Essay About Democracy

Democracy Essay examples
Democracy
When I think of the word democracy, I think of Government. Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the
people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system. This means that Government must protect the basic
rights, or liberties, of all people. This is the system of government that United States are base on.
The United States, Cuba, and Democracy
During the Clinton administration, the sentiment has been proclaimed on so many occasions by the president and other political leaders, and
dutifully reiterated by the media, that the thesis: "Cuba is the only non–democracy in the Western Hemisphere" is now nothing short of received
...show more content...
If, despite this record, the United States can insist that Cuba is the only "non–democracy" in the Western Hemisphere, we are left with the
inescapable conclusion that this thing called "democracy", as seen from the White House, may have little or nothing to do with many of our most
cherished human rights. Indeed, numerous pronouncements emanating from Washington officialdom over the years make plain that
"democracy", at best, or at most, is equated solely with elections and civil liberties. Not even jobs, food, and shelter are part of the equation.
Thus, a nation with hordes of hungry, homeless, untended sick, barely literate, unemployed, and/or tortured people, who have loved ones, are
being disappeared and/or murdered with state connivance, can be said to be living in a "democracy". Its literal Greek meaning of "rule of the
people" implying that this is the kind of life the people actually want –– provided that every two years or four years they have the right to go to a
designated place and put an X next to the name of one or another individual who promises to relieve their miserable condition. But who will,
typically, do virtually nothing of the kind; and provided further that in this society there is at least a certain minimum of freedom –– how much
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Essay about Constitutional Democracy
Constitutional Democracy
The basic premise of a constitutional democracy is that government has rules and all of the people have voices. Through free and fair elections we
elect candidates to represent us. The Constitution of the United States guarantees us the right to do this, and to live democratically. The framers
attacked tyrannical government and advanced the following ideas: that government comes from below, not from above, and that it derives its
powers from the consent of the governed; that men have certain natural, inalienable rights; that it is wise and feasible to distribute and balance
powers within government, giving local powers to local governments, and general powers to the national...show more content...
It is a way of deliberation, to tune out the clink of money in the background when you talk to somebody, so that you can concentrate on that
person's message and judge it on its own merits.
It means looking at someone and not saying to yourself, "That's my aunt" or "That's my boss," but rather, that is someone
with his or her own inclinations and desires, in other words, a true Individual who incidentally happens to have this relation to me, as a relative or
a superior.
On a grander scale, individualism is putting the individual above the state and country. In those countries that have always been proud of their
traditional values of emphasis on the family or the country above self they see
Individualism as a direct attack on these values. However, we live in a democratic country and we believe in individualism and equal
opportunity for all persons. Equal opportunity for everyone is idealistic. Roosevelt outlined a second bill of rights which the book states
answers the question, "what kind of equality?" This second bill of rights was four freedoms. They were freedom from want,
freedom from fear, freedom of speech & expression and freedom of worship. There are laws and acts to guarantee equal opportunity. For
example, the Equal Pay Act of

Essay about Digital Democracy
Digital Democracy
Over the years the media has made citizens major role players in politics. Ross Perot opened eyes by putting the 1992 Election in the media and
thereby allowing voters to become directly involved in politics. The Internet, the new form of mass media "has turned into a major political and
media industry" (Grossman 16). Because of the rise the Internet has taken, the idea of direct democracy has risen. The foundation of direct
democracy is in self–government. The claim is that the presence of the Internet will increase citizens' involvement in political issues by allowing
them access to more information. This is significant because it takes a look at the impact of technology on society and politics, as well by...show
more content...
Representative government is grounded in the Constitution. The Constitution was created to protect citizens from factious groups through the
establishment of an extended republic intended to "diminish the chances that any one faction will gain majority" (Kamark & Nye 29). However,
it is still possible that citizens, as the majority, will tyrannize each other (25).
Theorists contend that representative government is headed for direct democracy by way of the Internet. Essentially what will happen is that
representatives will no longer be needed because citizens will be able to use the Internet to make decisions. Grossman contends that "the more
power [citizens] have to control their government and to involve themselves in making its decisions, the better" (41). Over the years citizens have
been obtaining information through the media, newspapers, and other forms of mass media. The issues that arise with obtaining information
through these sources are that the government can easily censor them. With the Internet comes "vastly expanded capacities for data collection, for
computation, and for automation" (Kamark & Nye 22).
In his essay, Applbaum expresses the need for increased intelligence with the increase of information available on the Internet (Kamark & Nye
22). Basically, as the Internet becomes a larger resource for information, it will fall to the same fate as other forms of mass media and will
therefor become more censored as

