Perhaps what makes the United States identifiable as “the land of the free” is its system of democracy. The Constitution and an enumerated Bill of Rights that our founding fathers created give citizens the ability to do and say pretty much anything acceptable within the law as long as they do not infringe on another individual’s rights. The Constitution provides an outline for the government as well as a way for citizens to elect the president through the electoral system. However, results over the 2016 presidential election have raised controversy over the electoral system considering Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Donald Trump won the race by receiving the most electoral votes. The topics of democracy, electoral systems and ideologies
…show more content…
Democracy is a defined as “a form of regime associated with ‘rule by the people’ that signifies rights and liberties for citizens, including political rights to participate in elections and civil liberties such as freedom of speech” (Dickovick and Eastwood, 2016, 121). With that said, having a democratic form of government gives the people significant say in how the government operates and prevents the rise of tyrannical regimes. The topic of democracy fascinates me because I feel as though it can be indicative of a country’s development while the democratization of a country results in less civil unrest. In looking specifically at a case study of Germany under authoritarian rule during the Nazi regime, it appears that authoritarian rule is more likely to result in the abuse of power and gross violations of human rights. The Nazi rule under Hitler shows us the effects of Germany’s twentieth-century totalitarianism, “with its denial of basic human rights and its culmination in the atrocities of the Holocaust” stemming from a system of authoritarianism (Dickovick and Eastwood, 2016, 450). If Germany operated under a system of democracy similar to that of the United States’ at that time, then the people would have had the power to veto Hitler’s policies and possibly vote for a shift in power. Thus, democracy in a way makes the rulers and the ruled autonomous in power since the ruler is elected by the citizens. The implications of democracy and the democratization of a country are important to me because I believe it may affect the United States interactions with non-democratic governments, namely North Korea. North Korea is a totalitarian state under the dictatorship of Kim Jong-un (“Kim Jong-Un,” 2016). In the future, I believe the this could impact my life as tensions between democratic America and authoritarian North Korea intensify based on a difference in
Democracy is a defined as “a form of regime associated with ‘rule by the people’ that signifies rights and liberties for citizens, including political rights to participate in elections and civil liberties such as freedom of speech” (Dickovick and Eastwood, 2016, 121). With that said, having a democratic form of government gives the people significant say in how the government operates and prevents the rise of tyrannical regimes. The topic of democracy fascinates me because I feel as though it can be indicative of a country’s development while the democratization of a country results in less civil unrest. In looking specifically at a case study of Germany under authoritarian rule during the Nazi regime, it appears that authoritarian rule is more likely to result in the abuse of power and gross violations of human rights. The Nazi rule under Hitler shows us the effects of Germany’s twentieth-century totalitarianism, “with its denial of basic human rights and its culmination in the atrocities of the Holocaust” stemming from a system of authoritarianism (Dickovick and Eastwood, 2016, 450). If Germany operated under a system of democracy similar to that of the United States’ at that time, then the people would have had the power to veto Hitler’s policies and possibly vote for a shift in power. Thus, democracy in a way makes the rulers and the ruled autonomous in power since the ruler is elected by the citizens. The implications of democracy and the democratization of a country are important to me because I believe it may affect the United States interactions with non-democratic governments, namely North Korea. North Korea is a totalitarian state under the dictatorship of Kim Jong-un (“Kim Jong-Un,” 2016). In the future, I believe the this could impact my life as tensions between democratic America and authoritarian North Korea intensify based on a difference in