Is America A True Democracy?
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The term democracy, as defined by dictionary.com, is a “government by the people; 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.” The United States is a democracy, according to official sources, but is it really a true democracy anymore? No. In fact, as time has gone on, the United States has shown a decline in democratic traits. The USA does not have all of its citizens actively voting, it has a charter which holds most of the power, and worst of all, it makes executive decisions without any consent of the people. The first major reason that the USA is not a democracy is that not everyone votes, therefore the “elected” government
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The major difference between these two similar types of government is that a democracy is truly open wide and places all the power in the hands of the voters, while a republic has a charter or other significant document that takes some power away from the voters (Scott). America is technically a democratic republic, since it has a constitution, though it can be amended. A republic gives minorities certain unalienable rights that cannot be taken away under any circumstances, while a true democracy has no limits on what the people can vote on. If the majority rules, then too bad for the minority. Some examples of true democracy can be found in Classical Greece, Rome (Democracy vs …show more content…
In a republic, like the USA, the charter can restrict what people say and they must abide by it. For instance, in a democracy, the majority might be men, and the minority is women. If a vote was to be had about what is the better sex and which gender deserves to be able to vote in the future, then clearly all males would vote for males, and all females would vote for females. This would mean that all men would get to vote, and since the females are the minority, they would be under-represented and lose. In a republic, such as the USA, our constitution would protect the right to vote for women and cannot be changed so
The major difference between these two similar types of government is that a democracy is truly open wide and places all the power in the hands of the voters, while a republic has a charter or other significant document that takes some power away from the voters (Scott). America is technically a democratic republic, since it has a constitution, though it can be amended. A republic gives minorities certain unalienable rights that cannot be taken away under any circumstances, while a true democracy has no limits on what the people can vote on. If the majority rules, then too bad for the minority. Some examples of true democracy can be found in Classical Greece, Rome (Democracy vs …show more content…
In a republic, like the USA, the charter can restrict what people say and they must abide by it. For instance, in a democracy, the majority might be men, and the minority is women. If a vote was to be had about what is the better sex and which gender deserves to be able to vote in the future, then clearly all males would vote for males, and all females would vote for females. This would mean that all men would get to vote, and since the females are the minority, they would be under-represented and lose. In a republic, such as the USA, our constitution would protect the right to vote for women and cannot be changed so