America. Once a democracy, no more.
I. Introduction
A. Research Questions:
1. With all the changes that have taken place recently within the US government can it still be classified as a democracy? The US actually hasn’t been a democracy for some time now. It’s really more of an oligarchy, what with lobbying and election campaigns, generally the party with the deepest pockets calls the shots.
2. Thesis Statement: Recent changes in government policy and bills that have been quietly passed into law by the Obama administration have been paving the way for a dictatorial government. US citizens’ rights have been slowly stripped away to the point where all Obama need do is declare a state of emergency, which will dissolve the current government, making him America’s first dictator. I will provide support for these statements and discuss the impact they will have once these events come to pass.
II. Theory
“Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty.”
– Plato
[In a direct democracy] the countenance of the government may become more democratic; but the soul that animates it will be more oligarchic. The machine will be enlarged, but the fewer and often, the more secret will be the springs by which its motions are directed.
—James Madison
The US is not a democracy in its current state. In truth it is an oligarchy which is run by a system in which economic elites and organized groups representing various business interests have a significant impact on government policy, whereas ordinary citizens have little to no influence. This statement has been proven in a recent study done by researchers at Princeton and Northwestern University. Some would go so f...
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...dows is another terrorist attack, perhaps something on the scale of 9/11. The interesting thing is that once the government is ready to dissolve the façade of democracy there is truly nothing stopping them from engineering the disaster themselves and pinning it on a boogeyman (terrorists/war on terror).
III. History
A. America is transitioning into a totalitarian government (10 steps)
Naomi Wolf published a book and created a documentary delineating ten steps. These ten steps are measures that must be taken by any potential dictator in order to destroy constitutional freedoms and have proven to be highly accurate throughout history, from Hitler to Pinochet and beyond. She argues that first Bush and now Obama are using time-tested tactics in order to close down an open society. She also suggests that America is much further down this path than most people realize.
Janda, K., Berry, J., Golman, J., & Hula, K. (2009). The Challenge of Democracy: American
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
Aristotle's democracy was a democracy that endorsed equality to its fullest. Instead of forcing the thoughts of everyone through one biased individual, it allowed every person to have a voice. America is not a democracy. It tries very hard to make the people of the world think it is, but it is not. It goes against much of what Aristotle spoke of with fervor. Not everyone has an equal opportunity, nor does everyone have a voice. In fact, equality continues to diminish despite steps taken to push it further. Most of America is a simple façade that can be stripped away with minor effort. It is a mere pretense of democracy that would die out if it were to attempt to become anything
...ack of inspiration to combat the government’s power in accordance with the power of fear within society causes political outcry heard worldwide. The Salem trials and McCarthyism demonstrate the control of governing on society. The harsh violence demonstrated towards slaves and Japanese Americans during the 1940’s exemplifies the nation’s submission to fear. Additionally, these actions are exhibited during contemporary times illustrated by examining the case of government shutdown of 2013, and acquiescence within social media. Society continually obeys political elites embracing power. As people outwardly support the government, history encompasses the ability to repeat itself while governing bodies fail to maintain a strong hold of internal regulation. Without sudden change, members of society become dulled with their mundane tasks, and avert to challenge politics.
Athens is an example of a direct democracy. A point should be made here that
At first glance, it seems implausible the word democracy isn't written in the United States Constitution, or in the Preamble of the Constitution, or even in the Declaration of Independence. One would assume a concept so paramount to modern American culture would surely be derived from one of its oldest and most endeared documents. Alas, it is not. The Constitution only specifically mentions two entities, the government and “We the People”. Defining government is an easy enough task, but who are “We the People”? Originally consisting of only white male property owners, eventually adding in other races, income classes, women, and astonishingly, corporations, the definition of “We the People” has evolved numerous times. Corporation is another key term the architects of our government failed to define for us, perhaps that is why it found its way into the phrase “We the People”. A grave dilemma lies in this fallible defining of terms. Granting corporations person-hood legislatively shifts the power of democracy from human interests to corporate interests. This corrosion of human interest can clearly be noted when examining the battle over corporate power highlighted in the court cases of Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, and United States v. Sourapas and Crest Beverage Company.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary Democracy is a form of government by the people; especially: rule of the majority(Webster). This is what the United States is represented as, and this is based on the United States Constitution from which the United states draws all legal powers. In Robert Dahls book How democratic Is the American Constitution? He challenges this idea by trying to appeal to his readers in a way that they may view the United States Constitution in a different light. Dahl does this by pointing out flaws that the Constitution has and, draws on facts based on the other democracies around the world that the United States is compared too. He points out how many democratic ideas and innovations have a occurred since the conception of the American Constitution yet it has only adopted some of those idea.
