ipl-logo

Summary Of How Democratic Is The American Constitution Robert Dahl

1418 Words6 Pages

Kaitlyn Glover
AP US Government
Period 1
How Democratic is the American Constitution? Critical Book Review In his book How Democratic is the American Constitution? Robert A. Dahl evaluates the scope of democracy that the American Constitution creates and compares our ultimate governing document to those of multiple other democratic nations around the world. His goal is not to change the Constitution itself but rather to change people’s perception of it. Most Americans view the Constitution as a sacred document that created the world’s greatest democracy but, in actuality, the American Constitution has many highly undemocratic aspects that prove this judgement to be mistaken. This is brought to light in Dahl’s analysis of the American Constitution. …show more content…

He claims that strong bicameralism and unequal political representation are direct results of a federal system as well as undemocratic features of the Constitution. The second chamber is the one where a lot of unequal representation is dramatic. People in larger states simply do not have the same statistical sway as those in smaller states. Some argue that people in smaller states are entitled to more weight in their vote in order to protect them from the popular majority, but Dahl does not take a clear stance on the subject. Additionally, Dahl claims that if laws have been properly passed by Congress and the President, the ability of the judicial branch to declare laws unconstitutional extends beyond an appropriate amount of power. The first-pass-the-post system is another comparatively undemocratic feature of the Constitution because it create a two party system in which one party wins everything even if it is just by a slight majority whereas, a proportional system would be more democratic because seats are divided based on the proportion of votes a party gets. Dahl’s last point in the chapter is that the American system is different than other countries in that our president carries out the duties of the prime minister and the ceremonial …show more content…

It discuss the electoral college in greater depth. The electoral college causes the power of one person to vary greatly, defying basic democratic ideals. Also, the electoral college makes it possible for a president to win an election and still lose the majority of the votes. Dahl reveals that the electoral college is not democratic and provides two potential solutions: an amendment that abolishes the electoral college, replacing it with a direct election by popular vote or an amendment requiring proportional distribution of electoral votes to the candidates. Dahl is also a realist in that he says that the odds of completely abolishing the electoral college are very low but he believes that the latter alternative is

Show More
Related

Summary Of A More Perfect Constitution By Larry Sabato

308 Words | 2 Pages

n his book A More Perfect Constitution, Larry Sabato proposes the idea of a six year presidential term with a possible extra two years based on a confirmation election. This is a flawed proposal for many reasons. He says that “nothing wastes time, resources, and capital for a president and his chief advisors like planning for a reelection campaign” (Sabato 84). This is correct but in his proposal for the six year presidential term he adds on a confirmation election where the people vote for if they want another two years of the term, making it 8 years. The confirmation election is just another reelection campaign that would be expensive and dirty for both parties, like Sabato stated that reelection campaigns are bad.

Read More

Summary Of A More Perfect Constitution By Larry Sabato

283 Words | 2 Pages

Many people all around the country probably won’t certainly agree with the author of A More Perfect Constitution by Larry Sabato. Larry Sabato main idea was that the United State Constitution was outdated and needed to be reform somehow. He believed a change to the Constitution will going to be really hard due to the massive number of traditional political conservatives that the country had. Sabato explain that these conservatives’ people will oppose to the idea of different view of the Constitution by saying “the Constitution is just good as it is”. The conservatives’ support only their views as the Constitution was just fine the way it is, and it was original because that was the intent of the founders in how to interpret the Constitution.

Read More

How Did The Three Branches Changed From President George Washington To Andrew Johnson?

1528 Words | 7 Pages

A View of the Constitution of the United States of America. PH Nicklin. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.kr/books?hl=ko&lr=lang_en&id=PicTAAAAYAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA9&dq=executive+government+america+branch+of+power+supreme+court&ots=VQdXn8rmoU&sig=uZtNFS7Y8tvuc86TCg7I4_AzDB0#v=onepage&q&f=false Rhie, Won-Bok. (2005). Far Countries and Neighboring Countries (Vol. 12). South Korea: GIMM-YOUNG PUBLISHERS, INC.

Read More

Who Killed The Constitution By Thomas E. And Kevin R. Gutzman

1457 Words | 6 Pages

Who Killed the Constitution is an informative book that explains how different legislature has destroyed the Constitution. The authors, Thomas E. Woods, Jr., and Kevin R.C. Gutzman, explain how every single piece of legislation that has become a law infracts the rights directly given to the people by the Constitution. Thomas E. Woods, Jr., has his own political analysis show, and he has written twelve books that criticize and ridicule the United States government (Woods, par. 2). Kevin R.C. Gutzman is a professor of history at Western Connecticut State University, and he has written four books collectively (Gutzman, par.

Read More

How Did Jefferson And Hamilton Influence The Bill Of Rights

1113 Words | 5 Pages

Through the fundamental ideals of the founding fathers the United States government has been sculpted into a variation of a democracy influenced by Madison, Jefferson, and Hamilton. These men each provided concepts and qualities of their respective government that are directly reflected in the constitution and the bill of rights. Although, conflicting principals can be identified through each individual’s interpretation of a democracy, there is no doubt Madison, Jefferson, and Hamilton structured our government into what it is today. Madison described a democracy in which wealth needed to be equally distributed among the people in order to function.

Read More

How Democratic Is The American Constitution By Robert Dahl Sparknotes

831 Words | 4 Pages

Then he goes on to discuss on how our government is separate into two chambers. What he means is the house of representative and senate. A little background on, senate is equal representation regardless of its state population. Representative is a little different its seats is based on population. For example New York would have more seats than Hawaii cause New York has more people living here than Hawaii.

