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Definition of democracy essay
Definition of democracy essay
Explain the characteristics of representative democracy
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When the Constitution was first drafted in Philadelphia, 1787, there was strong opposition to it from the supporters of the Articles of Confederation, America’s first governing document. One of the starkest Anti-Federalists, Patrick Henry, believed the Constitution was a gateway to power for tyrants, similarly, Thomas Jefferson strongly opposed the Constitution’s ratification, believing the Constitution would strip Americans of their freedoms and liberties. Despite their efforts, the Constitution was signed into law, and is now contrarily viewed as that which protects Americans’ rights. The US Constitution is a more democratic document than the Articles of Confederation because under the Articles there was no proportional representation, Americans did not directly vote for any representatives in Congress under the Articles, and the Constitution implemented federal income taxes were able to fund a government that could effectively protect the rights of American citizens.
How Our Government Came to Be In the year of 1787 the founding fathers successfully came to an agreement that helped create our governmental system. Out of this compromise; the Articles of Confederation changed into the U.S Constitution. The creation of the Constitution led to a transformation in the division of powers. The founding fathers did not want to give one-man full control over the country. They figured that there needed to be a voice for the people, but also one for the nation.
The Constitution also gave the people the right to alter or abolish the Government’s decisions. The Government is run by the consent of the people. As long as the people base their ideas on good principles, it is their duty to help the country to have a government that will give the people safety and happiness (Doc C). The Constitution is giving the people the right to improve, change, or recreate the Government if it fails. Because the people have this privilege, they have power over the Government; therefore, this confirms that when the Constitution was ratified, there were some democratic ideas
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
Why did the founding fathers decide to establish a democratic republic? Did they have anything to benefit from said democracy, or were they actually morally compelled to create a more perfect union to serve and protect all of the citizens of the united states? Although many of the founding fathers have left diaries, articles, and speeches behind for us to dissect and analyze, I believe that there is no better way to learn about a man 's character other than by observing his behavior first hand, and personally questioning him. That is why instead of going to see the Salem witch trials, being at Lincoln 's Gettysburg Address, or even watching the battle Saratoga, I would rather sit in and experience the four long months of debate and argument
At the time of the founding of the United States almost all other political systems in the world were authoritarian governments in which rulers fully controlled the government. It was because of oppression by England’s monarchy that the Americans protested for a government that gave the power back to the people. It was then that the Framers of the constitution established a republic. When writing the constitution the framers established a republic not a democracy, however today many people say we have a representative democracy.
During the Early Republic, some people may argue that democracy for Americans was not expanded, however, I argue that democracy was in fact expanded for Americans during this time period. Democracy for Americans may have been limited prior to the Early Republic, however, there are several reasons why I argue that democracy was expanded during this time. The Missouri Admission Act of 1820 allowed people in Missouri to form a state government, George Washington’s Farewell Address in 1796 provided guidance to the American people on how to approach certain political matters and an 1815 engraving titled “American Guided by Wisdom” showed how Americans felt following the ending of the War of 1812. These primary sources help to argue and support my
One idea which writers used in the United States Constitution was the idea of popular Sovereignty. John Locke discussed that government representatives gain their authority through the people, and not through hereditary succession. He wrote that the people who are governed should be the ones to elect their leader. The Constitution allows people to vote and the people give authority to the government. When Britain was in control the people did not have a voice and the writers did not want this to happen again.
[INSERT ILLUSTRATION 9a & 9b – place side-by-side] Figure 9a. A copy of Chares Darwin’s original sketch of a hypothetical section of a phylogenetic tree. Figure 9b. A copy of Chares Darwin’s original sketch of a hypothetical section of a phylogenetic tree with modifications made to show transitional species. Evolutionary theory states that only species which are end points on a branch (i.e. the “end-point species” on Figure 9b) can theoretically exist today.
When you look at the literal definition of democracy in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, there is a decently large explanation. When looking at this definition and trying to decide whether the Athenian democratic system was truly democratic, one would have to go with the answer no. While it has been stated that Athens is the “cradle of democracy”, and that it was better than any of the other governments in the world, it was still a work in progress. The Athenian democracy, while it did give more power to the people, still left a lot of citizens out. The current American democracy may have steamed from Athens, but they do not really have that much in common.
The United States government is best defined as a federal constitutional republic. As a constitutional republic, the U.S. government is organized by the Constitution, setting forth the political threshold of the people, which are known as the federal and state governments. As a federal republic, the control stands by the people throughout the voting process of electing the federal and state officials. The federal government is limited by the distribution of authority within the states as outlined in the Constitution. Although many people like to call the United States a democracy, this is not the case, because the public does not directly control legislation.
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
Moreover, the scheme of representation and the various mechanisms for selecting representatives established by the Constitution were clearly intended to produce a republic, not a democracy (This Nation). In conclusion the United States is not a democracy. It is not a democracy because of how our government is set up with rule by law. The United States are mostly a republic more than a democracy for many reasons.
If the government rests on consent, and if consent is ever removed, then the people have the right to revolt, to cast off one government and replace it with another government. The people get the idea of legitimate government of being limited. Government can’t do anything that’s limited in its powers, which come from its work. There is religious toleration, separation of church and state, which all comes from Locke, and the notion of constitutional democracies that limit
It also represents the control of an organization or group by the majority of its members. Democracy did not originate with the founding of the United States. The term "democracy" comes from two Greek words: "demos" meaning the people and "kratia" meaning power or authority. It is defined as being a government by
