Democracy is a unique type of government, and the purpose of this essay is to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses that a democratic government provides. I will detail that many components of this type of society are both strengths and weakness as each component has beneficial aspects as well as unavoidable pitfalls. A democracy is a government by the people, in which the power is vested in the people themselves. The people then elect representatives who conduct their power in a free electoral system. The Declaration of Independence, which says that all men are created equal, was written on the premise of a democracy. According to John Locke, who wrote The Social Contract, before acknowledging that an individual is part of a …show more content…
The laws of society are applied equally to everyone, but equitable to the circumstances. The same holds true for taxes: those with higher incomes pay a larger percentage of their income in taxes than those in lower tax brackets. Although not equally applied, the tax laws are equitable. Democratic laws are written in such a way as to allow interpretation depending upon circumstances. “A thousand circumstances, independent of the will of man, facilitate the maintenance of a democratic republic in the United States” Initially, laws are difficult to design because lawmakers can’t think of every possibility, every scenario, and every obstacle that may present itself in the democracy. Despite these difficulties, laws keep society together and provide unity for the citizens. Advantages for creating laws, include, but are not limited to, providing direction for the collection of taxes, declaring clear expectations for compliance and punishment of citizens and elimination of chaos. A weakness of democracy is the “Tyranny of the Majority”. This is an inevitable pitfall, because in a democracy, the power is vested foremost in the people the constituting the society itself. Alexis de Tocqueville wrote on this concept:
“Democratic laws generally tend to promote the welfare of the greatest possible number; for they emanate from the majority of the citizens, who are subject to error, but who cannot have an interest opposed to
“Hence it is that such democracies have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”
The second disadvantage to a democracy can be the exploitation of the minority by a majority. While this is always a possibility, it is unlikely within the United States due to the checks and balances which our system employs which cross levels elected officials within the legislative and executive branches, with non-democratic structures such as appointments in the extended executive and judicial branches of our government.
The idea represents how democracy has always been considered to be an inferior system in which one tosses aside without giving much thought. No one has raised democracy or corrected its wrongs as it was forced to grow on its own similar to a child with no parents. While many seemed ignorant of its possibilities, democracy was still able to grow and find its own source of power and strength. While it is the responsibility of the legislators to educate and correct democracy, the legislators will often attempt to destroy the idea of its
Democratic theory supposes that there is at least some kind of association between the votes taken by members of Congress and the political preferences of who they are representing. Based on each Congress member’s constituency, elected officials can make decisions by representing their constituency’s political preferences. However, most representatives of a few different types are not as responsive, or are not even responsive at all, to certain groups of people due to reasons such as what income level those groups are. This level of responsiveness is unfair and inappropriate for having an accurate representation of what a constituency really needs. Elected officials need to acknowledge all citizens to gain an accurate idea of certain group’s
Democracy, as it is used today, means “ the people rule.” A democracy is a form of government ruled by the people of the country through elections and representation. A democracy is really a form of republic known as a democratic republic. A republic is a government where officials elected by a small group of people that make the important decisions.
X “[...]a pure Democracy[...] can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will, in almost every case, be felt by a majority of the whole...and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party[…]”. Madison argues that a Democratic government will always comply with the majority rule and therefore the minority will always be unrepresented. To most elites Shays Rebellion showed that too much democratic liberty amongst the lower classes had the potential to threaten private property. They were afraid that the state governments were being dominated by the lower class that would institute bad policies such as the debt forgiveness.
