...The United States is a democracy. A democracy is a form of government where the people vote to make decisions. This form of government can be found in different countries around the world; however, the U.S. is one of the oldest countries with a democracy. The Constitution was written using five different principles of democracy. Three of the five principles are separation of powers, checks and balance, and federalism. Separation of powers is the fact that the federal government is divided into three different branches. We learn at a young age that the federal government is made up of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Having three different branches helps the power be spread out. Each branch as its own powers and responsibilities....
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...Democracy is a form of government in which all people have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal (and more or less direct) participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law. It can also encompass social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination. The term comes from the Greek: δημοκρατία (dēmokratía) "rule of the people”, which was coined from δῆμος (dêmos) "people" and κράτος (Kratos) "power", in the middle of the 5th-4th century BC to denote the political systems then existing in some Greek city-states, notably Athens following a popular uprising in 508 BC. According to some theories of democracy, popular sovereignty is the founding principle of such a system. However, the democratic principle has also been expressed as "the freedom to call something into being which did not exist before, which was not given… and which therefore, strictly speaking, could not be known." This type of freedom, which is connected to human "natality," or the capacity to begin anew, sees democracy as "not only a political system but an ideal, an aspiration, really, intimately connected to and dependent upon a picture of what it is to be human—of what it is a human should be to be fully human." While there is no universally accepted definition of 'democracy', equality and freedom have both been identified as important characteristics of democracy since ancient...
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...future of democracy and its role in human-rights law. The idea of Western societies encouraging democratization of non-western societies is believed to be cultural imperialism, which abuses the power of states in the developing world. However for the purpose of this paper, I view the support of democratization by Western societies as a positive approach to achieving the core significance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that is supposedly recognized by all states. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created on the notion of a common human race. It represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are naturally entitled. Of the fifty-eight countries that were members of the United Nations in 1948, forty-eight countries initially approved the document. Essentially all of the world’s states have approved it since then, which indicates that in any event its principle articles should be used by all states as an instrument in binding international law in spite of the presence of treaty ratification or state of war. Considering the fact that most countries have agreed to abide by the Declaration of Human Rights, it can be assumed that all states would have the intention to accomplish that in the best way possible. With the intentions of protecting essential human rights, the promotion of democratization is crucial and the most proficient way possible. The twenty second article of the Declaration of Human Rights states that: (1)...
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...Political Theory Professor K 07/11/2012 Democracy The term democracy is defined as: “a political system by which the citizens of a country govern themselves.... where their elected representatives make laws; the executive branch administers those laws and is responsible for the way it does so.” (www.duhaime.org). This simplified definition of the term democracy adequately defines what it is that the U.S. wants to spread and administer thought all countries around the world. After the Cold War ended, promoting the international spread of democracy seemed poised to replace the containment of democracy as the guiding principle of U.S. foreign policy. Scholars, policymakers, and commentators embraced the idea that democratization could become America's next mission. In recent years, however, critics have argued that spreading democracy may be unwise or even harmful. Because of this, the debate of whether or not the United States should spread democracy or put it on the backburner is never ending. Critics of the spread of democracy argue, “democratic peace is a myth; that the process of democratization increases the risk of war; and that democratic elections are harmful in societies that are not fully liberal.” (belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu). This idea of democratic peace is that countries that have established democracies rarely, if ever, go to war with each other. Critics argue that even though it is rare that countries that have democracies go to war with each other, the fact that...
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...Jordan Gabson Writing and Rhetoric Tuesday April 30, 2015 Democracy vs. Communism Communism has always been used as secret weapon to make the poor believe that being rich is inappropriate, and that the poor have less because the rich people took the money away from them. In reality, the communist government wants to take the money from the wealthy to make the governing body itself rich. Democracy, on the other hand, promotes capitalism, which allows economic freedom, which helps political freedom; efficiency, economic growth, and everybody having the opportunity to start the business that he or she desires. Communism and democracy are two different ideologies that have each had a great impact in the world. Communism can be defined as a socioeconomic structure that stands for the establishment of classless, egalitarian and stateless society. Democracy, on the other hand, is a political system of governance either carried out by the people directly or by elected representatives. “Democracy may not be the perfect form of government, but sure it is way better than communism” said Jones in his journal, Power and Democracy Education Every single human being in the world knows that this is not true. Everybody knows that communism is a secret weapon that the rulers in the countries where communism is practiced use it to enrich themselves, their families and their friends. Communism is...
