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democracy in the united states essay
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~The Problem with American Democracy is not too Little Democracy, but too much. Discuss ~
American democracy is "power of, by, and for the people." It is, as Slavoj Zizek so eloquently puts, "the will and interests of the majority that determine state decisions" (Zizek, 2003). The problem with American democracy is not that there is too little democracy, but that there is too much. Alexander Hamilton tried to make sure there wasn't too much when he advocated for the Electoral College. All through history, even before America, political minds have warned against too much democracy. Tyranny by majority, the uninformed, the undecided; they all contribute to too much democracy.
One of the greatest problems America faces is the uninformed voter. Jonah Goldberg wrote an article in which he said, "The ignorance of the typical American when it comes to politics is often staggering." He does not mince his words in saying that he believes that normal people of society are not fit in knowledge to the extent of making a just decision of who should act as President. He is not the first to believe this however. The notion that society must be protected from itself when it comes to electing officials goes back to Ancient Greece.
Plato's Republic is widely regarded as a masterpiece of social and political philosophies. He believed that all men were not created equal, but not in the physical sense that history has shown. He meant intellectually. When referring to democracy, he looks upon it as something that would result in tyranny and chaos. "Tyranny by the poor," is why he believed that an aristocracy would be a better ruling tool than a democracy (Plato, B.C.). He criticized democracy as a way for which anarchy to breed and that political equality, as it partially exists now, inevitably leads to democracy. Although I object to the idea that I am not equal to some others, Plato is right in saying that the average citizen should not be trusted with the decision of electing officials in the case that they are not knowledgeable.
An article in The New Yorker title The Unpolitical Animal, written by Louis Menand, found a study done by Philip Converse that showed that seventy percent of Americans cannot name their senators or their congressmen and twenty-five percent don't know who their governor is (Goldberg, 2003).
However, seldom is this the case with American politics. There are far fewer politicians then there are low class workers or unemployed, and yet these politicians decide upon most all of the important decisions the country is faced with. The only time the rest of the people are involved is when these politicians spew out money and promises in an attempt to gain the p...
We will try to debunk a few different perspectives that involve the democracy in the United States. There are many “precursors to modern democratic theory” (3) for example; we all know that the ideology of democracy is a rather an old relic. I would actually like to reference an example that Hudson commonly went over in the introduction of the book. Hudson refers to the Greeks and how they had a well-developed system of successful democratic communities, now the reasons why he brings this up is because we as a democratic society have chosen to emulate the Greek democratic system. Much like us until recent times women and slaves were not allowed to vote only affluent men (3). Hudson also believed that everyone had born natural rights and that all people should have the equal opportunity to be involved in democratic affairs whether it be local or national level. Not only did Hudson agree with this theory, but with many other liberal theorists and they all had two main
America is a country whose emergence is contributed to many sources. More specifically, the American form of Democracy stretch back beyond the formation of the United States, having origin in ancient Greek thinking, the Enlightenment, as well as the English and their injustice, The United States owes its birth as a country to many areas of influence.
When referring to classical antiquity period, most think of Greece and Rome dominating and flourishing in the areas of philosophy, sciences, mathematics and literature. One other admirable achievement, the establishment of early forms of democracy, came from this time period and should not be overlooked as it is the historical basis of our government today. The Founding Fathers of the United States were influenced by Greek and Roman concepts in law, government structure, and even philosophy. Concepts described in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States can be traced back historically to the classical antiquity period, and show that the United States government and law were modeled after those of Greece and Rome.
Adding this all up, I have concluded that the United States democracy is unhealthy, yet I still believe there is hope. If I had to give the current condition of democracy a letter grade, I would give it a C. I got this grade because even though the United States maintains many civil right and liberties, a strong number of interest groups, and diverse political parties, it just isn’t enough to carry the poor conditions of ideologies, voter turnout, education, economics, and media. Democracy is surly not thriving in America, but at this point, there is still hope.
In two world wars, Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf, Americans fought and died so that democracy would prevail around the world. In the minds of many Americans, America is the bastion of democracy. But how democratic is America? Today’s America was “born” with the signing of the constitution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There, it was determined how democratic America would be. And every American should ask himself how democratic America was made at that constitutional convention in Philadelphia.
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.
