...The United States has changed over time making the American citizens question what power of government they are being ruled under. The changes this country has gone through can show the development of the different government powers. The main three: Oligarchy, Democracy, and Plutocracy. The basic definition of an Oligarchy is when a small group, or a few people, has control over a country or organization. Specific groups in the US have had problems with the top 1% and the fairness between different groups. Democracy is when the power is vested within the people through elected representatives. The majority of Americans already believe that the United States is a democracy, but some believe that there is too much liberty within the people....
Words: 1405 - Pages: 6
...Democracy, a form of government that many people like and many people dislike. This form of government is used in the United States of America, and many other countries. It was formed to bring more power to the people and less power to the leader(s). The democratic form of government in the United States started in 1776 and George Washington was the first to witness this form of government for us. I believe that the word “democracy” means, government of the people. I believe it means this because one of the main reasons it was used in the United States was because after the American Revolution, the Americans wanted to make their government a government that would give more power to the people so it’s as equal as it can get. What makes democracy...
Words: 616 - Pages: 3
...In the United States, we seem to think of ourselves as the epitome of democracy. As a country believed to be founded on freedom and rights we have credited our founding fathers for the constitution and its ability to structure our society. There are many democracies all over the world, many whom have recently recently experienced a democratic transition. Many political scientists have been studying this trend and have been trying to determine what makes countries choose to become democracies and what factors allow them to thrive as democracies. In order to answer this question it is important to first define the term democracy. The most common definition of democracy today is a system of government that is ruled by the people. In order for...
Words: 988 - Pages: 4
...Principles of Democracy Franklin D. Roosevelt described American democracy as “The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a president and senators and congressmen and government officials, but voters of the country”. Our government was created with the intent to oppose the oppressive monarchy of Britain. As a result, we created a democracy, which gives us the power to choose and elect who governs over us. American democracy is based on five principles, which include popular sovereignty, rule of law, and checks and balances. Popular sovereignty-- the idea that the power of the government lies with the people-- is a principle of American government. In our government, the opinion of the people is expressed through elections and majority rule. Majority rule allows US citizens to decide who represents them in Congress. Currently, candidates are running for Arkansas governor. there are four candidates--Mike Ross, Asa Hutchinson, Josh Drake, and Frank Gilbert. They will be elected on November 4, 2014 and the term will last for two years. Another principle of democracy is rule of law. This principle states that the law applies to everyone, even those who govern. In our government, we apply this principle by charing elected government officials when they break the law. For...
Words: 446 - Pages: 2
...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....
Words: 402 - Pages: 2
...reaches for her black umbrella. “We were elected we don't have to-” Jennette pleads only to get cut off by Margo who raises her hand. “Appointed,” she remarks as she walks out the door in the pouring rain, “true democracy in this world is dead.” Years had passed since the last successfully democracy; all that was left was the stories in textbook the government would allow. They stories went as a people dividing against each other instead of uniteding as one. Riots broke out and the past of now historical United States of America now stood as Venice Project owned by the Germanic Nation....
Words: 387 - Pages: 2
...What does Representative Democracy really mean in the United States? by Christian Gallardo Democracy has been traditionally defined as government by the people. However, here in the U.S. we know by democracy, what is known as representative democracy. In this model, the people transfer, through voting, their sovereignty to some “Representatives”. This model has been used over time to justify the exercises power of a social minority over the majority. To do this, they use legislative and presidential model, which uses the franchise as a way to assume the representation of the people, monopolizing the form of politics. The U.S. Constitution is clear about its political system, which is based on the representation and not in citizen participation. The important decisions are made by a very small group of people who are not accountable for what they do, so the people cannot do anything at the end against them as we are going to explain in this paper work. If we analyze the case of Wall Street in 2009 we realize that society has no way to reclaim their “Representatives" by act or omission errors they have committed. Nothing could be done to prevent the disgraced tycoon Bernard Lawrence "Bernie" Madoff through his investment firm that bears his name, swindled the American people the amount of US$ 50,000 million dollars. There was no law to protect the common citizen desires of unscrupulous businessmen on Wall Street. And though Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison...
Words: 838 - Pages: 4
...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...
Words: 1650 - Pages: 7
...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...