Forms Of Democracy
What is Democracy?
A democracy is a system of government where the citizens have the right to elect government representatives who jointly create a government
body for the entire nation. In a democratic government, people have certain rights that the government can't take away from them; these rights are
guaranteed. The eight main forms of democracy are:
1. Direct democracy 2. Representative democracy 3. Presidential democracy
4. Parliamentary democracy 5. Authoritarian democracy 6. Participatory democracy 7. Islamic democracy
8. Social democracy
Direct Democracy – Direct democracy is when citizens vote for a policy directly. If the government needs to pass a law or policy, then it goes
to the people. The people place a vote on the issue and through their vote, they decide the fate of their country. When the country's population is
small and educated a direct democracy is a good idea. Switzerland has had an extensive history of very successful direct democracy. However,
most countries are too big so it makes it too complicated for a direct democracy to work. In these cases, people choose to elect representatives
from their country on their behalf, instead of voting on every issue.
Representative Democracy– Representative democracy is when the citizens choose to vote for who will represent them in a parliament. Its
reputation relies on defending the rights of most of the people in the state and also the minorities. Australia and New Zealand are examples of
countries

Essay on Democracy in America
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. Ademocracy 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

Athenian Democracy Essay examples
Today, much of the world's governments have converted to democracies. In the Ancient World, there was only one truly notable example of a
democratic society: The City–State of Athens. This is actually the birthplace of democracy, where instead of the rich or powerful ruling, it was the
citizens of the city–state that held the power. This advanced way of government was so effective and well structured, it even laid the foundations
for the development of our own democracy, right here in the United States, over 2,000 years in the future. Prior to Athens's collapse during the
Peloponnesian War, it truly had an efficient and very organized system of government. Democracy in Athens can be traced back to 594 B.C.E,
when Solon was given the...show more content...
Cleisthenes then introduced his own reforms for Athens. He gave more power to the Assembly of Athens and less power to the aristocrats. He
then divided all of Attica into ten tribes, which were called phylai. Each tribe in turn was given three pieces of land, which each contained many
little villages called demes. The demes all together would then participate in the government by voting for people to make up the Council. The
chain of command for the government of Athens was pretty straightforward. At the very top was the strategoi, the military commanders. There
were ten of these, one strategos voted for each tribe. They each served for one year, however unlike the other officials, the strategoi could be
reelected to their positions an unlimited number of times. "This is based on the wisdom that frequently overhauling military leadership during a
war or other national emergency can prove dangerous or even disastrous" (Nardo 46). One prominent example of this was Pericles, who was
extremely popular and was reelected over twenty times before his death. The duty of the strategoi was to carry out orders given by the Council
and Assembly. They also regularly carried out foreign policy initiatives. Next was the ruling group, also known as the prytany. The prytany
provided individuals who were available at all times in case a crisis broke out and needed attention (Ancient Civilizations 26). After them was the

Essay about Liberal Democracy
Liberal democracy
Introduction
To begin with Francis Fukuyama's, provocative thesis, that after the fall of communism in Europe and the withering of the grand ideological
contests, history too has ended. In his "end of history" theory, he maintained that the western liberal democracy had become the `final form of
human government'. The fact is that though not all theorists have this kind of a faith in liberal democracy, and believe that it's not the only
feasible form of democracy, they are in a minority. The theoretical circles and the popular discourse have been dominated by "liberal democracy."
John Stuart mill's essay "on liberalism and considerations of representative...show more content...
<li value="2">Since these civil liberties typically and directly affect those who enjoy them, people should be exempt for the interference by other,
especially the state, even democratic state.
<li value="3">He thought there should be certain areas in citizens' lives, which are free of state regulation and legal limits. Thus, he favored the
preservation of the distinction between the public and the private realm and rule of law.
<li value="4">Regarding democracy, he encouraged direct citizen participation for its functions of engendering confidence in the people about
their ability to govern themselves, developing intellectual talents, and communal and moral values.
</ol>
However, since direct participation was not possible in large societies, Mill thought the `ideal type of a perfect government would be a
representative government'.
There are varieties of liberal–democratic theory that is to say that there are differences over the application of the liberal democratic principles,
and not the principle themselves. For ex– there can be differences over how best to preserve civil liberties or to structure representative democracy.

