Voting Reform Today
Since the complications counting ballots for the 2001 presidential election, both voters and the media have shown increased interest in the issue of exactly how we elect our presidents. Three areas have received close scrutiny either since that election. Two issues received serious scrutiny before the election: the Electoral College system and campaign finance. Since November of 2001, the actual method of casting one's vote has been closely looked at as well.

Two senators, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mien Spector, announced that they would sponsor legislation designed to eliminate the Electoral College, where the president is actually voted in by representatives from each state, to a direct popular vote, where all the votes from all voters are tallied into one number, and the victor becomes President. While all voters easily understand the second approach, the Electoral College system gives more ability to influence the outcome of the election.…...

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Drinkard, Jim. "Updating voting machines could take a decade." USA TODAY, February 13, 2001. Accessed via the Internet 2/20/02.

Ellperin, Juliet and Dewar, Helen. "Campaign Bill Heads For a Vote In House." Washington Post, January 25, 2002, p. A01.

Glassman, James. "Reform the Electoral College, Don't Toss It." American Enterprise, February/March, 2001. Accessed via the Internet 2/20/02.

democracy in detail. It discusses different forms of democracy. The difference between liberal democracy and democracy has also been analyzed in this paper. It puts light on the seven institutional guarantees of liberal democracy and examines each of the institutional guarantees in detail.
Most of the people around the globe are familiar to the word democracy but its meaning is often misunderstood by many at occasions when marshal law administrators, single-party governments and military groups acquire the support of millions of people by claiming that they are a democratic government. The word democracy has been derived from the Greek word 'demos' which means people. Democracy can be defined as a form of government in which the supreme power belongs to the people of the nation. In some forms of democracy, this power is exercised, directly, by the people of the nation. In other forms, however, this power is being exercised…...

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References

Carcasson, M., & Sprain, L. Colorado State University, Center for Public Deliberation. (2010). Key aspects of the deliberative democracy movement. Retrieved from Colorado State University website:  http://www.cpd.colostate.edu/keyaspects.pdf 

Cincotta, H.U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Information Programs. (2006).Democracy in brief. Retrieved from U.S. Department of State website:  http://photos.state.gov/libraries/korea/49271/dwoa_122709/Democracy-in-Brief.pdf 

Howard, H. (2011). The challenge of third world development. (6th ed., pp. 28-40). London: Longman.

Macmillan Publishers Limited, (n.d.). Democracy. Retrieved from Macmillan Publishers Limited website:  http://www.palgrave.com/politics/hague/site/docs/samplechapter.pdf

Democracy
In author Jacques Ranciere's book On the Shores of Politics, he discusses what he believes are the important concepts in understanding democracy and how it is used by people. Most importantly in the chapter "The Uses of Democracy" is his belief that true democracy has yet to be envisioned. In the United States and other countries, as time progresses the nations which are built upon democratic systems of government move further away from the principles of that government's founding. After the fall of Communist regimes, the supremacy of the democratic viewpoint seems to have been strengthened but in reality the situation is only becoming more divisive, at least according to Ranciere's perspective. The differences between democracy as ideal and democracy in practice is growing with the advent of "liberal democracy" which itself demands a reorganization and reprioritizing of democratic ideals based on growing concern for individuals.

The word democracy itself…...

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Works Cited:

Ranciere, Jacques. "The Uses of Democracy." On the Shores of Politics. Verso, 2007. 39-61.

Print.

Democracy in U.S. And Scotland
Democracy in the United States

Different countries with widely disparate forms of government all lay claim to being a democracy. Many European parliamentary-style governments, for example, call themselves democracies. In contrast, more centralized, presidential governments claim to be democracies as well.

hat these forms of government have in common, however, are key basic ideals. Democracy is a form of government that is based on aggregative concepts of a "common good." This concept has its roots in philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau's "social contract theory," which states that a general will of the people gives rise to an unstated social contract. In a democratic form of government, decisions are made based on a "rationally identified common good" (Shapiro 2003: 3).

The United States has three main structures of government. The judiciary is tasked with interpreting and upholding the country's laws. The legislature, composed of the Lower House and the Senate, write…...

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Works Cited

Brinkley, Alan. 2000. The Unfinished Nation. New York: McGraw-Hill Company.

Kagan, Robert. 2003. Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order. New York: Knopf

Lace, William. 2001. Scotland. San Diego: Lucent Books.

Public Information Service. 2003. Factsheet on the Scottish Parliament. available at  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk

Democracy and Clientelism:
Political clientelism is basically considered as the distribution of discriminatory benefits to people or groups in exchange for political support. Clientelism is a form of personal exchange that is always characterized by uneven balance of power between those involved and a sense of compulsion. Throughout history, this term has continued to create confusion and controversy due to the broad and varied range of political exchanges that it contains. Since it's a way with which the uneven and hierarchical exchanges of a feudal society are described, clientelism is also a means of describing the relationships between patrons and clients. The theory of democracy explains that voters have the right of making their choices freely, particularly during political elections. This concept has created new platforms for representation and political accountability as well as the benefits for sustaining and cultivating clientelistic bonds (Szwarcberg, 2009). In places with weak democracies, clients use…...

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Bibliography:

De Sousa Luis. "Clientelism and the Quality(ies) of Democracy Public and Policy Aspects."