Words: 680 - Pages: 3
...the difference in political beliefs and policies of the two superpowers soon developed into a lot of conflicts and struggles called the Cold War. Cold War, which is the war between the United States and its allies called NATO, and the Russian and its allies called the Warsaw Pact (Soviet Union) without real military attack, was a race on how strong a country is by showing what it got in terms of supporting countries that were in state of war with other nation; in terms of nuclear weapons; In terms of science and technology (Space war); and even in terms of sport competition (Olympic). In the end, the Cold War ended by the United States and the Soviet Union themselves by the failed system of the communist. I’m the one that believed that “In the cold War the United States was the good guy who fought against the evil empire of the Soviet Union to defend freedom, democracy, and human rights around the world.” Firstly, the two countries had fundamentally different beliefs. So, how do we know who really was the good guy and who really was the evil? The first thing we need to do is to consider their different beliefs, because these factors could link to different actions such as the political and economic systems they used, including the way they dealt with the situations. The Ideology of Democracy gives freedom to all individuals to express their idea to other and agree on the majority; promote human rights and equality; and uses the economic system of capitalism. On the other hand...
Words: 1118 - Pages: 5
...viewed themselves as the guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity. In light of the following documents and your knowledge of the 1820’s and 1830’s, to what extent do you agree with the Jacksonians’ view of themselves? According to the Jacksonians, they were guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity; this I agree with, for the most part. There are things in which evidence does not support the Jacksonians’ protection of the U.S Constitution and individual liberty. However, there are multiple examples of the Jacksonians guarding political democracy and equality of economic opportunity. Many documents from the time period of the 1820’s to the 1830’s provide obvious proof of the Jacksonians’ preservation of political democracy and equality of economic opportunity. The Jacksonians plainly guarded the political democracy through the people’s part as a whole in government, (doc E) especially in elections. Some refer to “democracy” as “mob rule” and with good reason as (doc E) Philip Hone’s Diary of Philip Hone described many riots during the election times. These riots seem negative as persecution of blacks also took place during the election and law riots, but nevertheless theses riots are evidence of political democracy. The Jacksonians’ claims to conserving political democracy are also proven true in (doc D) Harriet Martineau’s...
Words: 896 - Pages: 4
...others from his real objective. Alexis De Tocqueville is traveling to the New World to secretly study the great American Democracy. The purpose of this you might ask? The French must better understand American behaviors in how they feel and act, upon the essential nature of their freedoms. The French must take these learning and place them into their own practices to ensure they have a long last Democracy. In the Introduction chapter of “Democracy in America” by Alexis De Tocqueville and Richard D. Heffner, Heffner goes into length to describe all of the extravagant and detailed descriptions Tocqueville gives about the way Americans feel and act, due to the essential nature of freedoms from their Democracy. I have organized this paper into six different paragraphs that will be described in the following: First, an opening paragraph will let you know what literature I am referencing to when discussing this topic....
Words: 1572 - Pages: 7
...The Greco-Roman world has affected me with the creation of a major political system and with modernizing trade that hasn’t been seen again since the 1890’s. The Romans also had an amazing plumbing system which revolutionized the way that the human race would use water. The Greco-Roman world was the highest point in history until the Industrial revolution thousands of years later. Greece had a specific way of governing their people as they also invented a new way to govern them. Greece also affected the whole world with the spread of democracy. The democracy of Greece was really different than some americans might think that the “Democracy” of The United States is. A true democracy is supposed to be where everyone has a voice in the government....
Words: 487 - Pages: 2
...Throughout history, African Americans went through many struggles before getting rid of segregation. First, World War II have given more blacks advantages in the society to gain more opportunities in a workforce and was able to help in the war. Later on, during the cold war United States promoted the idea of democracy was more superior than communism because people have more freedom. Consequently, the Supreme court was able to push the civil rights movement to make even more progress for integration. The Civil Rights Movement was able to make significant gains when it did because world war II and the cold war tensions pressured the United States to make reforms to its race policies. The United States claimed democracy was superior to communism, but racial segregation in the South made this assertion appear untrue. Moreover, the decisions made by the Supreme Court reflected these Cold War values, as the court decisions during the Civil Rights Era linked democracy and racial integration. Many would argue that the cold war did not do much to actually help the civil rights movement. The leaders do not seem to be actually fighting for their rights, it was more like the people that actually were trying to make more progress in the Civil Right Movement. As Malcolm X said, “The Negroes were out the streets. They were talking about how they were going to...
Words: 1282 - Pages: 6
...In most city-states, male citizens were involved in such shared civic responsibilities as jury duty or military service in time of war. Every polis had resident aliens, foreign merchants, and others, and on occasion, those people would be made citizens; however, that eventuality was rare. Some women might’ve...
Words: 1496 - Pages: 6