Many Americans are proud to live in a country that claims to be a democracy. They are enlightened to know that “the people” have the power to actively participate in the decision making process of the government. They constantly show pride and faith on the principles of democracy everywhere they go. Yet, there are many who also seem to disapprove of the process that others so claim to be the best form of rule of government.
The United States is run by a democracy. There are many pieces to democracy that must be in good health in order for democracy to be effective and work. In this essay I will critique some of the most important parts of democracy in America and go deeper. I will first focus on the strengths of United States democracy and then I will dive into categories of democracy that I believe to not be thriving. I believe that the current conditions of United States democracy are becoming a hindrance to this nation, because the opinions and freedoms the public possess are being stripped away through poor media, education, and economy.
Democracy’s major focus is on the freedom and representation of the people, along with the promotion of a the fluid free market system. “One man, one vote” being one of the inspirational quotes used to demonstrate the democratic outlook on the liberty within the government; and its ability to establish and make decisions based upon the will of the people. However, like our textbook, “Introduction to Comparative Politics,” points out, “No country fully satisfies all these criteria for democracy. Even in long established democratic states, there remains a gap—often a substantial one—between the aspirations and ideals of democracy and the practice and results of any actually existing democracy.” Furthermore, despite efforts to amplify this political system as a proper means for representation and freedom in other countries, various authoritarian regimes now present themselves under the guise of democratic political ideology in order to gain power.
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. William E. Hudson defines four such models in his book American Democracy in Peril: the Protective, Developmental, Pluralist, and Participatory models of democracy (Hudson, 8-19). Of these models, perhaps Participatory comes closest to an ideal, pure democracy of rule by the people (16-19). In practice, however, establishing a stable ideal democracy is not entirely feasible. In a country the size of the United States, it quickly becomes unwieldy if not impossible to have direct rule by the people. To overcome this, the compromise of the representative system allows the people to choose who will rule on a regular basis. The political culture that defines American politics shows that despite this compromise, America is still very much a democratic society.
No. The United States is not a democracy. It is a Representative Democratic Republic. Democracy is “ a system of government that is run by the majority of the population,.”.(11) Representative Democracy is “ a form of government where officials representing a certain group of people are elected ”.(11) The founding fathers actually created a republic with the Constitution. It had three branches. Each with different government jobs. The Executive Branch was elected by the Electoral College. Federal judges were selected by the president. The Senate were chosen by the state governments. The only part of the government that was elected by the people was the House of Representatives. Nowadays the Senate is elected by the population, and the Electoral College still remains. Originally the people had no ability to have their input on anything that happened in government, but to this day the Electoral College is still the deciding body on who will be elected the President of the United
In theory, the United States became a democracy when we signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. This theory is not true. The textbook defines a democracy as a system of government in which ultimate political authority is vested in the people, of course you know that this is just not so. Our system of representation, often times, fails us. Quite often, the people who represent us in our state, local, and federal governments make decisions without much regard for the desires of the American citizenry.
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.
Democracy is important and valuable to the people of the United States. It is the form of government that rules us all. Democracy is one type of government with different variations. The idea of democracy has two meanings. The ideal and the real. The ideal is that democracy that listens to everyone and gives freedom as well as equality. For example, there is direct democracy, in which every person votes to come to an agreement. This is a type of democracy that cannot be accomplished in the United States due to the population size. Instead we have what is called a representative democracy or the real type of democracy. In this type of democracy, we the people get to choose someone to represent our values an opinions and that person reports this to the government. We have this type of democracy because perfect democracy does not exist. It would be extremely hard to accomplish or even come close to it. The reality is that the United States is one of the closest best forms of democracy, yet it’s far from perfect. The U.S. and what makes it a working democracy contains more than just representation. The government is made up of the Constitution, the rule of the majority, public opinion, elections, mass media, interest