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...derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best".[2] In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy. In later times, aristocracy was usually seen as rule by a privileged group (the aristocratic class), and contrasted withdemocracy.[1] ------------------------------------------------- Concept The concept evolved in Ancient Greece, whereby a council of famous citizens was commonly used and contrasted with direct democracy in which a council of male citizens was appointed as their "senate". The Greeks did not like the concept of monarchy, and as their democratic system fell, aristocracy was upheld.[1] In Rome, the Republic consisted of an aristocracy as well as consuls, a senate, and a tribal assembly. Later, aristocracies primarily consisted of an elitearistocratic class, privileged by birth and often by wealth. Since the French Revolution, aristocracy has generally been contrasted with democracy, in which all citizens hold some form of political power. However this distinction is often oversimplified. In Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes describes an aristocracy as a commonwealth in which the representative of the citizens is an assembly by part. Simply put, a government when only a certain part of the general public can represent the public. Modern depictions of aristocracy regard it not as a legitimate aristocracy (rule by the best) but rather as a plutocracy (rule by the wealthy). ------------------------------------------------- ...
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...The United States has incorporated several aspects of the Roman Republic's government into the United States' government. Our judicial system has integrated some of the principles that the Roman Republic's judicial system created. One such principle is that statement, "Innocent until proven guilty". This statement declares that until solid evidence is presented to prove the accused party guilty, they are assumed to be innocent. Another concept that the American government has taken from Roman government is named in our 6th amendment. The accused party has the right to address their accuser and defend themselves against the charge. The most prominent example of Roman government in our government is trial by jury. In the United States, a jury...
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...In the current climate of international politics, there is a great deal of speculation regarding the governance of Islamic states. Many traditionally Muslim states have operated under theocratic rule, a difficult concept for the West to swallow. The American control of Iraq is purportedly only to hold the place of power until a democratically elected regime can take the place of the occupying force. But is there, as some critics have speculated, some aspect of Islam that makes it inherently hostile and incompatible with Western notions of democratic rule? This is the question which John Esposito and John Voll have tried to examine in their book Islam and Democracy. Published in 1996, this book explores the different ways in which Islam relates to democratic principles and ideas. Arguing against previously held explanations about the nature of Islam and the very definition of democracy, this book explores several cases where Islamic movements operate to a varying degree of success in the area of popular representation. The authors begin with the assertion that due largely to economic and technological globalization, the world is presently experiencing an increase in the spread and influence of democratic ideals. Occurring alongside this political shift, they argue that there is a growing focus upon what the authors refer to as "the assertion of the authenticity and legitimacy of communal identities." This trend toward the popular identification of people with subgroups...
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...Unit #2: Major Concepts Essay No Child Left Behind: Representative Democracy, Bureaucracy, and Accountability Demetrius Zeigler Kaplan University Representative Democracy has its roots as a concept or principle in the very fabric of the founding of the United States of America. Early settlers were looking for a place to live while being free to choose their leaders. They were eager to say bon voyage to the old way of rule by monarchy or dynastic family rule. The new wave or system of government that was born is known as Representative Democracy. People or ordinary citizens can now govern themselves through capable elected leaders chosen to represent them. As an elected representative one has to first campaign and during that process the people’s goal, visions, and dreams are aligned with the candidates principles for governing. Through these elected representatives, citizens have direct input on every issue. An issue that affects us all to be sure, and constantly receives a tremendous amount of attention is the No Child Left Behind Act. This act was enacted for the purpose of totally overhauling and transforming the United States educational system. Representatives from both major political parties voted by majority to pass the law. This is a classic example of Representative Democracy at work. Apparently nearly everyone agrees that the nation’s educational system is in need of immediate remedy, reform, and overhaul. Since the passage of the bill, though left unfunded...
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...Converting Afghanistan into a democracy should be a major priority of the United States for many reason, one being, it would open up trade with the country. Democratic states tend to be more open to trade, trade to a greater extent, and have less trade barriers. This is because democratically elected leaders open up trade as it benefits the people they govern, which boosts their popularity1. Afghanistan is one of the wealthiest countries when natural resources are considered. Recently, large veins of valuable minerals such as copper, iron, and gold have been discovered across the country. It is estimated that Afghanistan also sits on nearly 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves2. Afghanistan also supplies the world with nearly 90 percent of all opium supplies which is used to create painkillers and heroin for medical purposes3. The wealth of Afghanistan is important to the United States as 12 percent of US natural gas reserves are imported and consumption of natural gas in the US is expected to increase by 11 percent by the year 20304. The United States imports 100 percent of 18 select minerals such as aluminum and magnesium, and imports 50 percent of 41 other minerals such as cobalt and copper5. If the United States managed to convert Afghanistan into a democracy, it would allow them to reap the benefits of their abundance of resources6. The attacks on US soil on 9/11 were conducted by a terror group known as al Qaeda. Al Qaeda is one of the more dominant terrorist...
