Ideal Democracy

1299 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Republic vs constitutional monarchy

In the year 1492, Columbus set sail with the main purpose of going to Asia but on his voyage he stumbled across this land known as the New World. As the three captains of the ship discussed what they should do, they decided it was best to bring more people to this new land and promised them they would have a better life. Everyone was hoping that this new land was going to give the people more freedom. The New World, which is now known as the United States of America, was to have a different type of governing. This type of governing would be considered a democratic government. According to Becker, in the article Ideal Democracy, his term of democracy “… has always meant government by the many as opposed to government to the one…” (Becker 106). …show more content…

The more people involved, the more complications there are due to the fact that everyone has their own opinions. In the article, Ideal Democracy, Carl Becker states, “it is a striking fact that until recently democracy never flourished except in very small states…” (Becker 108). Back then it was difficult to spread news or have everyone listen to a speech in a large country due to the lack of technology, but now people have phones, various radio stations, and channels to help them stay tuned for the latest news. In churches everyone is allowed to give their opinions and will then easily come up with a solution to please the majority without too many conflicts. The person to replace the position of the president in a church organization is the arch bishop and to help with the decisions there are the board members. Putting the arch bishop in control of everything in the churches would have probably had a much different outcome, for example discouraging many to stop attending the services. To distribute the power evenly amongst the board members, each one of them is in control to complete a specific duty. For example, one of them is in control of how much and where the money goes, another to monitor the Sunday school rooms, and the others organize all of the other activities. In that case leaving things to be dealt with ease rather than …show more content…

There are many countries around the world that are operating just fine with other types of governments like constitutional monarchy and republics. Countries like Canada, running with two different types of government, one being parliamentary democracy and the other constitutional monarchy, are advancing much more than the United States even though their constitution forms maybe different. People there focus more on what the important things are, rather than needing to compete and have a sense of what and who is best. They have lower unemployment and tax rates. Another important factor in keeping a democratic country stable is economic security. If money does not stay stable it can create a separation of wealth. This complicates things because then there are people with much more advantages than others. In the article Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer, Robert Reich explains how major businesses have found a way to increase profit with a cheaper labor force, thus causing the lower class to be jobless and struggling financially. If the rich have more privileges than the poor, then there are not equal opportunities for everyone. Those with more money are more powerful and this causes the issue that the vote of the people is not getting distributed equally. A problem in the United States is that the rich have more advantages, but in Canada things are distributed

Show More
Related

  • Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society

    1305 Words  | 3 Pages

    All countries, whether big or small, draw support from their governments but receive power from the people. Even in a monarchy, a king without subjects cannot be a king. America has a long and proud history of exemplifying the idea that, together, people can make the right decision. They trusted each other, God, and the economy to work together for a greater good. Most Americans followed politics and took care of their neighbors. Unfortunately, most great things end and Americans began to doubt. They questioned each other, God, and the free market. The progressive movement claimed that government needed to intervene on behalf of the people. Instead of the uneducated masses making important decisions, they should delegate that ability to the educated upper-class. Such a government could only result in a “Great Society.”

    Read More

  • Democracy In Colonial America Essay

    751 Words  | 2 Pages

    Democracy developed in Colonial America from 1607, at the founding of Jamestown, up to 1783, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Democracy is defined as a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system. Ideas from documents created in England, such as the Bill of Rights, were brought over to the colonies. These ideas were implemented into the society of the colonists. The colonists also created their own democratic documents and ideas.

    Read More

  • Democracy Outlined by Plato and Aristotle

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the fifth-century BC, Athens emerged as one of the most advanced state or polis in all of Greece. This formation of Athenian ‘democracy’ holds the main principle that citizens should enjoy political equality in order to be free to rule and be ruled in turn. The word ‘democracy’ originates from the Greek words demos (meaning people) and kratos (meaning power) therefore demokratia means “the power of the people.” The famous funeral speech of Pericles states that “Our constitution is called democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people.” However, only citizens (free adult men of Athenian descent) could participate in political matters. Women and slaves held no political rights, although they were essential in order to free up time for the citizens to participate in the matters of the state. The development of Athenian democracy has been fundamental for the basis of modern political thinking, although many in modern society UK would be sceptical to call it a democracy. Plato and Aristotle in The Republic and The Politics respectively were critical of the Athenian democracy, by examining the culture and ideology present the limitations and possible downfalls of a democratic way of life. Within this essay I will outline these limitations and evaluate their validity.

    Read More

  • America's Democracy

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Ideal Society

    1643 Words  | 4 Pages

    Democratic societies are were the people are involved in the decision making of the government and have representation. In Thomas Paine’s Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs, Paine desired for the colonies to go to war against Britain to gain independence, while having the feeling that Britain was exploiting the colonies. Paine explains the disadvantages of the colonies being connected with Britain. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Divinity School Address he brings forth a moral argument. He discusses the relationship between man, soul, God, and the church. In Henry David Thoreau’ On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, Henry believes in the act of civil disobedience, in which man does not need the government as much as they think they do. Henry promotes the idea of individuality, in which man could do better than the government in various situations. Thomas Paine, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau, were American writers who generated their own ideas of an ideal American society, where people have involvement with the government or church.