Read More

Constitution Dbq Essay

692 Words | 3 Pages

Constitution DBQ Around the time of the ratification of the American Constitution, there were some American citizens that wanted the government to have more power, and there were others that thought the people should be in control of the government. These two groups called themselves Federalists and Anti-Federalists. The Federalists wanted more government power, and the Anti-Federalists did not.

Read More

Summary Of How Democratic Is The American Constitution By Robert Dahl

149 Words | 1 Pages

On the ground from which the constitution was conceived, does such a system which we operate from in modern America remain within the bounds of constitutional morality (in other words, the morality of the constitution)? In Robert Dahl's How democratic is the American constitution?, the reader as well as the larger audience that is contemporary society, is challenged to change the sacred light in which most Americans view our beloved constitution. In the beginning of chapter 1, Dahl begins with posing a provocative and simple question which begs for an incredibly complex answer, why should we uphold our constitution? In his answer he states that the legitimacy of the constitution should only be based on the grounds such that  “utility as an

Read More

The Pros And Cons Of Abolishing The Electoral College

665 Words | 3 Pages

The recent presidential election has had a controversy on the abolishment of the Electoral College. With many citizens not understanding whether or not their vote is actually being counted during the election, more debates have risen on if popular vote should be the deciding factor of presidential determinations instead. Popular vote is an actual count of individual votes from all states in America while the Electoral College is a measure of the House of Representatives and Senators choosing directly who the president should be (Kimberling, 1992). The reasoning behind why the Electoral College was the determining factor for president was declared by the founding fathers decades ago to ensure equality (Pavia, 2011). Recently, critics have expressed that this system is not as equal as predetermined.

Read More

Woody Holton

1622 Words | 7 Pages

The minute immersion of reading Woody Holton’s Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution takes place, the reader is quick to notice this book is written differently from most other books written about the same time. Holton, takes on the status quo in regards to how the Constitution was founded, and who was involved in the creation of the Constitution. Most students of history have been taught to believe that the Constitution was written to encourage democracy and protect civil rights. However, Holton’s arguments are different, as he claims that what advanced the Constitution was a struggle between the haves and have-nots which spiraled from a nation of excess democracy to one of less, meaning taking direct power away from the people

Read More

Andrew Jackson: Argument Against The Constitution And Basis Of Democracy

741 Words | 3 Pages

After the U.S Constitution was ratified on the 27 of June 1788, American governors swore oath to democracy, equality and liberty. The idea of democracy has constantly been ignored throughout American history. At the very beginning of the new nation, the presidents were not elected by the people but rather by legislatures, distancing itself from the ideal method of democracy where the power belonged to the people. It was only gradually throughout the presidential elections that each state’s people started voting directly. Andrew Jackson is one of the American presidents whose actions are still debated on today.

Read More

Proportional Representation And Popularity Rule In Th The Electoral College

538 Words | 3 Pages

ID questions: You will need to produce a minimum of a paragraph (5 sentence) response for each of the four terms. Proportional Representation compared to plurality rule in electing legislative bodies, the Electoral College (chapter 9), the media’s role in democracy, political socialization plurality rule Proportional Representation is a system in which parties gain representation in proportion to the number of votes casted for them. For example, from a 10-member district, if the Republicans win 50% of the votes, then they'll get 5 members, if the Democrats get 40% of the votes, then they’ll get 4 members. In the other side of the spectrum is Popularity rule, which is a system in which the winner takes it all. From the past example, The republican won the majority of votes by 5 against 4, and then by the popularity rule the Republicans win the election with 10 seats, and the Democrats get non .

Read More

The Constitution: Betrayal Of The American Revolution

1106 Words | 5 Pages

The Constitution—the foundation of the American government—has been quintessential for the lives of the American people for over 200 years. Without this document America today would not have basic human rights, such as those stated in the Bill of Rights, which includes freedom of speech and religion. To some, the Constitution was an embodiment of the American Revolution, yet others believe that it was a betrayal of the Revolution. I personally believe that the Constitution did betray the Revolution because it did not live up to the ideals of the Revolution, and the views of the Anti-Federalists most closely embodied the “Spirit of ‘76.” During the midst of the American Revolution, authors and politicians of important documents, pamphlets, and slogans spread the basis for Revolutionary ideals and defined what is known as the “Spirit of ‘76”.

Read More

Justice Thurgood Marshall Analysis

1324 Words | 6 Pages

Justice Thurgood Marshall Response Justice Thurgood Marshall said in his “Reflections on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution”, “I do not believe the meaning of the Constitution was forever ‘fixed’ at the Philadelphia Convention. Nor do I find the wisdom, foresight, and sense of justice exhibited by the framers particularly profound. To the contrary, the government they devised was defective from the start, requiring several amendments, a civil war, and momentous social transformation to attain the system of constitutional government and its respect for the individual freedoms and human rights, that we hold as fundamental as today” (Marshall). In this passage of his essay, Judge Marshall is critical of the government that is

Read More

Electoral College Should Be Abolished Essay

1234 Words | 5 Pages

The United States is a realm of democracy. We the people have the rights to choose and elect our leaders at the national, state, and local level. On the national level, our president is elected by the people of the United States. However, in a presidential election, our popular votes don’t go directly into the race. Instead, we use an indirect method to elect our president through the Electoral College.

Read More

More about Summary Of How Democratic Is The American Constitution Robert Dahl

Related Topics

Open Document