussion, and vote for representatives who want you to vote for them. The people with enough votes to get elected then get together and make decisions for our country. Rome Also functioned as a Republic, and philosophers of the time viewed democracy somewhat differently than they do now. One famous Greek philosopher by the name Aristotle defined democracy as “mob rule in the
Show More
Related
796 Words | 4 Pages

Democracy is a form of government in which power lies with the people. This means that the people of the said community can either rule directly or indirectly by electing officials to make decisions for the betterment of the people. Democracy is an aspect that can be included in many different governments including, republics, monarchies, and theocracies. In America today, democracy is something we take pride in. This form of government had to start somewhere, however, and ideas of democracy can be shown in many early documents written by some of the first peoples to colonize the Americas.

Read More
971 Words | 4 Pages

What is democracy? a) 2 definitions i) Like Aristotle’s thinking: “the rule of many.” Aka direct/participatory democracy. All/most people directly participate by holding office or creating policy ii) Representative democracy: most countries that are “democratic” are governed under a representative democracy (1) There are people in charge who fight for votes (2) also called the elitist theory of democracy (3) although it takes time, interest, experts for people to agree on policy, you can get reasonable decision making (4) participatory government can lead to bad decisions because people just follow what is popular at the time and what the popular opinion is 3. Is representative democracy best?

Read More
921 Words | 4 Pages

Democracy is a system of government where the people have a say and a vote in elections and what the government takes action in doing. Andrew Jackson was not as democratic as people said because he did not really support the power of the common man, he approved the Indian Removal Act, and he also practiced a spoils system of government. The purpose of democracy is for the people to have

Read More
1090 Words | 5 Pages

Also, Rome follows in Greece's footsteps. For example, Livy once said, “And no wonder: for if we confine our observation to the power of the Consuls we should be inclined to regard it as despotic; if on that of the Senate, as aristocratic; and if finally one looks at the power possessed by the people it would seem a clear case of democracy” (Doc. B). This shows that Rome follows in Greece’s footsteps because even though Rome was considered a democracy, in actuality, the senate acted as an aristocracy, because in both a small group of elites ruled. The councils acted as a despotism, because both have one or more elected officials, with great power.

Read More
453 Words | 2 Pages

Today, the United States of America uses a variation on this system called known as a “representative democracy.” In a true democracy, the citizens have a say in every decision made by the government. Because the daily governance of the country is so complex, every citizen cannot have a say in each decision. Therefore representatives must be chosen to work for the common good. Unfortunately, many elected officials can obtain too much power or authority over time making their representation of the citizens less representative.

Read More
739 Words | 3 Pages

In a representative democracy, citizens choose representatives to vote on laws and make political choices.   In ancient Rome, many political leaders and historians claimed that the government was a democracy. However, Rome was never truly a democracy, due to their unfair government organization, and lack of democratic citizenship. In terms of government career holders, and as regular citizens, some groups of people were more powerful and privileged than others.       To start off, the government of ancient Rome was far from democratic.

Read More
392 Words | 2 Pages

In his essay "The World of Fields and Fences", William Cronon talked about the differences in ideas about land use and resource management between New England colonists and Native Americans. The settlers and natives were alike in that they both farmed and lived, but they had different views of animals and land management. They had stark differences in how the land was used, how livestock was raised, etc., and an example of this difference was the use of fences. In this paper, I'm going to talk about how Cronon emphasized the causes and roles in that fences were created and the differences between native peoples and settlers in thinking about land.

Read More
1172 Words | 5 Pages

Democracy, in short, is a government for the people, ran by the people. Democratic ideals refer to standards and persons who look to not only expand democracy, but expand it to the whole of the population. Democracy was the keystone to the budding America; it was what set her apart from other nations. However, citizens looked to improve the coverage and quality of democracy. Throughout the early 1800s to around 1850, reform movements began to sweep the nation.

Read More
503 Words | 3 Pages

A democracy is a system of government where the human population have the option to vote. Democracy has only been a positive influence for the United States, allowing them to protect the rights of the citizens and ensure a rule of law to form a sense of equality for all. The formation of the Democracy in the United States blossomed on September 19 approximately two hundred and fifteen years ago. President George Washington marked the country as a democratic state when giving his farewell address. The ability to pursue Democracy in a country involves the role of a citizen.

Read More
944 Words | 4 Pages

Voting could be considered the most prestigious principle for the definition of democracy. The ability to vote for an official, governor, representative, or president has been a cherished one and has kept the powerful in check by giving the power to the people. In this modern generation, voting is not considered a privilege, it is a right, but there are devious loopholes in the fallible laws that have violated the rights of the majority of citizens. These loopholes have given the power of choice back to the hands of the powerful, and they do so through covert methods, some thought out and created by the founding fathers themselves. The fault rightfully shifts to the Electoral College.

Read More
1267 Words | 6 Pages

The term democracy is a contested concept with many classifications. A government made up of the people for the people is the easiest definition to focus on. A democracy needs have these key elements of a political system for choosing the

Read More
674 Words | 3 Pages

In the Dictionary, it states that a democracy is 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). For many years the government has made the people of the United States believe that they have a democracy for their government. But that is not the case. The people just believe everything the government says but they are also lying. This is why today the United States is not truly a democracy.

Read More
1127 Words | 5 Pages

“Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice it is a fallacy,” said Benito Mussolini. By the time one enters the third grade they become aware of concept of democracy. Specifically in America, one is taught that they live in a democratic society. When asking what is democracy, the answer is never truly defiente. The answers given may be; a society where everyone votes, or by dictionary definition “a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of the state; typically through elected representation.”

Read More
1159 Words | 5 Pages

First of all, it is important to know the definition of democracy and its aspects. According to Peter Joyce (2005), the democratic government was initiated in the Greek city state of Athens in the fifth century B.C., so as a consequence, the word ‘democracy’ derived from two Greek words, demos (meaning ‘people’) and kratos (meaning ‘power’) , which means ‘government by the people’. Secondly, Giovanni Sartori (1997), a Political Science Researcher states that ‘democracy’ is an abbreviation that means Liberal Democracy. He distinguishes three aspects: democracy as a principle of legitimacy (power not derives

Read More
1692 Words | 7 Pages

A democracy is a system of government that gives the people the power to govern. This can either be done directly, where citizens actively participate in the decision making of the country, or indirectly through elected representatives. The purpose of the democratic process is to protect the interests of all citizens of a country. In order to do so, every citizen in the country needs a medium through which to express his political opinion to defend his interests. This is the role of political parties.

Read More

More about Characteristics Of A Representative Democracy In The United States

Related Topics

Open Document