A)Participation –This is an element that is not shared by all liberal–democrat theorists, for instance sartori and William riker. Some critics of
liberal democracy view mill's enthusiasm for participationism as a deviation from the

Democracy: An Analysis Essay
Winston Churchill once remarked that "democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried". In agreement with
his statement, this paper will examine the problems of democratic governments using specific examples, and compare it to the failure of fascist
governments in Nazi Germany and Italy and communist governments in the Soviet Union and China.
Theoretically, democracy is a stable form of government where power is in the hands of the people. In a democracy, people have the liberty to
elect officials that best represent their interests, and political institutions exist as a result: Benjamin Constant argues in The Liberty of the
Ancients Compared with that of the Moderns that "true modern liberty is...show more content...
During elections in countries with corrupt governments, for example, it has to be decided whether the guarantee of every individual's right to
vote or who wins is more important. (Wong, Lecture, October 24) Moreover, deep divides continue to exist and separate groups in democratic
countries by race, religion, language, and class, resulting in tension and, in some cases, oppression. Thus democracy, despite its emphasis on
liberty, equality and plurality, can still be problematic.
According to Andrew Janos, "the price of economic progress has been political turmoil". (Janos, pg. 21) If the Modernization Theory holds that
countries tend to become more democratic the more they modernize, then political turmoil is to be expected in democracies. Certainly this can
occur in both parliamentary and presidential systems: as Linz argues, the presidential system concentrates too much power on the president,
resulting in "winner–take–all" politics (Linz, pg. 56) and the polarization of political parties. This is evident in the United States, where the
president is elected separately and Congress is divided between the opposing Democrats and Republicans. Conversely, the parliamentary system
in Britain, as well as that adapted by the former British colonies of Sri Lanka and Nigeria, has had its fair share of single–party hegemony and
political abuse. (Horowitz, pg. 78) Democracy is therefore not a perfect form of government when put in practice, and much of its

Democracy And Democracy
Introduction
The relationship between economic growth and democracy has long been discussed and dissected ever since the beginning of the French
Revolution and the democratization of Europe through the 18th and 20th centuries with various revolutions occurring, mostly in revolt to the
overt dominance of the upper classes. Yet, no concrete answer has been defined on whetherdemocracy directly increases economic growth, or that
any non–democratic systems are strictly better at growing an economy. In this paper, there will be an examination of how despite no concrete
definite answers about the correlation between democratic regimes and economic prosperity/growth exist, democracy still heavily encourages and
enables for a maximized economic growth compared to totalitarian or monarchical regimes, through some main principles that define a democratic
regime: Rule of law, legitimate authority, quality of governance, and participation of citizens, by means of humane work conditions, equal
participation among classes, governance motivating the workforce, and less effort and money expunged towards legitimacy. Economic growth
shouldn't necessarily come before democracy as democracy facilitates and potentially maximizes economic growth.
Participation and Opportunity
One of the qualifiers for democracy, active participation of citizens in political and civic life (United Nations[UN], 2005), is necessary for a
prosperous marketplace for all industries which have production in control of

