The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was an act created to conquer racial discrimination in voting. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed by the 36th President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson. As an American citizen, the right to vote is an example of a natural right, along with freedom of speech and freedom to exercise whatever religion one pleases, ratified by the U.S. Constitution. The United States Constitution is a document created to delegate and establish a set of rules and guidelines for the American government and people to refer to. The Constitution was signed on September 17th, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 15th Amendment of the United States Constitution reserves the right to vote for all American citizens regardless …show more content…
The debate of the Democratic party versus the Republican party taking control in the Legislative chamber poses the argument of whether it’s more beneficial to have increased representation, but be a part of the minority party, or less representation, but be a part of the majority party. Each side can make an argument on which would be better. In relation to having increased representation, but being a part of the minority political party in the Legislative chamber, there is less power, but having control of the Legislative chamber doesn’t mean whatever the majority says, goes. As long as there is someone fighting with the support of the people on behalf of the minority, they will stand a chance. The job of the minority party is to be the voice and teacher of their views and concerns. There can be a very persuasive leader of the minority party that can manage to sway individuals of the majority party to support their views in an argument. However, the role is harder because of the lack of members. There will be more unofficial support, but less legal representation. The other side of the argument states having less representation but being included in the majority political party in the Legislative chamber is preferred. There is less depiction in society, but more official support when it comes to making laws that benefit the individual. Nonetheless, there is no assurance just because there’s a majority, majority rules in terms of passing laws are not necessarily determined by political party, but by who supports that certain stance. As a representative, the responsibility is to make decisions based on the greater good of the people and share personal beliefs, those beliefs are allowed to blur the lines of what one is expected to believe in that certain political party. Nevertheless, there are two wings of the argument on
By means of a cloture vote sixty senators may end discussion and vote on the proposed bill. Without this precaution, a simple majority may pass legislation without considering the opinions of the minority. This is especially dangerous in the United States – a country historically dominated by only two political parties. Since a single political party seldom gains the necessary supermajority of sixty senators needed to move to direct vote, the filibuster ensures that the minority party retains a voice in government.
It can do this by giving the us citizens the opportunity to voice their opinion to political officials through email, phone, fax and letter even. A full on democracy tries to make everything set and stone. With a representative, we as people, even in the minority, can still have the power to influence the representative to have our desires heard, which is fairly significant. 51% majority rule can absolutely be detrimental to someone of the lowest minority. With majority rule there can be power over the lowest class.
It is noted that the US stands in a two-party system, a country consisting of the two major parties; in this case, the parties being the Democratic Republican Party. However, some argue that the two-party system should be replaced with a multiparty system. Considering the two subjects in each argument, a two-party system and multiparty system share distinctions as much as comparisons. In terms of why they exist, a two-party system exists to promote an electoral system based mainly on two parties, making voters have only two options; to pick eith a Democrat or a Republican. A multiparty system, a system consisting of several major and lesser parties, [romote a borader representation of the elecctorate and to vetter stimulate as well as be more
Legislative and judicial decisions are the results of faction, as the decisions made affect “the rights of large bodies of citizens”. Justice would balance the views of each side, “and the most numerous party… or… the most powerful faction must be expected to prevail”. Madison stated that a single, uniform party in power will adopt legislation that benefited the class that party represented, but allowing more parties and therefore more people to participate makes the legislative process more democratic and less like a monarchical form of government. The thesis is extended: “The inference to which we are brought is, that the CAUSES of faction cannot be removed, and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its EFFECTS”. It is the goal of government to then limit the extent to which factions influence politics through partisanship, so as “to preserve the spirit and the form of popular government”.
In the essay, “Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System” it is stated that political parties are “indispensable instruments of government” (pg. 174). It emphasizes that the parties should be “agencies of the electorate” because it needs the public 's support. In other words, “the party system that is needed must be democratic, responsible and effective” (pg. 176). An effective party will be able to present and carry out programs that they propose. However, if the cynicism of the public and the ineffectiveness of the party system continues to escalate, the nation may eventually witness the disintegration of the two major political parties.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed in order to move forward towards equality in voting in the United States. The Amendments passed in 1982 included providing aid and instruction for any voters that needed extra assistance, for example someone disabled or illiterate. It also required there to be bilingual ballots and other voting materials in jurisdictions where there were large amounts of minority populations. This allowed many Spanish-speaking citizens to vote. The Amendment also “allowed jurisdictions that could provide evidence of maintaining a clean voting rights record for at least 10 years, to avoid preclearance coverage” to change any voting laws in that state, (“Constitutional Amendments”).
