Franklin D. Roosevelt's Role In A Representative Democracy

In the early 1930s, in the depths of the Great Depression, many people in the United States were drawn to the charismatic populist leader, Huey Long of Louisiana. He started out as a poor country lawyer who took on the big oil interests in the state. Elected governor in 1928 on a populist platform, he managed to get legislature passed to increase taxes on the oil oligarchy that had previously run the state. He used the money to build schools, hospitals, roads, and bridges for the people of Louisiana. Elected to the US Senate in the depths of the depression, he was a critic of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ineffectual approach to the economic crisis and instead promoted his “Share Our Wealth” program. This program would have severely taxed the …show more content…
The separation of powers was meant to protect minority rights and ensure that no one branch of the government became stronger than another. The Framers of the Constitution also made sure that the Constitution set up a government that has numerous checks and balances to prevent majority rule. Each of the branches of government – executive, legislative, judicial – checks and balances another. Checks and balances are extremely necessary in a representative democracy like in America. Although factions generally balance out, governing bodies need checks against corruption. Checks and balances help in smoothing out the microcosm of a representative government. There are also systems in place to ensure that the voices of smaller states are not drowned out by larger states, such as the Electoral College. If a populist demagogue were to be elected president, they would be impeded from seizing unencumbered political power due to the power of the Legislative and Judicial …show more content…
They say this because it is an example of the overstepping of one branch by another. They also say this because only one of the three branches of government have term limits. It is fair to be skeptical for politicians to hold long-term positions in office. While the ideal situation would be to have term limits at all levels of government to further balance powers, the current state of presidential term limits ensures that executive authority cannot be sustained by any one person. Term limits serve as a reality check. Because elections are routinely held, it causes the American public to reflect, reconsider, and determine if a candidate is suitable for reelection. Thus, election laws limit a potential political demagogue from seizing unencumbered political