Core Democratic Values

In International Relations, it is often stated that countries that practice democracy do not go to war with each other. Scholars often say that it is because of the core values that the countries practicing this form of government share. All leaders have different preferences for how they like to get things done, and what their core system caters to. Democracy is characterized by the belief that the power rests in the hands of the people. If two democracies declared war on each other, the common values that they shared would be hypocritical. They would both be completely disregarding the principles they had set when they decided to govern as a democracy. “Core Democratic Values are the fundamental beliefs and constitutional principles of American …show more content…
The United States of America is not the only country that has a constitution of rights, there are several other countries that have a similar document. Some of the shared principles in constitutional democracy are; rule of law, separation of powers, representative government, checks and balances, individual rights, freedom of religion, federalism and civilian control of the military. In the U.S. Constitution, many all of these are prevalent and they can all be found in the document. In the “Democratic Constitution”, regarding freedom of religion it states; “Every person is entitled to freedom of conscience, faith, opinion, religion and religious ritual, and no religious-based action or inaction will be imposed; these liberties shall not be restricted except by a law enacted for a necessary purpose which is in accordance with the basic principles of a bilingual and multicultural democratic society, and to an extent that is no greater than is required (The Democratic Constitution).” The First Amendment to the United States Constitution similarly states that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a …show more content…
All things are possible, and if there was an event that occurred pitting two democracies together, war could be the outcome. Though extremely unlikely, it is not safe to one hundred percent assume that two democracies would never go to war against one another. Actors have different preferences so one leader in democracy may not entirely agree with another leader. Many leaders today do not fully support President Trump, including some democratic leaders. Sometimes the slightest differences in democracies could light a fire that would spark a