Democracy is a unique type of government, and the purpose of this essay is to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses that a democratic government provides. I will detail that many components of this type of society are both strengths and weakness as each component has beneficial aspects as well as unavoidable pitfalls.
A democracy is a government by the people, in which the power is vested in the people themselves. The people then elect representatives who conduct their power in a free electoral system. The Declaration of Independence, which says that all men are created equal, was written on the premise of a democracy.
According to John Locke, who wrote The Social Contract, before acknowledging that an individual is part of a specific government format, such as a democracy, one must understand that being an individual in society means you personally agree to partake in a social contract, which is basically an outline for the rules, standards, and conduct of that society. But what makes this a democracy is that people have conflicting views and are free to share them. In actuality, the citizens may or may not have agreed to partake in the social contract, however, they are still bound by the rules of the democracy. Once it has been established that there is a desire for a society to exist, debate over what type of government (if any) may commence.
The core concept of democracy is actually ‘equity’, rather than ‘equality’. Equity is a term which stresses the fact that while it is true everyone has equal opportunities, the conditions in which those opportunities are pursued are different for each and every individual. Equality is a term implying that everyone has the exact same opportunities, pre-existing determinants...
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...ate the functioning of nature. However, the advantage of a democratic society is that it provides all people with the opportunity to become stronger, and become better educated even though it is not immediately pertinent to a modern day society.
Democracy is a very functional system of government - strengths and weakness all-encompassed. The benefits and pitfalls that go hand-in-hand with a democratic society call for a fluid and amendable constitution. Nevertheless, the strengths outweigh the weaknesses as evidenced by the overall equitable conditions amidst the citizens, and the equal opportunities available to all.
Works Cited
Benjamin Franklin, “Benjamin Franklin - The Autobiography and Other Writings”, (Penguin Books) 1986, 131
de Tocqueville, 179
Alexis de Tocqueville, “Democracy in America”, (Signet Classics) 2001, 144
de Tocqueville, 111
Democracy is a system where society takes control of voting and chooses presidents to their liking; voting was based on the people’s interests. The Missouri Compromise, the Corrupt Bargain, and the Spoils System were all conferring factors in the rise of democracy. Democracy became a way for people to vote for their best interest.
Democracy is a total system that is considered to be ruled by the people. Democracy is considered to be the key role in how citizens live their public lives. For a successful democracy to work, you need to have the key understandings of how it started when it started and why it started. It truly shows that you need the role of society and the rights of the people to be considered successful. In my articles reading I came across three that stood out that help me better understand how democracy became what it is. The articles I talk about are "Thank your taxes", "The letter that won the American Revolution", and "Compromise 1: Philadelphia Story". In the article "Thank your taxes" the citizens were struggling with the government and how they
The first, and possibly most difficult concept to define ¬¬¬¬¬is democracy itself. Beetham[1] suggests that in order to reach a definition from the many contested options, one must understand that there are core principles of democracy, which can be used to create a definition concurrent with the majority of those posed in the academic field. He identifies these principles as being those of majoritarian rule, consensual rule, representation of ‘public good’ or ‘popular will.’ He also identifies the importance of political equality and the furthering of public good over private interests. The ability to express counter-arguments to pose different points of view are also said to be integral to democratic processes. Representative democracy, Beetham says, goes further requiring the equal opportunity of all citizens to stand for election, the equal accountability of those elected, that the democracy must be representative of the electorate and that citizens are able to participate in political processes through organizations and access to their representatives.
Before that can be established, I think a definition of democracy should be stated so that it may be called upon later in this essay. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, democracy is stated as "the principle of social equality and respect for the individual within a community" .
Human history is pock-marked with innumerable wars and revolutions. The cause for most of the revolutions has been the choice of freedom. The opportunity to live a life without physical, mental or emotional restrictions has been and still is of supreme importance to man. This has resulted in the most widely followed discipline of political governance: Democracy.
Firstly, K. Isbester mentions that democracy has a different meaning for everyone, as some can define democracy as a good aspect for development, on the contrary other believe that it is nothing more than voting after several years. Although, Latin America see democratic g...
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
One of the contemporary definitions of democracy today is as follows: “Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives; Rule by the majority” (“Democracy” Def.1,4). Democracy, as a form of government, was a radical idea when it manifested; many governments in the early history of the world were totalitarian or tyrannical in nature, due to overarching beliefs that the strong ruled over the weak.
Democracy: a government by the people, in which citizens rule either directly or through elected representatives - the latter description more relevant to today’s societies. Quite evidently, democracy is not perfect; like any other political system, it is subject to a plethora of flaws. For instance, it is no secret that voters tend to make illogical decisions – not out of sheer malice, but as a result of being wrongly informed. Politicians also make erroneous choices, whether they do so because they are dishonest or simply out of touch with the true will of their constituents. Further, anyone who has studied the government of a parliamentary democracy knows gerrymandering can have a powerful say in determining elections. Despite these and other flaws however, democracy still seems to work.
Democracy is robust, widely accepted and highly anticipated around the world. It is the triumphant form of government; dominantly used in Europe, North and South and America and becoming reformed and taking new roots in Africa and Asia. Although the term democracy is based on its Greek origin, demos kratos, meaning people rule, the term cannot be simply understood as such. Due to vast coverage, the adaptation of democracy has varied greatly, whether regionally, nationally, by state or through different branches of government. Perhaps this can be advantageous when the different categorizations listed above can use democracy to rule and suit themselves best, but other factors, such as globalization and neoliberalism, has caused the need for
Throughout history different types of instrumental regimes have been in tact so civilizations remained structured and cohesive. As humanity advanced, governments obligingly followed. Although there have been hiccups from the ancient times to modern day, one type of government, democracy, has proven to be the most effective and adaptive. As quoted by Winston Churchill, democracy is the best form of government that has existed. This is true because the heart of democracy is reliant, dependent, and thrives on the populaces desires; which gives them the ability for maintaining the right to choose, over time it adjusts and fixes itself to engulf the prominent troubling issues, and people have the right of electing the person they deem appropriate and can denounce them once they no longer appease them. In this paper, the benefits of democracy are outlined, compared to autocratic communism, and finally the flaws of democracy are illustrated.
In today’s world, democracy faces everyday challenges. These challenges affect each and every country. Each country has a particular way of encountering these challenges in order for the citizens to have some type of voice. The voice of the people makes a stronger impact on using democracy as a means to challenge the government of their country. As we take a look at the countries in the world today, we will see the path towards the challenges to democracy.
Democracy has come to mean a principle under whose flag has most of the developed countries aced in their race for Imperialism. It has gone beyond all previous governing systems and has made room for progress and development. By offering free and fair elections, democracy has redefined human dignity and patriotism. It has also helped to improve decision-making among the citizens, and brought down the crime level. Democracy is for sure the most fitting among the other types of government, and needs to be implemented fully for effective functioning of a state.
Actually, democracy is deemed to be a difficult form of government regardless if it is favourable circumstances or not. It seems to be all the more difficult when society’s economic environment is weak, civil society is still developing, and finally ...
What is democracy? Democracy a form of government in which the people freely elect representatives to govern them in a country, democracy guarantees free and fair elections, basic personal and political rights and independent court of law. There are two types of democracy, direct and indirect democracy. Direct democracy or pure democracy is where there is direct participate of the people; people make decisions for them instead of letting them representative make decision for them. Indirect democracy the decisions are made by the representative on behalf of the people that voted for them. All over the world people are having different views with regard to democracy and how it operates. “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried” ~ Winston Churchill, some have said democracy is the worst government form of government which I also think it’s! Due to the how it operates.