Democratic Republic Of The United States

In the United States, democracy has been a central component since our founding fathers. Although democracy promotes freedom and economic developments, it is also critiqued for its negative drawbacks. One critique involves high deficits, may be due to the rapid growth of citizens that creates income inequality, and a growing gap between the rich and poor. An additional critique is the decline of education due to very high tuition cost, unmotivated teachers and students, rigorous testing, and unmet performance measures. Further, the various components listed as critiques may be found to be valid, invalid, constructive or destructive. Lastly, the conclusion would be based on an individual’s evaluation of critiques of democracy.

Linkage institutions can be defined as institutions that connect citizens with the government. Examples of linkage institutions include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media. Elections specifically are supposed to encourage public participation in the selection of governmental officials. Unfortunately, low voter turnout has proved that elections are an imperfect linkage institution. Elections depend on voters to be successful, and some factors that relate to the likelihood of voting include age, education, and race. Although some people underestimate the power of the vote, voter turnout is

This source provides many definitions and concepts that make it easier to understand the terminology we hear about in our everyday life or in the sources that we use. Being able to relate back to a source that contains facts and examples helps us form our own opinion instead of jumping on somebody else’s bandwagon. This source is a reliable source because it was written by two political science professors that truly care about the subject of Analyzing American Democracy. Jon Bond and Kevin Smith are the main authors but used others to contribute to the book so that they would have the proper facts and

The Democratic Republic which the people of the USA live under today follows principles put in place by The Constitution. This is an example of a political text written to convey the ideals of government. Similarly two historically significant texts, The Federalist No.10 written by James Madison in 1787 addressed to the state of New York and The Second Treatise of Government by John Locke ( an English philosopher) in 1689 make complex assertions about the fundamentals of a government. While Madison and Locke make heavily similar claims on the importance of government in the protection of its members as well as the tenacious emphasis on majority vote, they don’t quite see eye to eye when it comes to the behaviors of bodies in a government.. Their two ideologies form parallel arguments that do happen to build off of each other as well as oppose, (the former more than the latter) while also giving a well rounded understanding of some of the building blocks of government.

Despite being one of the oldest and most consistently stable democracies in the Western world, the American government, and American democracy as a whole, has frequently come under fire in recent years. Whether it is political parties, pundits, bloggers or citizens, Americans and non-Americans are all lining up to take shots at what they diagnose as a storied democracy crumbling before their eyes. Two of Robert Dahl’s criteria for a healthy democracy are enlightened understanding: are citizens able to acquire the political information necessary to participate in their own democracy, and control of the agenda: do the American senators and members of congress have exclusive and

When addressing the fallacies of the American government today, one should question whether it’s supposed, ideal principles are implemented justly. Theoretically, the people of the government and the government itself are to be held accountable for the installment of constitutional values. John Locke describes this political obligation as the social contract, in which those governed surrender their power in return for protection. In terms of democracy, however, the primary duty of the governed is to participate in popular sovereignty and the duty of the government is to fulfill the wishes of the people. Thomas Jefferson explains that democracy is “...a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly

Political parties are organized groups representing a comprehensive set of political views and objectives, who stand candidates for office, support them, and seek to bring their views to the public. They are distinct from interest groups in that interest groups represent a limited set of objectives and do not run for office; while they may promote views among the public, they also seek to directly influence lawmakers, which may be done through lobbying, money, and support during elections. Two activities of interest groups that are particularly significant, but troubling, is their ability to influence votes through gifts and political contributions that are often non-transparent, and the extent to which they can influence civic participation

Although the United States may seem democratic, the truth is not in a single person representing the country, but instead a leading group, making it an oligarchy. These powerful members such as economic elites and organized interest groups are responsible for influencing control over the general population and causing the most change to the American nation. The government system is structured a specific way where the average citizen is not directly contributing to its politics and legislature. The real people controlling the mass population in our states and country are an organized group of politicians that exercise the power and control over the country due to the natural instinct and tendency to seek power. For instance, common and public good distribution and regulation have been established by other higher officials and elites, not the people. Large-scale organizations tend to rise to oligarchies because they seek people with special qualities and elevated skills instead of the average uninformed and incompetent citizen who might not be capable to know how to benefit the nation. Most organizations and interest group leaders incline to education and have expertise, therefore the have an instinct to contribute to the power being enforced in our government. Americans do have some features central to the

