Pros And Cons Of American Democracy

The only way to change our country is by working with each other, not against each other. With some Americans refusing to stay open minded to the beliefs of the opposite political party, our country will get nowhere. As one of our country’s Founding Fathers, Washington would not approve of this, and demand the next president change this. If George Washington was still alive today, he would be able to give the next president advice to transform our country. Someone with the unbiased mindset toward the two main political parties would be a much needed perspective for the next president.

The Constitution protected the people from tyranny by federalism, checks and balances, and equal power between the Senate and House of Representatives. One way the Constitution guarded against tyranny is federalism. As stated in Federalist Paper #51, by James Madison, he states that “ In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments… the different governments will each control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.” Federalism prevented tyranny because neither the central government or the states had too much power. This is important because the power would be split between the two. For example, things that would happen in the state would be reserved for the state such as holding elections, establishing schools, and passing marriage and divorce laws.

When George W Bush came into power he revoked the signing of that ban. This is significant because, the refusing to sign the deal there were no major consequences that came their way. If America were a third world country suctions would have been imposed on it. The US show of political power was also seen when they helped in the downfall of Sadam Hussein who was a leader, but within a day he was out of power. Through this one can see that they are able and capable of overthrowing a president.

Since the foundation of this country its people have identified more with their State and local government than the Federal Government. The Federal Government is look upon with suspicion and distrust. When the Constitution of the United States was written, the Founding Fathers were very careful to create a government that will not dominate and obliviate the local governments. The Revolutionary War was indeed a Civil War fought against a tyrannical centralized government. The founders of this country wanted to be sure that this tyranny was not present in the laws and functions of this new nation.

This system allows all three branches of government to try to improve or just outright veto the actions of another branch, keeping the other branches from being too powerful. One example is that then president, who is in charge of the Executive branch, can veto laws passed by Congress. Another example would be that Congress can remove the president from office in certain circumstances. The French philosopher Montesquieu originally thought of these ideas of separation of powers and the system of checks and balances. The way he saw it, is that these systems were the best way of keeping government from becoming corrupt.

In the First Amendment it states, “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” This means people can freely express thoughts or ideas to their own will or liking. This includes the ability to speak freely about the way someone feels about a political official such as the president. In an article given by Score Rims it states, “The writers of The Bill of Rights did not want the government to have censorship powers over citizens, so we have the right to say what we think. Someone can even say that the government stinks and nothing will happen to you. In some countries people are killed for criticizing their government.” In some countries such as Thailand you can be imprisoned for up to fifteen years for speaking badly about the government.

“Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country” Franklin D. Roosevelt. Is America as Democratic as they make it out to be? Do they give their citizens the freedom to vote for who they want? Since 1886 it has been a fiercely competitive battle for the top seats in the American government, with only two main political parties realistically going to win.

The Constitution replaced the weak articles of the Confederation to form a union strong enough to survive the dangers of the world and simultaneously protect the freedom of the United States and citizens. The main purpose of the Bill of Rights was to remove some subjects from the political

They were scared of tyranny, especially pertaining to the fact that under the new Constitution, the national government, or Congress, would be able to make decisions without even asking for the states’ permission. (Anti-Federalist 1: Brutus). Even though the Constitution called for checks and balances, Anti-Federalist Patrick Henry, was convinced that the president would be the one making all the decisions, not unlike a king. (Bianco and Canon, 44). The national supremacy clause in the Constitution even stated that national law supersedes any state law when there is conflict.

Unlike the Vietnam War, the missile crisis jeopardized the American way of life, which is why America acted. Former President John F. Kennedy, before meeting a gruesome death, addressed the issue that plagued the nation. In Kennedy’s Oval Office Address, he explains that since the end of World War 2, America “shows that we have no desire to conquer any other nation,” demonstrating America’s peacefulness (Kennedy). Although America will not invade any country, Kennedy’s actions to defend America from Cuban missiles should be the epitome of what every striving president should be. Not to interfere with foreign affairs, but if ever threatened America should be ready to defend

This is evident in document A, where it shows you a Venn diagram of which powers are given to the states and which powers are given to the federal government. For one thing, this shows how “a double security arises to the rights of the people”, which means that when the power is distributed between the states and the federal government, neither is able to gain absolute power over the country. Federalism also comes in handy by specifying what the states get to control and what the national government gets to control, which is meant to prevent conflict between the two powers. For example, the task of declaring war is meant for the national government only. If that wasn’t specified, there would likely be a lot of cases where states declared war, and the national government had to clean up the mess.

In an episode, Pinky wins the presidency and Brain immediately tries to manipulate him. Pinky opposed all of Brain’s idea and limits him. He restricts his use of weapons as do the Democrats. They believe that Americans should be allowed guns but have implemented laws with restrictions to their weapons. Pinky also states in the episode that as president he will follow the Democrahttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112123/quotestic values and the constitution.

War Power Reform When it comes to war-making powers, both the legislative and the executive branches play a major role determining the course of action. Constitutionally the legislative branch has the power to declare war, but the president (executive branch), without Congress’s permission, can “make” war. This is due to the War Powers Resolution, which was enacted by Congress in 1973 to keep the president in check. This limited the president from essentially “declaring” war by deploying troops at their own whim. With the War Powers Resolution the president must notify Congress within forty-eight hours that they have mobilized troops, after which the troops can stay deployed for sixty days without Congress’s authorization.

Though I agree with what the act it trying to accomplish because Congress in trying to stay in control of the power to declare war and limit the President’s power to declare war. I honestly feel that power is too much power for one person such as the President to control. I would hope in the future that Congress passes a more effective War Powers Act that the President will have to follow. One of the Presidents that has violated the War Powers Act was President Bill Clinton when he got our military involved in Kosovo. President Clinton didn’t receive Congress’s approval to get involved in the conflict in Kosovo, in fact they voted against it several times.

1. What are the distinguishing features of policing in a democracy? How has our system of federalism affected policing in the United States? Democracy is defined as government that gives authority to the people, through freely elected representatives. Many believe that democracy allows people to be free from governmental influence within their lives.