Many people view that America does not deserve its claim of being a democratic nation due to its lack of representation of minorities and women in our government in the past and even today. What is not accurate about this view is that the representation of the people in the past is being looked at through the beliefs and values of the people currently. Times change and with that so do ideas and beliefs and what was once democratic may not be so anymore. The nation has not remained stuck in what was once thought to be a democratic representation of the country. Representation is focused on what sex or race a person is, but it also includes the person’s beliefs, values and ideas which are the main reasons people vote for who they do in elections.
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These changes opened up their freedom to them as well as opportunities to take part in the government of the country. The same occurred for women as their statuses were elevated and to match men and they were given the right to vote. Today there are no barriers that keep people from voting in American elections other than the age and citizenship requirement (both reasonable). The definition of “citizens” or “people” has changed throughout the years and by extent has changed the view of democracy in the …show more content…
That is not what people tend to vote on, however. When citizens are deciding on which politician they want to put in office, they listen to their ideas, beliefs and stances on different subjects and vote according to which one matches with their ideas, beliefs and stances. So even if someone is not being represented in the government by their physical traits, there is representation based on ideological matters. In the diagrams that show population vs. the houses of congress (Page 477 of We The People) it can be seen that physical traits such as gender and race are not proportional to the population, however if you look at religion, representation in the House of Representatives and Senate is a much closer match to the public. The diagram for party would also appear off but the fact is that you don’t have to be associated with a party to agree with one of its politicians on different subjects and you don’t have to identify with the party to vote for someone who is during an election. Independent voters often change the party they vote for as they sit fit because they vote for a candidate or an issue rather than for the party itself. That would explain why independent voters take up more of the population than independent party members would in congress. Another thing to keep in mind is that even if the representative in congress does not
These changes opened up their freedom to them as well as opportunities to take part in the government of the country. The same occurred for women as their statuses were elevated and to match men and they were given the right to vote. Today there are no barriers that keep people from voting in American elections other than the age and citizenship requirement (both reasonable). The definition of “citizens” or “people” has changed throughout the years and by extent has changed the view of democracy in the …show more content…
That is not what people tend to vote on, however. When citizens are deciding on which politician they want to put in office, they listen to their ideas, beliefs and stances on different subjects and vote according to which one matches with their ideas, beliefs and stances. So even if someone is not being represented in the government by their physical traits, there is representation based on ideological matters. In the diagrams that show population vs. the houses of congress (Page 477 of We The People) it can be seen that physical traits such as gender and race are not proportional to the population, however if you look at religion, representation in the House of Representatives and Senate is a much closer match to the public. The diagram for party would also appear off but the fact is that you don’t have to be associated with a party to agree with one of its politicians on different subjects and you don’t have to identify with the party to vote for someone who is during an election. Independent voters often change the party they vote for as they sit fit because they vote for a candidate or an issue rather than for the party itself. That would explain why independent voters take up more of the population than independent party members would in congress. Another thing to keep in mind is that even if the representative in congress does not