Government Writing Assignment I
“A democracy is a political system that permits citizens to play a significant part in the governmental process, usually through the election of key public officials” (Ginsberg p. 11). The Professor I.M. Skeptic’s speech discussing the Constitution and American democracy argues the Constitution does not allow for real democracy to occur and I disagree upon the statement. The Constitution distributes power fairly between the national and state governments while guaranteeing rights to the people and the self interest of the community as a whole. The construction of the Constitution withholds numerous characteristics of democracy: providing representatives to voice the citizens demands, guaranteeing rights to
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Constitution). The fabrication of this system allows for the equilibration of powers and fair governing of the people by maintaining interest in the good of the people as a whole. For instance, Richard Nixon’s veto of the War Powers Resolution allowed him to dismiss the approval of Congress to officially declare war and to send troops to participate in the Vietnam War; fortunately, Congress was able to override his veto within a few months later (Glass). Since the three branches have divided powers the government was able to prevent Nixon’s abuse of power and granted the government to successfully perform democracy by not continuing the Vietnam War for the wellbeing of the people (Glass). Through the system of checks and balances it states “The Constitution grants Congress the sole power to declare war. But it also makes the president commander in chief of the armed forces.” (Glass). Because of this regulation of power the president is unable to make any rash decisions on his own without the approval of Congress which provides grand safety to the people. If the executive branch were to come to decisions without being monitored by the legislative and judicial branch the U.S. government would function as a dictatorship where no one has a say in