The Pros And Cons Of American Democracy

As a democracy the United States of America is known for their citizens participating in elections. Prior to formally declaring the United States a democracy, many of the founding fathers were against the idea of the people having a say in government activities. The founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, who were part of the Federalist party, believed in having a strong federal government and a central banking system. Opposed to the Federalist party were the Anti Federalist. Anti Federalists believed that giving too much power to the government would eventually lead to a corruption that would only crave more power until it completely dominated the citizens of the United States. Thomas Jefferson, an Anti-Federalist,

In 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was signed, the right to vote was restricted to anyone who wasn’t a property owner, which primarily consisted of white males over the age of 21. At the time when George Washington was elected president, only about six percent of the population was eligible to vote (Voting Rights). By 1856, all white men were able to vote and property ownership wasn’t required anymore. When the 14th Amendment was passed it freed the slaves and gave them citizenship as long as they were born in the U.S., but it did not give them the right to vote. It wasn’t until 1870, when the 15th Amendment was passed, that the right to vote couldn’t be denied because of one’s race. Although the 15th Amendment enforced that voting wasn’t allowed to be denied because of race, states began to enact literacy tests and voting taxes which restricted the right to vote for many African American males. A few years after the 15th Amendment, women became more persistent in their desire to be given the right to vote as well. Susan B. Anthony was arrested in 1872 for attempting to vote in a presidential

When the U.S. consisted of 13 colonies and gradually expanded, citizens of the U.S. wanted to become more involved in the government. Now, according to current demographics it has become very difficult to get people to even register to vote. It took years for amendments that were specifically made to expand voting rights to be created, but for some reason current citizens in the U.S. don’t take this into account. One can say that civilians in the U.S. don’t take advantage of the many opportunities they have in the country. Election day has always been a significant event, but due to these low turnouts candidates have been forced to spend millions of dollars on campaigning. It is clear that in the short run, non voters do not make an impact on presidential elections due to the electoral college. However, in the long run, they may have more of an affect on polling then anyone could imagine. The U.S. has come a long way in terms of voting on government activities, but we now have to turn our focus on how to keep citizens of the U.S. interested in voting and how truly important it is to keep informed about current