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...Richard Hofstadter analyzes Andrew Jackson’s career as well as his concept of “Jacksonian Democracy.” After reading this chapter I was able to find the similarities and differences between the two principles of “Jacksonian Democracy” and “Jeffersonian Democracy.” Jacksonian Democracy and Jeffersonian Democracy are very similar in most aspects. As the Presidents of the United States they both had the same goals and views. They both were in favor for the common people in the society and believed that it was those who should have the most influence in government, and not the rich. They both believed in the “common men” which did not include minorities like Blacks and Native Americans. Each created their own democracy that helped influence the...
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...“A democracy can’t be strong if its citizenship is weak” (Galston 4). As more and more people in the U.S. stay home instead of going out to vote the only answer seems to be mandatory voting. Given all of the rights a U.S. citizen is given the least they could do is vote in government official elections and on significant laws and bills, and by making voting mandatory the United States can become a true democracy. In addition, if voting became mandatory then the poor and uneducated would get a voice in our government. However, many would argue, that with the right to vote comes the right not vote. In contrast, by no voting the people of the United States cannot choose what and who can uphold their rights and other personal liberties. Mandatory...
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...Electoral participation is important because it is necessary to ensure that the interests of the common people are accurately represented and that the future of American democracy is not threatened. The current state of electoral participation in the United States is highly troubling; over time, “both registration and the act of casting a ballot have been made easier . . . nonetheless voting and many forms of civic engagement have declined or stagnated” (Macedo, p52). This is counterintuitive; as one would expect that with an increase in accessibility to various forms of civic engagement electoral participation would rise. This decline in civic engagement is evident when looking at voter turnout over time, “in 1960, 63 percent of eligible Americans went to the polls. In 2000, that percentage had dropped to barely half of eligible Americans: 51 percent” (Macedo, p22). The main source of this rapid decline in voter turnout is from citizens of the age group 18-24, in which voter turnout in presidential elections dropped from “55 percent in 1972 to 43 percent in 2000” (Macedo,...
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...Lenin “The policy, practice, or advocacy of seeking, or acquiescing in, the extension of the control, dominion, or empire of a nation, as by the acquirement of new, esp. distant, territory or dependencies, or by the closer union of parts more or less independent of each other for operations of war, copyright, internal commerce, etc.” – Oxford dictionary The word imperialism derives from “empire.” As such, it is useful to spend a bit of time to define the word. In working towards a minimal definition, Stanford Professor of Archaeology J. Manning in his first lecture on Ancient Empires starts with: “An empire is a territorially extensive hierarchically political organization.” Unfortunately this definition is too vague. All states encountered in human history are by definition hierarchical, and many nations today are vast compared to the empires of the ancient world. Thus, Manning rephrases his definition of empire to be: “A territorially extensive hierarchical political organization involving the rule of one or more groups over other groups of foreigners.” But what causes empire? There are two models worth explaining. One is originated by the Greek historian Thucydides, famous for the quote “The strong do what they can and the...
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...WHAT IS DEMOCRACY? Andrew Heywood The origins of the term 'democracy' can be traced back to Ancient Greece. Like other words ending in 'cracy' - autocracy, aristocracy, bureaucracy and so on -democracy is derived from the Greek word kratos, meaning 'power' or 'rule'. Democracy thus stands for 'rule by the demos', demos meaning 'the people', though it was originally taken to imply 'the poor' or 'the many'. However, the simple notion of 'rule by the people' does not get us very far. The problem with democracy has been its very popularity, a popularity that has threatened the term's undoing as a meaningful political concept. In being almost universally regarded as a 'good thing', democracy has come to used as little more than a 'hurrah! word', implying approval of a particular set of ideas or system of rule. Perhaps a more helpful starting point from which to consider the nature of democracy is provided by Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, delivered in 1864 at the height of the American Civil War. Lincoln extolled the virtues of what he called 'government of the people, by the people, and for the people'. What this makes clear is that democracy serves to link government to the people, but that this link can be forged in a number of ways - government of, by and for the people. Nevertheless, the precise nature of democratic rule has been the subject of fierce ideological and political debate. The next section will look at alternative models of democracy. For the...
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