A democracy, according to Abraham Lincoln, is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. The word "democracy" comes from the Greek word "demos" which means “people" and kratia, which means rule (http://educationportal.ontla.on.ca/en/ ). A democracy is a system where the people have a little of control over the government in some specific important processes like voting in elections and decision making. In a democracy, the majority rule and minority rights . Although there are positive sides of the United Kingdom’s democracy, there are negative sides which cause the reliability of democracy in the United Kingdom to be questionable. “Over half of the world’s countries employ some type of democracy” (Clark, 2001-2016). Democracy is a very popular system of government; In a democratic government, everyone is under the “rule of law”, people have the power to devise laws and decide how they want to be ruled. Different political scientists have come to a conclusion that without the four basic principles; Free elections,Political participation, Civil liberties and a Functioning government, a country cannot be called a democracy (http://classroom.synonym.com/). There are two main types of democracy, the direct democracy and the indirect or representative democracy. In this essay, I am going to critically analyse the democracy in the United Kingdom, stating the strengths and the weaknesses of the democratic system in the United
Therefore, 49.9 percent of a country’s population can have no voice in a country’s political future. While democracy is a fair way of handling a child’s playground argument on what sport to play, it should not be used to run a country. Democracy sounds like a fantastic idea on the outside, but the majority of humans are incredibly stupid and selfish. As soon as a group of corrupt or ill-led people realizes they are the majority in a country, all hope is lost for the foreseeable future of that country.
It is generally agreed that laws are necessary for the safety and functioning of a community. A good citizen is often defined as one who shows obedience to the laws cast on him by a governing body that is constructed to benefit those residing in that inhabitance. For most people, laws are followed because they perceive them as legitimate and just, and, even if they don’t agree with them morally, they accept the laws as necessary for the good of the community as a whole. Additionally, they consider themselves active participants in democracy and the lawmaking process. Therefore, laws are legitimized by the approval of the people that the laws were implemented to protect them, through their direct and indirect participation in the lawmaking process.
Democracy, by definition it is the practice of participation of the people in choosing their rulers, and the ability to influence what rulers do. The origins of the word Democracy are taken from the Greek word “dēmokratiā”, which “demos” meaning people and “kratos” meaning rule. Therefore getting the very definition of democracy, where political power ultimately comes from the people. As the United States has progressed onto new eras so has the way many Americans, Politicians, and even our government has changed. Changes such as that will start to question if we really are a Democracy. Events from racism in the 1920’s, women gaining voting rights, and even things as unfair Presidential results form many suspicions
Throughout the course of history, mankind has been recorded to corrupt itself. Men have grown tired of simply surviving; they have had to take and conquer others. Absolute monarchies control wealth, land, and even lives of men. The conditions of the people were solely dependent on the conditions of the one who was in power in that particular place and time. History has proven that most men rule unwisely in their kingdoms. To avoid tyrannical rule, some make an attempt to set up a government in which the people ruled themselves. This form of government is called a democracy, or “rule of the people.” History has also revealed through the Greeks and the French Revolution, that a democracy that gives complete power
I agree with the author of this statement. Indeed, laws, like regulations, should be fair, taking into account the interests of different sectors of society. If the law is unfair, it can no longer shape the legitimate behavior of members of society and does not contribute to the ordering of social relations and connections between people. Laws are important to all citizens of the country, so it is very important that they are fair. Therefore, people would treat respectably each other and orders; if the law is performing its functions fairly. Everyone wants to see in the law not only a set of rules (requirements) but that the law was created for people’s interests.
Democracy is a “system of government in which political authority vested in the people” (Ch. 1, Pg. 4). Democracy is by far the most challenging form of government, for perhaps both politicians and the people. The term democracy comes from a Greek term which in short means “rule by the people”. The antique democracies in ancient cities, such as Rome and Athens, represent precursors of modern democracies. Like modern democracy, the need for organized rule arose in the midst of power abuse. The democracy we abide by today was created in the 17th century during the Age of Enlightenment, by philosophers such as John Locke, Voltaire… These philosophers created the foundation for our modern democracy. These essential elements such as the separation
The Greeks, Athenians in particular, influenced Dalhs’ work. The author asserts that most states claim to know what the practice of democracy is. However, the author insists that the term democracy has brought about confusion across the different cultures. Dahl gives the view of what democracy entails. Dahl in simple terms says that a democracy means the rule by people. Dahl clearly says more about the literal definition of the term democracy by giving specification of the requirements for democratic decision-making (Pp.108-114). According to Dahl, a democratic process must ensure that there is effective participation in the voting process among all citizens and specifically adults who are bound to the collective decision making of the society. Democratic state should provide all citizens with the opportunity to understand the civic issues of the country and let them have control over issues
“That is why we say that electoral democracy is not sufficient for democracy, but it is an important part of