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.
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?
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Democracy is a word that gets used quite frequently to describe a system of government. By popular usage, the word "democracy" implies a form of government in which the government derives its power from the people and is accountable to them for the use of that power. In this sense, the United States might accurately be called a democracy. Many states allow for policy questions to be decided directly by the people by voting on ballot initiatives or referendums. However; by definition, the word “democracy” describes a system in which citizens meet to discuss all policy and then make decisions by majority rule.
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.
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
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.
Democracy is the base of America defined as "government by the people", a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly, which allows all people to share their unique point of views on how they want the country to work as a whole. Because the government allows everyone to have a say, astonishing people have done astonishing things within the democracy to improve it. Harry Emerson Fosdick, an American pastor who understood that people could go on to do prodigious things, once said “Democracy is based upon the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people.” This quote reflects that we are capable of changing the world one idea at a time. In other words, all the prominent people we have been educated about started out with
“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.”
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
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.
