The United States is no Longer Following a Democracy A democracy is a form of government in which the people decide important matters and problems. Is the United States following this definition of democracy? The answer is no. The United States is following a strict form of oligarchy, a form of government in which a small group (and in this case a wealthy group) of peoples’ opinions are more powerful than those of the average citizen. Also religious beliefs have taken a toll on the rights of citizens and the downfall of America's’ democracy. People are not giving others the freedom they were granted, for example, since the SCOTUS decision on legalizing gay marriage some government clerks are refusing to issue gay marriage licenses because of their religious beliefs. Lastly, the United States is clearly not getting the strong government it needs. The three …show more content…
In general most people have fairly different beliefs and sometimes those beliefs clash and cause tension between people; this is what’s happening in our government today. “The recent reaction to the SCOTUS decision on legalization of gay marriage is really the poster child for this religious zealousness that has taken over. Government clerks are refusing to issue gay marriage licenses in the name of their religion, despite Judge's orders directly telling them to issue the licenses.” (Issa, 2015).
This is an example of religious beliefs colliding with the law and the equality of American citizens. Many Americans believe that their religion comes before any law or act passed and will fight strongly to prove this. This power of religion came from years of personal opinions and beliefs being put to the test over political decisions and laws. Many people now break laws in which they don’t believe in because of their religious and personal beliefs; this is called nullification, which is strongly going against the