Essentially every political gathering shows a rundown of hopefuls and voters can choose a rundown, which is they vote in favor of a political gathering. Gatherings are allotted parliamentary seats relatively to the quantity of votes they get. Fundamentally, Political gatherings assume a key part in making political arrangements (even in a lion's share decision framework). A sensible number of contending gatherings will make more and better thoughts while only two major gatherings (coming about because of the lion's share race framework) have a tendency to be at a stop with rigid positions. Qualities, Advantages and disadvantages with a few gatherings there is more decision and voters will probably discover a gathering that represents their major political feelings than would be conceivable in a two-party framework.
Additionally, a democratic constitution specifies both the means through which legislation is enacted, as well as the ways in which agents are constrained from undermining the sovereign authority and rights of their constituents (Freeman, 3). Thirdly, a democratic constitution must support majority rule, but also allow for the expression of a diverse set of interests in policy (KJKV, 28). In other words, a democracy necessitates majority support for legislation, and the constitution must be constructed in ways that express and preserve the rights and powers of those constituents (Dahl, 137). Therein lies where apportionment of power in the Senate fails ‘democratically’. To be strongly majoritarian, citizens’ votes in small states should not surpass those of citizens in largely populated states as is practiced in the Senate (KJKV, 28).
Over the course of many years, many groups of people have had to fight to win the freedom of voting. Starting with the 14th Amendment ratified on July 9th, 1868, gave citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States' which included former slaves, this Amendment was a step towards giving the "free slaves" more freedoms. On February 3rd, 1870, the 15th Amendment is ratified into the Constitution, this Amendment gave African-American men the right to vote. After fighting for many years for citizenship, finally winning and then being given the right to vote was a major win in the African-American society. Almost 50 years later on June 9th, 1919 Women won the right to vote.
President LBJ and congress addressed these issues and signed the Voting Rights Act. The purpose of the voting rights act was to change the legal barriers that were disenfranchising Black Americans and LBJ made it a priority to persuade everyone even though this was a very radical idea for this time. Not only were these barriers a violation of the 15th Amendment, but they were also downright discriminatory and affecting public opinion negatively. By LBJ creating this compromise, he created a bigger platform for more voters' voices to be heard, and for even more compromises to be made in the future in response to public opinion. In addition, considering this being a radical concept during the period of segregation and racism, the ratification of this amendment helped the country begin to make advances in the civil rights movement.
The 15th Amendment (Amendment XV), which gave African-American men the right to vote, was inserted into the U.S. Constitution on March 30, 1870. Passed by Congress the year before, the amendment says, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Although the amendment was passed in the late 1870s, many racist practices were used to oppose African-Americans from voting, especially in the Southern States like Georgia and Alabama. After many years of racism, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 aimed to overthrow legal barricades at the state and local levels that deny African-Americans their right to vote. In the
To accomplish social equality and justice has been a long controversial issue in U.S. history. Voting Rights Act of 1965 should be understood as a tremendous accomplishment today because it not only represent a symbol of the triumph of fighting social injustice, but also open the first gate for African American and minority to strive for more political power in order to create a “great society.”
Jerome Black and Lynda Erickson in article studies Canadian cases to analysis if voter bias contributes to the underrepresentation of racial minorities in the national legislatures of diverse societies. The representation in Canada’s House of Commons of the minority ethnic population has improved in the past two decades. Nevertheless, some minority groups remain under representative. They also assumed that minimizing the gap by pressure does not help to make a signify differences in anytime soon.
The principle of majority system is simple. After the votes were being casted and totaled, the candidates with the most votes or the party securing the most votes wins the election. But sometimes there are additional conditions applicable. Duverger’s Law showed that majoritarian systems were far more likely to create two-party systems than proportional systems which generated multi-party races (Duverger, 1959). One of the best things about majoritarian electoral process is the accountability of the government.
Say there is a like-minded minority group that make up 20% of a city. By concentrating their voted to the representatives of their choice, they are more likely to achieve some form of representation