Verified Document

Models Of Democracy In The U S Essay

¶ … Democracy in America Democracy is a term whose origin can be traced to Ancient Greece where it was used to refer to power or rule from people. Actually, the two Greek words which were used to create the term democracy combine to refer to rule by the people or individuals. Since its emergence, democracy has developed to become a multifaceted complex that focuses on guaranteeing the freedom of every individual or citizen in a country. Given its ever increasing role in governance systems across the globe, political theorists have developed several models that explain societal ideals in order to provide context and understanding of democracy. The different models or theories of democracy explain individual involvement in the political process, the basis for governmental involvement, and the link between government involvement and societal needs.

America's Democracy

America's system of governance is characterized by a complex and multifaceted political process as well as governmental involvement. Throughout its history, the country has increasingly focused on enhancing citizens' involvement in the political and governance process in order to ensure that the government meets the needs of the society. America's democracy can be effectively explained through different relevant models of democracy that are evident throughout the nation's history, particularly the framing of the Constitution. Some of the models that best describe democracy in America include

Legalist Democracy

Legalist democracy, which is also known as protective democracy, is a model that focuses on protecting individuals' freedom from authoritarian rule by the government (Hacker & van Dijk, p.9). This model...

In this model of democracy, the powers of every political institution and public administration agency are limited through effective rules and have to be small and effective. Notably, this model of democracy rejects direct democracy through proposing and establishing populism, which is feared in some cases. The emergence of the legalist model of democracy can be traced back to the 17th and 18th centuries when it was introduced to help protect citizens from governmental encroachment.
This model best describes democracy in America since the framing of the nation's Constitution involved utilizing the prevailing political philosophy of controlling governmental abuses. The framers of the Constitution utilized Federalist 10 File and Federalist 47, 48, 51 File by James Madison as well as Federalist 70 -- The Presidency File, which promote the use of check and balances to control governmental abuses. In addition, the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution in order to provide checks and balances. Hamilton's Federalist 70 File promoted the establishment of an executive President in the U.S. but also established legislative authority and separation of powers to establish check and balances on presidential powers (Chase par, 16). The relevance of legalist model of democracy in America is also evident in the use of various theories of representation in political and governance processes such as The Federalist on Representation in Congress and Review of Theories of Representation by Bernard Yack.

Liberal Democracy

Liberal or competitive democracy is the second model of democracy that best describes democracy in the United States since it is based on a procedural concept of representative democracy (Hacker & van Dijk, p.10). In this model, the election of representatives is regarded as the single most important process in the political and governance system. According to Tocqueville, America is the…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Chase, Harold. "Constitution of the United States, Part I: Its Genesis and Framework."

Scholastic. Scholastic Inc., n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2015. <http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/constitution-united-states-part-i-its-genesis-and-framework>.

Hacker, Kenneth L., and Jan Van Dijk. "MODELS OF DEMOCRACY AND CONCEPTS OF COMMUNICATION." Digital Democracy: Issues of Theory and Practice. London: SAGE, 2000. 1-20. Print.

Tocqueville, Alexis De., Henry Reeve, and John C. Spencer. Democracy in America: Volume 1.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

U.S. Government the United States
Words: 3390 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

This as an important moment in the history of the Cold War because it marked the start of a new series of talks between the Palestinians and the Israeli side. This moment also proved the importance of the State Secretary in relation to the issues of foreign policy and the international community. At this moment, some of the most important cabinets in the executive concern issues such as internal affairs

U.S. Constitution the United States
Words: 4248 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

The truth is that the forefathers were actually quite surprised at the effect that the signing of the Constitution had created in America; at the democratic society and government that resulted after the ratification of the Constitution. The ratification in itself was a long one, and it involved in essence the perusal of the written Constitution by each state for ratification purposes, for which each state was required to create

U.S. Constitution Criminal Justice and
Words: 2301 Length: 8 Document Type: Thesis

The death penalty is not unconstitutional and is even mandatory for certain crimes with the judge and jury having little discretion in the matter in order to avoid violating the provision that prohibits 'cruel and unusual punishment' the methods used for execution of the death penalty should be humane and sensible. While the criminal may lack in possessing any compassion whatsoever that this complete lack of the ability to have

U.S. Department of State: Public Policy Issue
Words: 4527 Length: 15 Document Type: Essay

U.S. Department of State: Public Policy Issue and Sexual Harassment U.S DEPARTMENT OF STATE: PUBLIC POLICY ISSUE AND 1 Policy Issue 7 Resolution Procedures Policy Outcome Leaders Influence Role of technology in the process Diversity Issues Involved Ethical Concerns and Implications Protection for Employee Insights U.S Department of State: Public Policy Issue and Sexual Harassment Sometime back in 2010, the Albany Fire Department in Georgia established a newer "sexual harassment" policy that was in accordance with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity

U.S. Military Assistance Funding to
Words: 6309 Length: 20 Document Type: Term Paper

On November 8, 2001, the U.S. Senate passed several new conditions before direct 'military-to-military relations can be restored with Indonesia including the punishment of the individuals who murdered three humanitarian aid workers in West Timor, establishing a civilian audit of armed forces expenditures, and granting humanitarian workers access to Aceh, West Timor, West Papua, and the Moluccas." Following are two very recent bills and rulings by the U.S. Congress concerning

U.S. Policy Concerning Iraq War
Words: 3455 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

However, this change has been a progressive process and largely set on economic premises and cooperation between the Saudi state and western ones. Nonetheless, it represents an important example of progress in the Middle East. At the moment the opinions regarding the current situation in the Middle East are rather mixed. On the one hand, there are those who see the Iranian case as being eloquent for the despise and

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now