Democracy in the United States
First, to discuss democracy it is better to define democracy."Democracy" comes from the Greek work "demos" which means "the commonpeople," and "kratia" which means, "power" (O'Neil 149). Thus, democracymeans the power actually lives in the people. However, this is too simplya definition of the word. Author O'Neil maintains the word means"political power exercised either directly or indirectly throughparticipation, competition, and liberty" (O'Neil 149). Thus, the United The United States is a constitutional democracy, based on aConstitution and a Bill of Rights created when American was fightingBritain for independence. In fact, experts call the United States theworld's oldest constitutional democracy (Mueller 3). It is also called anindirect democracy, because the people participate in most forms ofgovernment through their elected representatives. Our modern democracy isfar different than early democracies in Greece, where the public actuallymet, debated, and then voted on political issues and affairs thatinfluenced everyone. These were direct democracies. Clearly, the peoplewanted to rule themselves, but their ideas of democracy are really far
Another analystnotes, "Perhaps, for example, the long litany of political tragedies andscandals since the 1960s (assassinations, Vietnam, Watergate, Irangate,etc. Many of the core beliefs of democracy still exist, and still work for thepeople. The educational system is not preparing young peoplefor life and college. These pork barrel additions are common,and just as commonly ignored by the legislators passing the bills. There is also far more legislation today than was ever thought possible,and sometimes it seems as if Washington D. That may be another reason people are disenchanted withvoting and politics. This isa tremendous waste of taxpayer's money, and this procedure certainly doesnot fulfill the democratic ideals of the Constitution and the nation. The disadvantage is that only one party is represented, and sotheoretically, all those members of the other party not elected are notfully represented. Poverty is also rampant inthe country, and there is an ever-widening gap between the very rich andthe very poor in the United States. This seems to be the case, with fewervoters turning out for elections, and fewer viewers watching politicalconventions and debates. We canstill create grassroots movements to change what we do not like, and createlaws that better reflect our modern way of life. We are free to vote,to read the newspaper, to watch television, to work on a computer, and toown our own homes and cars. It should move into the21st century, with a deeper understanding of modern people's fears,worries, and needs.
Common topics in this essay:
Washington DC,
Americans Putnam,
English Poverty,
Fathers United,
Congress Government,
Bill Rights,
People America,
Expert Mueller,
,
Author O'Neil,
founding fathers,
ideals democracy,
pork barrel,
democracy united,
politicians represent,
democracy people,
american national government,
ideals constitution,
mathematics courses,
features american,
national government,
democracy people participate,
features american national,
|
Acceptance Essays
