Challenges of Democracy
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Challenges of Democracy
We are constantly asked on how we feel about our Democracy in America. Well we do not have a democracy is it more of a republic. A republic is a political system in which the power lies within the citizens. The citizens vote in a head of state, who we call a President, to represent them (dictionary.com, 2010) . Our founding fathers being as smart as they were considering the times when not many people attended college knew that a true democracy would not work. They knew that people could get “power hungry” and try and control the country and want to have all the power. Even to this day we still have our problems even with the changes we have made to adapt to the ever changing society.
The Framers Intentions
When the Constitution was written it was not something entirely new. Constitutions existed for countries. These educated men knew what they were doing, they had examples to draw upon, and they had experiences with other writings to build on. Other countries such as Afghanistan, Australia, Italy and Japan all have their own constitutions (constitution.org, n.d.). Unlike many of the other worldwide constitutions ours differs. It can be easily modified by the people. Could you imagine being in that room with the founding fathers drafting the Constitution that we still live by today? Do you think that could have imagined that over 200 years later we are still using the same constitution they came up with? How many people do you think would volunteer for such a job in modern day society?
Civil Rights
One thing that comes to mind on the subject of Civil Rights is Womens ongoing battle for equality in society. Women have made major strides in equality as the years have gone on but in many other countries most women cannot say the same. We should be grateful in this country women do not have to cover their faces from society and do not have to live by what their husband says and basically do not have a mind of their own. In our country women can have careers and live their own lives without men telling them what to do and what not to do. Women in the Middle East have been and are denied the choice to work or get an education. A great example is in 1882 married women in England had their property given to their husbands even if it had always been the womens property. The opposite is true for Muslim women they always keep their own assets they could specify certain conditions in a marriage contract (Global Connections, 2002). These are all examples in why our countries society and civil rights is so important to women. We get to choose what we keep and not keep in our marriage of our own belongings, we do not have to cover our bodies and we are always given the right to have an education..
Electoral College
Another thing we have seen in the last few years relates to some of the good and bad things about the Electoral College. Only four times in our history has a candidate won the popular vote but lost the election. I will mention two of the four cases in our history. The first time was in 1824, Andrew Jackson won both popular and electoral vote the catch was no one in the four man race won a majority, or more then 50% in the Electoral College so the House of Representatives picked the winner. They picked John Quincy Adams who came in second in both the majority and electoral vote. But many of us will most likely remember the 2000 election with George W, Bush and Al gore. Bush received the lower majority vote of 47.87% while Gore won the majority vote with 48.38%, but the case was reversed with the Electoral College Gore lost the Electoral College vote with 266 votes, and Bush won with 271 votes (infoplease, 2010). Many Americans were not happy with the outcome of the votes. The electoral college can be a good thing in ways because the people who make up the college specialize and have devoted their careers to politics and knowing all that they can about the candidates and they have a better idea of what Is needed in a President, but at the same time the people are supposed to vote on who they feel Is the best candidate and who they want as our president so I see the electoral college as being good in ways but also bad.
Bill becoming a law
There are 13 steps in a bill being accepted as federal law and innumerable minor steps that can make getting a bill passed as law a work of art or a work of friendships and politicians scratching each others backs.
And each of the steps has so many individual steps and ways to derail a bill that many very good bills are probably left on the side each year as others, with more politically connected sponsors, more politicians with large numbers of friends in the house and senate, get their bills passed with ease.
1. Bill is Drafted: Members of Congress, the Executive Branch, and even outside groups can draft (write or draw up) bills.
2. Introduced in House
3. Sent to Committee
4. Committee Action
5. Rules Committee
6. Floor Action
7. Introduced in Senate
8. Committee Action