Democracy

America: The Greatest “Democracy”

The United States of America has been known to be called the greatest example of a democracy in the world, but is it really what people believe it is? America has many prime examples of how they exhibit a democratic form of government as well as a non-democratic government, and there are many advantages and disadvantages to both. The democratic ideas of America are shown through voting and consent of the governed, while the non-democratic ideas involve the Electoral College and views of members voted into office. Although the United States of America exhibits ideas which are both democratic and non-democratic, the United States is more of a pseudo democracy because of the way they elect the president and ideas of members once in office.

The United States of America is said to be the finest democracy in modern day because of certain principle which the framers of the Constitution established in the 1700's. Such principles such as voting and the three branches of government have paved the way for this democracy to receive such a legacy. However, the voting process in America is both democratic and non-democratic because it allows all registered citizens to have a say in the government by choosing their officials, but not for all elections. The people only directly elect representatives for the Senate and House of Representatives. Although American citizens vote for the president, the Electoral College has the final say on who gets elected, and they do not have to choose the majority vote of the public. Also, there are some officials who are appointed by the president, who never get voted on by the people such as Supreme Court judges and Presidential Cabinet members. Another democratic principle of the United States is the three branches of government, these three branches help to make fair laws for everybody while abiding by the Constitution. This concept of the three branches is democratic because it allows for consent of the...