Essay about Democracy
Like a living organism, democracy must be born into a time where the parents, circumstances, are right to understand the potential of such a child,
democracy, and the soil, society, may be described as the type of state that is ready to accept and nurture that child. Metaphors aside, democracy
has been noted to provide a better opportunity for human development. Democracy is also commonly defined as a political system that is
associated with free and fair elections. A democratic regime simply refers to a system of governance that places sovereignty in the citizen's hands
which allow them to contribute to the process of decision–making through their elected officials. Democracy is not as old as many may originally
think. As recent as 1974,...show more content...
These breakdowns can occur through military action, a seizure of power by the opposition, or a collapse of the state. When a collapse occurs, the
state cannot coerce and is unable to successfully control the inhabitants of the given territory. Diamond conveys an important reason why some
authoritarian regimes lose domestic legitimacy. The citizens of a state may not be confident in their government when "... they fulfill their
self–proclaimed missions and become redundant or when they completely fail to do so and clearly cannot deliver," (Diamond 91). Failures of
dictatorial regimes in countries like Greece and Argentina were a result of bad economic or political performances. Another example of
authoritarian failure occurred in Africa in the early 1990s. Most African countries were severely set back because of massive foreign debts. In
order to pay back some of these loans, many governments of these African countries would use almost four times their export earnings leaving
the government with no funds to provide basic services for its citizens. These failures were not just economic but political as well. It got to a
point where these "... authoritarian states became too broke to buy off their opposition and too exhausted to repress them, protests escalated,"
(Diamond 93). These protests had prompted not just a change in the leader, but a change in the

A Democratic Society Essay
A Democratic Society
Throughout time the debate upon which is the best system of government has been an ongoing debate. Somewhere between the realms of
democracy, socialism, fascism, communism, and monarchism lies the answer to the perfect system. Traditionally speaking, North America has
always tried to remain democratic in ruling. The democratic system, unlike it's alternatives, encourages equality and liberty among the people
which in modern society, makes it the most attractive system of government today.
Arguably, equality is the goal of many governments today. But what one must realize is that equality cannot be reached without giving someone
else inequality. While democracy influences equality,...show more content...
Liberty is possibly the most important attribute in American and Canadian society. What people want is the ability to make their own decisions
and go about life with the freedom to do so. In a democratic society, people are able to voice their opinions to government and ultimately play an
important role in the make up and organization of society. To a new nation, these attributes of our society are quite attractive. Many new nations
today are making the switch to democratic government. The problem with this is that most of these nations have never been democratic before.
Therefore, new nations are having great difficulty because such a switch is not easily accomplished. To develop a democratic society it has taken
some more more than an entire century. These new nations tend to rush the change and in the end they become frustrated because such a switch
is not as easily accomplished as thought. The features of a modern democratic state are firstly a society dedicated to the preservation of rights and
freedoms. From that, a government system must adhere to developing a form of government which encompasses the values of a working society.
In other words, a government for the people, run by the people, and a system into which they have invested.
An excellent example of a nation that comprises the rights and freedoms of its people is Canada. As a nation we

Democratic Governance Essay
Democratic Governance
Authored by
Md. Alam,
Walden University
Overview
The study of democratic governance is an effort to make a module on "Theories of Democratic Governance and Research". For this study, one of
the most popular topics "Democracy" discussed and analyzed from the point of theoretical aspect, contemporary research, and application aspect.
Objectives
This Knowledge Area Module (KAM) looks at democratic governance. This breadth component begins by discussing the theoretical characteristic
of democracy. For this study, democratic thoughts of Aristotle, Milton Friedman, Robert Dahl, and John Dewey will be used as guides; will find
out the different ideas about democracy. In Breadth component, theories of democracy...show more content...
d) Democracy includes all citizens those who are able to participate in the polis.
This four categories democracy is based on equality between poor and rich. In his Politics book four Aristotle viewed fifth democracy which is
alike with previous four types but the multitude.
Finally, Aristotle presented polity– the best alternative, mixed form of oligarchy and democracy. This polity may more incline to either
oligarchy or democracy. Oligarchic polity would rule by few selective individuals and democratic polity is operated by common people. Aristotle
is a promoter of the latter, because it involves rule by the middle class. Dewey's Democratic Ends Need Democratic Methods for Their Realization
Democracy is a social idea to John Dewey (Cunningham, 2002). Dewey viewed people's actions have permanent and broader effect over other
people of the society. People form leaders under political democracy to regulate the actions. When leaders imposed force to achieve private gain,
the public became defunct. Democracy is the combination of responsible sharing as per their ability and regulating activities among the groups.
Dahl's Dilemmas of Pluralist Democracy
Robert Dahl's (1989) democracy is a combination of typical and substantive equality. He describes at least five

Essay About Democracy

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Essay About Democracy