In our very own Pledge of Allegiance it states “and to the republic for which it stands”. In school we are taught that the United States could be both and in a way they are right. However the way we operate as a country shows all the signs of a republic. A republic is defined as a form of government that in which the supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch. While a democracy is defined as form of government in which the people decide policy matters directly--through town hall meetings or by voting on ballot initiatives and referendums. The United States of America’s government is a republic rather than a democracy.

One thing that differentiates political parties from interest groups arises from the nature of the political system in which they operate and from the various electoral rules and structures that exist in different countries. In corporatist societies, interest groups may be invited to participate in government decisions to the exclusion of competitor interests. In parliamentary system, a party may have a narrow base and may try to win only a small number of legislative seats. (Browne, n.d.)

The majority of the students interviewed feel that there are key aspects of democracy that demonstrate the instability within the government. The first aspect is the inaccurate level of inclusivity in the United State’s government. Democracy was built on the ideals of representation for all people, including all of the diverse groups of citizens. The interviewees mostly made the consensus that people of low-income levels or in minority groups have less representation in the U.S. democracy. “Our government is a majority of white men who are relatively well financed and educated” (Interview, Anna). Having a high income gives you a disproportionate amount of power over low-income families who tend to be a minority. The two outliers in the data thought that democracy is a completely inclusive form of government. They expressed that all citizens have the right to vote, and it is their responsibility to make the effort to go to the polls. In their interviews, the outliers did not consider adverse effects experienced by certain socioeconomic and minority groups that might discourage them to be represented by the government.

American democracy may be winning but, are both democratic and non-democratic elements working for our good? Although, our government has become extremely corrupt, and inefficient, the American people still have hope. Unfortunately, this has been demonstrated many times when it comes to creating laws that benefit all citizens. Just as, the issues of our electoral process is also a concern, along with the impact of the media and interest groups. Consequently, the question is raised can government programs solve the issues we face?

The political system of America is very different from other developed and developing democracies. Most notable is the increased power bestowed on the upper house of the parliament, the extensive power held by the Supreme Court and the dominance demonstrated by only two major parties. In the United States, third parties have the least influence on the world’s most developed democracy’s political structure. In this democracy, people are under the US Constitution of the governmental system as well as state government and other units of local government. Local government entails counties, districts and municipalities. The evolution of the American political party system has come a long way; with Hamilton and Jefferson being regarded as the founder fathers of the modern party system. These were heads of the Federalist and Anti-Federalist groups in the 18th century of American politics. Ever since, the country has maintained a party system that has two main parties that are relatively stable. These are Democrats and Republicans and have remained in contest for election every time since the 1860 presidential elections. Initially, the Republican Party was the dominant party but the Democrats later gained dominance. However, the two parties became closely competitive and neither of them has been notably dominant since the 1970s (O'Connor & Sabato, n.d).

In the United States, the two major political parties are comprised of groups. These groups range in size and have monumental effects on parties’ success, depending on how large, wealthy, influential, and fervent the groups are. Some of the most powerful political groups in the United States are Catholics, labor union members, women, and social conservatives. The endorsement of these particular groups and others is what leads their respective parties to political victory.

The existence of interest groups and the government’s abilities have grown substantially; however, the accountability of the government has declined. The United States’ government relies on the fundamental checks and balances of the “three branches of government—the executive, the judiciary, and the legislature—corresponding to...the state, the rule of law, and democracy” (The Sources of Political Dysfunction). Nevertheless, the government has been exercising more power, allowing the judicial branch to become an “alternate instrument for the expansion of government” (The Sources of Political Dysfunction). As a result, interest groups have found