    Read More

  • History Of Solon And Cleisthenes: Lawmakers Of Athens

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    The term democracy is ambiguous, but Abraham Lincoln (1863) defines it as the “government of the people, by the people and for the people.” This modern take of democracy should guarantee basic personal and political rights to every individual person, everywhere, every day. Josiah Ober (2007, p.4) points out that “the Greek word dêmokratia conjoins kratos, a term for ‘power’, and dêmos, a term for ‘the people’.” It therefore means ‘power of the people’. But the Athenians did not call it democracy at the time, “they called it ‘isonomia’ or “equality in law”, writes Bernard Randall (2004, p.86). The earliest forms of democracy were formed by the ancient Greeks around 510 B.C in Athens.

    Read More

  • Intrinsic Human Dignity and Equality in Relation to Liberal Democracy

    1742 Words  | 4 Pages

    Democracy is not a contemporary phenomenon. It did not originate here in North America. Rather, its practice began---more than 2,000 years ago---in Athens, a city-state, in the Greek Mediterranean. The philosophers Aristotle and Plato attested to that fact in their writings. It is in Plato’s Republic that one finds the earliest definition of democracy, which is briefly, “the rule of the governed.” Plato compares democracy to monarchy, or rule of the one, oligarchy, or rule of the elite, and lastly, timocracy, or rule by property owners. Interestingly enough, the Republic’s author believed the rule of a philosopher-king was preferable to that of the masses. The Politics, written by Aristotle, provided a very robust explanation and justification of democracy, which will be detailed later in this paper. Nevertheless, democracy is synonymous with popular sovereignty or the notion that all within a human community have a say in the matters that affect them all.

    Read More

  • Plato's Criticism of Democracy

    1688 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Constitutional Democracy

    1876 Words  | 4 Pages

    Constitutional Democracy The basic premise of a constitutional democracy is that government has rules and all of the people have voices. Through free and fair elections, we elect candidates to represent us. The Constitution of the United States guarantees us the right to do this, and to live democratically. The framers attacked tyrannical government and advanced the following ideas: that government comes from below, not from above, and that it derives its powers from the consent of the governed; that men have certain natural, inalienable rights; that it is wise and feasible to distribute and balance powers within government, giving local powers to local governments, and general powers to the national government; that men are born equal and should be treated as equal before the law.

    Read More

  • The Athenian Democracy Compared to Today's Democracy

    1895 Words  | 4 Pages

    The term democracy comes from the Greek language and means "rule by the people."(Democracy Building 2012) The democracy in Athens represents the events leading up to modern day democracies. Like our modern democracy, the Athenian democracy was created as a reaction to a concentration and abuse of power by the rulers. Philosophers defined the essential elements of democracy as a separation of powers, basic civil rights, human rights, religious liberty and separation of church and state. The most current definition of a democracy is defined as a “government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.”(Dictionary.com). The American democracy was greatly influenced by the Athenian democracy. The Founding Fathers of the American democracy borrowed ideas from the Athenian way of governing. Presently, Americans live in a democracy that is much different than that the Athenian democracy, and what the Founding Fathers of the American Democracy envisioned. Although there are some commonalities between Athens and what our Founding Fathers intended, there are major differences as well. Differences between the modern American democracy the Athenian democracy and what the Founding Fathers envisioned are size of the democracies, the eligibility of a citizen to participate in the democracy and how a citizen participated.

    Read More

  • Characteristics Of Democracy Essay

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Ideal Political System Essay

    941 Words  | 2 Pages

    The ideal political system can, and is, very challenging to create. We believe that the ideal system should accurately reflect the views of the people and create a system of powers that works throughout each branch of government. The branches of government include the executive, the legislative, and the courts. We also go into how these positions are elected, as well as the parties in which they are elected from. They all work together to create a sound government that will work in the best possible way.

    Read More

  • Ideal Of Government Essay

    698 Words  | 2 Pages

    What makes our nation a free land, what protects from tyranny, what gives us the natural rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? The Declaration of Independence. This document list ideals of our rights. While the Declaration of Independence is pretty much the most important document in history, listing all these ideals, which ideal is the most important? Before knowing which is most important, it is important to know the history of our most valued document, the Declaration of Independence was created after the French and Indian War, when Britain tried to tax the colonists. Protests led to rebellion, and war began, however, the Second Continental Congress sought peaceful resolutions,

    Read More

  • the ideal democracy

    668 Words  | 2 Pages

    The idea of an ideal democracy is not a particularly obtainable idea, considering the different in culture and history of countries this could be a dramatic change to previous authoritarian regimes. Although we can work towards this idea of an ideal democracy reaching this goal will be a much harder task. The attributes that contribute to having an ideal democracy are free and fair elections, their capability to implement policies, political participation of the masses and universal adult suffrage, and a multiple party political system.

    Read More

  • Democracy as the Best Form of Government

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    The foundation of the modern political system was laid in the times when the world was strangled in slavery. In those moments, enlightened minds in Greek came up with the new system that was there to remain for the next thousands of years. This system, now known as democracy, is a form of government in which supreme power is vested to the people themselves. People have the right to elect their leaders directly or indirectly through a scheme of representation usually involving periodically held free elections. A new democratic government is usually established after every 4-5 years, and it is trusted with the responsibility to cater to the needs of all the people irrespective of the fact that they voted for them or not. Although the minorities may not be very pleased with the idea of democracy, however, a democratic government is certainly the best because it establishes social equality among people, reduces the conflicts in the state to a minimum, gives the chance to vote repeatedly, and creates patriotism.

    Read More

More about Ideal Democracy

Open Document