Plato views the democratic state as a city “full of freedom and freedom of speech[,]” where its citizens “have the license to do [whatever they] want” and the right to self-determine. Plato however, sees this insatiable desire for freedom at the expense of neglecting everything else as the downfall of democracy. To clarify, a society that is staunchly protective of its equality and freedom will be particularly sensitive towards any oppositions that seem to limit them, to the point where it actively attempts to “avoid [obeying the law and] having any master at all.” Thus, “unless the rulers are very pliable and provide plenty of that freedom, they are punished by the city and accused of being oligarchs.” Since those in power fear the accusations of those being ruled, they become docile and submissive. On the other hand, those who are ruled are encouraged by their rulers’ meekness and, convinced of their inherent right to freedom, begin to behave as their own rulers. Thus, this blind chase for unconditional freedom will propagate disorder across the society, and eventually cause the people to see “anarchy [as] freedom, extravagance [as] magnificence, and shamelessness [as]
Plato firmly believed that only a select few should rule. This idea stems from his view that people are unequal in essence, as some truly enlightened individuals are able to understand justice and good whereas others could only see the suggestion of the phenomenas. He asserted that many people were
I am responding to Micheal Schudson’s essay titled “America’s Ignorant Voter”. He makes several arguments against whether America having relatively ignorant voters poses a problem to our society, and whether it’s becoming worse over the years. One of the arguments he poses as to why Americans seem so clueless about political matters is due to the complexities of our nation’s political institutions.
...favored the interest of the needy but not the common good of all. (pg. A-35) Democracy ensures that the majority will rule and, in most cases, the majority consists of the less fortunate and the poor. In a democracy the minority has no rights and is subject only to the privileges granted by the dictatorship of the majority. A good example of democracy in action is a lynch mob. The majority decides the guilt of the minority and acts according to their popular consensus. Republican ideals help protect the minority from the majority and limits power of both the majority and the government. Both forms have their good and bad points and the United States government is a mix of all those points.
Plato defines Athens as a democratic society that “treats all men as equal, whether they are equal or not.” Therefore, believes that there are those that are born to rule and others that are born to be ruled. Plato presents the argument that democracy does not achieve the greatest good, giving four main objections to democracy. Firstly, he identifies that most of us are ruled by passions, pleasure, sentiment and impulse. Hence, th...
...n life. However, Plato’s criticisms should be kept in mind when determining the merit of a democratic government. Oh, would it not be great to have a democracy of philosophers, who would pursue truth and wisdom! Alas, we are only human, and susceptible to many evils and lies. The trick is to prevent such ignorant people from becoming the majority. At times, it seems nigh impossible to do so; curse our stupidity!
This further raises the question as to whether Plato’s model of a republic is more beneficial. A democracy does embody positive attributes; such as letting the people take part in elections and having the freedom to choose their leader. In spite of this, the American vote is still uneducated. When it comes to national policies Americans only comprehend the relevance of worldly events based on one-sided information from politicians. The media contributes to this, portraying a narrow-minded view of the world, showing only portions of what could impact life in the States. Without complete information of outside nations, the democracy in America is flawed and elections are based more on favoritism and who can make the other look worst. This can lead citizens to favor the more socially appealing contender even if he/she is not the right person to lead. In the article “Plato’s Republic vs. Democracy” the author Ogochukwu Okpala stresses that, “to allow the public to vote based on emotions rather than an informed decision could be detrimental to the structure of a society.” The logical alternative is to educate the public that way they may vote for only the truly wise to determine what is best for the nation
He writes, for example, that within the framework of a democratic society, young people begin to imitate adults and compete with them in reasoning and in affairs that results in contention between generations. “The forgiving spirit of democracy” is the spirit of slavery since ordinary people become slaves of the part of the population that begins to govern the country by becoming a major political force. Supporters of democracy think that they have a true idea of the correct version of the political regime, but according to Plato, they are far from the truth, since they have no idea of the correct structure of the state. I can say that I agree with Plato 's ideas on democracy and its supporters since in fact, we can observe the phenomenon of injustice and tyranny in many democratic countries. Under the guise of democratic ideals, modern society shows the commitment of the various anti-moral and anti-social phenomena that cannot be regarded as positive. People have become slaves of money and power, and in a society that calls itself ‘democratic’ the power belongs to separate individuals while other people are their slaves although they do not understand this