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What is the similarity between direct and representative democracy
Effects of protests
Influence of protest
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Alright, I suppose it is a little clearer now. I imagine, in many respects, that we might just be talking past each other. What I tried to explicate in the last comment is that it seemed like you have set up a false dichotomy (either/or); viz., that it is either a democracy or a republic. I reckon this is where I was confused. I do not consider the terms “republic” (the way I think you are using it) and “democracy” are mutually exclusive. Your definition of democracy is fine, but I just want to remark it is very general. While I mentioned in my response that the United States is not a “direct democracy” I see no difficulty using the word “representative democracy,” and the way you are using republic, synonymously.
The manner in which the word “republic” is thrown and twisted is unquestionably ambiguous (whether or not you think it is). If you are interested, I would ask you to research that, and hopefully understand what I mean (Cf. the use of the term “republic” from an American perspective compared to what the etymology of the words meaning is through Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Montesquieu, et al; additionally, you can actually research cases where the SCOTUS has attempted to define the term “republic” in various aspects of
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What avenues are open to a citizen to express their beliefs that something is not right? Is a protest of the National Anthem one of the avenues? Further, take into consideration what the alternative is. I have heard, and read, many people argue that those protesting the anthem are wrong yet, guess what? Everyone is paying attention now. Was / is it effective? Was anybody harmed by the protest? Was anybody 's rights restricted by the protest? If anything, it is bringing to the national stage the exact problems which we are talking about. So, is it effective? Is it doing what it is / was designed to do? This is what this post is more
Madison differentiates between a Democracy and a Republic and later on decides on a Republic as his choice of government. A Republic is a type of government run by representatives who are elected by its citizens. Madison states that “however small the Republic may be, the Representatives must be raised to a certain number in order to guard against the cabals of a few; and that however large it may be, they must be limited to a certain number, in order to guard against the confusion of a multitude.” This means that the Republic should have a certain number of representatives large enough to overpower any outsiders, but not too many where-as nothing could be accomplished due to disagreement.
In America the Amendment 1 of the U.S. Constitution gives the American people the right to peaceably assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Most notably Amendment 1 is known for and most often cited as giving the Freedom of Speech. Even before this amendment was ratified people in the U.S. were protesting, as in the Boston Tea Party. Protesting has been a way to effect change in America. A question to ask is this: is there a right way or wrong way to protest.
A democracy is a form of government where the people rule directly on everything that has an effect on their everyday lives. In a democracy the government’s power is from the people and it relies on them to use that power. Citizen’s rights to the decisions made by the government can be handled directly by entering their positions personally or by representatives. Since government decisions are not made by the majority vote except for in a small amount of all lawmaking, the United States is not a direct democracy. The United States contains elements of a democracy and a republic. A republic is a government where the people rule indirectly through elected officials. Since the United States combines these two forms of government, it is generally
Black Lives Matter. Women’s Marches. In today’s society, we need not look far to see various examples of civil disobedience. Yet, there is still much opposition on the people’s right to speak up - to fight for their rights. Why is this so, when our country seems to have evolved into what it is today, precisely because of it? It is my firm belief that while the United States of America remains a free society - a democracy run by the people - the protesting of unjust laws and traditions will always have a uniquely positive impact in the country.
Democracy- a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives (Dictionary.com). The Constitution starts out with the phrase “We the People”, but is the constitution properly representing all the current people in the United States and providing us with a true democracy? The constitution is outdated and does not properly take into account the current typical American lifestyle. Along with being outmoded the Constitution has created an undemocratic legislative process in our country resulting in many unnecessary or unsuccessful legislative decrees.
In our country’s history, Civil Disobedience has had positive effects upon legislation and societal norms. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution states five basic forms of expression that are to be protected by the government: Speech, Press, Assembly, Religion, and Petition. The Founders, in essence, created a means by which the average citizen can achieve political and social change. Justice William J. Brennan Jr. stated in 1989 that, “If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that government cannot prohibit the expression of an idea simply because the society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”* When citizens speak out or
America's Democracy The United States of America is a republic, or representative democracy. Democracy, a word that comes to us from Greek, literally means the people rule (Romance, July 8). This broad definition leaves unanswered a few important details such as who are the people, how shall they rule, and what should they rule on (July 8). Defining the answers to those questions means defining a model for a democratic system.
Between 1787 and 1791 the Framers of the US Constitution established a system of government upon principles that had been discussed and partially implemented in many countries over the course of several centuries, but never before in such a pure and complete design, which we call a constitutional republic. Since then, the design has often been imitated, but important principles have often been ignored in those imitations, with the result that their governments fall short of being true republics or truly constitutional. The Framers of the Constitution tried very hard to design a system that would not allow any one person or group within the government to gain too much power. Personally, I think they succeeded. In order to guard against what one of the Founding Fathers called an "excess of democracy," the Constitution was built with many ways to limit the government's power. Among these methods were separating the three branches, splitting the legislature so laws are carefully considered, and requiring members of Congress to meet certain criteria to qualify for office. The Founders did leave a few problems along with their system.
When the United States of America was first formed, its citizens had many new rights and freedoms that they did not have in their motherland. Today; however, citizens of the United States do not share as many rights as the first immigrants had. A freedom that individuals think has been stripped away from them is the freedom to protest. This freedom has been restricted over time by the government who has set many rules and regulations on protesting laws. However, in society today, many wonder whether or not these restrictions are justified or if they break the constitutional rights of being an American.
Was The Roman Republic unquestionably democratic? Well, it is stated that it is in fact democratic, since the people were the ones to decide on what is going to happen in the government and to the people. It is also said that during the Roman Republic the people were the chief of state.
"With the Gracchi, all the consequences of empire - social, economic and political - broke loose in the Roman state, inaugurating a century of revolution." (The Roman Revolution, Ronald Syme, p16).
The notion of representative government distinguishes from the notion of representative democracy. McHugh J in Theophanous said that representative democracy describes a society where an equality of rights is existed. In McGinty, it also pointed that the notion of representative democracy requires the people to have an ‘equal electorate’.
The Roman Republic began approximately around 509 B.C. when the nobles drove the King and his family out of Rome. This monumental incident helped shape the start to the transformation of the monarchy into a republican governmental system. This is known to have begun by that of the Roman nobles trying to hold their power that they had gained. The Republic was “[a] city-state [which] was the foundation of Greek society in the Hellenic Age; in the Hellenistic Age, Greek cities became subordinate to kingdoms, larder political units ruled by autocratic monarchs” (Perry 105)
Athens of ancient Greece had perhaps the most advanced system of government of the ancient world. The system of Athens was called a Democracy. That is, every citizen voted on everything. People have claimed that the United States is also a Democracy. This is not true. The government of the United States is a Constitutional Republic (Every). United States citizens vote for representatives, who then vote on the laws. They themselves are limited by a constitution. Democracy is a flawed government system. The Constitutional Republic is also flawed, however, it is better at safeguarding individual rights, when applied correctly. Therefore, a Constitutional Republic is a better system than a Democracy.
A memorable expression said by President Abraham Lincoln reads, “Democracy is government of the people, by the people, and for the people”. Democracy, is a derived from the Greek term "demos" which means people. It is a successful, system of government that vests power to the public or majority. Adopted by the United States in 1776, a democratic government has six basic characteristics: (i) established/elected sovereignty (where power and civic responsibility are exercised either directly by the public or their freely agreed elected representative(s)), (ii) majority rule(vs minority), (iii) (protects one’s own and reside with) human rights, (iv) regular free and fair elections to citizens (upon a certain age), (v) responsibility of