Central European University, 2008.   (accessed April 12, 2011).http://pdc.ceu.hu/archive/00004462/01/discwp-2008-02.pdf 

Gallego, Jorge Andres & Raciborski, Rafal. "Clientelism, Income Inequality, and Social

Preferences: and Evolutionary Approach to Poverty Traps." Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, 2008.   (accessed April 12, 2011).http://www.javeriana.edu.co/fcea/area_economia/inv/documents/clientelismIncomeInequalityandSocialPreferences_000.pdf 

Surrounding Islamic countries might foster unrest if nothing else to demoralize the West and decrease this influence. Since most of these countries are kingdoms or ruled by despots, these nations have a hidden agenda to create unrest and present the U.S.-led invasion and its aftermath as a failure.
Having been identified a failure in the eyes of the world would prevent any possible invasion of the other Islamic kingdoms or fiefdoms.

Another cause of a possible long-term failure of U.S. attempts at bringing democracy to Iraq would be because of the Islamic mindset. There are two primary sects within Islam (among others): Sunni and Shiite. Mr. Hussein was a Sunni. Sunnis in the country were preferentially treated. The Sunnis would therefore not want the removal of Saddam Hussein because of the fear of transfer (or sharing) of power with the Shiites. Many have averred that centuries of generations of having lived…...

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Reference

Copson, Raymond W. "Iraq War: Background and Issues Overview." Report for Congress, 2003.

Toland, John. But Not in Shame; the Six Months after Pearl Harbor. New York,: Random House, 1961.

Autocracy and Democracy
There are different forms of government throughout the world. Each nation decides how it will govern its people and in whom the power will be vested. It is expected that when the nation is established, either the citizens or those who led the efforts to create the new nation will find a system of governance that works for all considered. There are many different forms of government, perhaps as many different forms as there are governments to adopt them. Some nations have kings and queen who rule their monarchy, others are theocracies where the rulers are the clergy, and still others are meritocracies where those who are put in positions of power have been granted the honor based on their value to the rest of the society. Two nearly diametrically opposed systems of government are democracies and autocracies. In the former government type, the people are the leaders…...

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Works Cited

Danziger, J. (2013). Understanding the Political World. 11th edition. Pearson.

Robert A. Dahl's On Democracy believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy - but that could change.
Dan Quayle (1947 -), 5/22/89

The term, democracy, means many things in popular discourse. One has only to turn on the television to hear presidential speeches, public discussion, or news commentators espousing its virtues -- "goodness," "virtue," and "liberty," almost as if the term has become synonymous with freedom itself. In fact this trend is becoming so prevalent, that I find myself checking with each new release of Microsoft Word, if ther term "democracy" might yield "freedom" in its thesaurus.

Although today's average rabid patriot (a species won't to exclaim statements like, "Our boys are over there in eye-rak fighting for our freedom!") may see nothing amiss with this notion, there remains the issue of the tremendous disservice that results from the simplistic coupling of the two terms, for if democracy…...

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Bibliography

Dahl, Robert. On Democracy. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998.

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…...

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Works Cited

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

Scholastic. Scholastic Inc., n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2015. .

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.

The Executive Branch (President and Cabinet) executes spending and Congressional instructions, makes appointments to certain governmental posts, and is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. The Judicial Branch (Supreme Court) exercises judicial review over the constitutionality and interpretation of laws; determines how Congress meant the law to apply, and has a panel that serves for life (Constitutional Topic: Separation of Powers).
There are a number of criticisms focused on the actual level of democracy or even democratic representation in the United States of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. First, many governmental officials (Supreme Court justices, etc.) are appointed, not elected, and therefore may operate outside the will of the populace. Second, in order to be elected to a state or national office now requires a huge amount of funding; putting elected office outside the purview of most people. Thus, it is not necessarily the "best" people…...

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REFERENCES

Cassier, E. The Philosophy of the Enlightenment. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1968.

"Constitutional Topic: Separation of Powers." March 2009. U.S. Constitution.net. December 2010 .

Dahl, Shapiro and Cheibub. The Democracy Sourcebook. Boston: MIT Press, 2003.

"Democracy vs. Republic." June 2004. Albatrus.org. December 2010 .

If the context, nation, or order centers on a group of people who have either lost interest in political ideology, or desire to share in the common decision process, then they are not truly represented. This could result in the lack of an appeal of voting, to be involved in litigation, or the lack of proper representation. "In societies where some form of elitism is institutionalized, there democracy cannot breathe easily," (Lane & Ersson 10). This can be common in industrialized societies where a family, a system, or socioeconomic presence of a class is evidenced. Democracy can create a depressed economy, environment, or nation, if the common members feel as though the elitist individuals are using the form of government to benefit those within certain classes or families in society. This was seen historically when the stock market crashed in 1929. Nash states, "The search was to dominate Americans…...

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Works Cited

Dahl, Professor Robert A. On Democracy. New Haven. CT: Yale University Press. 1998.

Diamond, Larry. The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle to Build Free Societies. New York,

NY: Henry Holt & Co. 2008.

Ersson, Svante & Lane, Jan-Erik. Democracy: A Comparative Approach. New York, NY:

Democracy in the United States [...] what type of democracy is the U.S. What are the most democratic and least democratic features of American national government? Do you believe that the U.S. presently embodies the core values of a democracy or do you believe that the U.S. has yet to attain the essence of democratic ideals? Democracy is one of the most sought after forms of government, and some form of democracy reaches far back into history, as far back as early Greece. American democracy is a model for the world.
First, to discuss democracy it is better to define democracy. "Democracy" comes from the Greek work "demos" which means "the common people," and "kratia" which means, "power" (O'Neil 149). Thus, democracy means the power actually lives in the people. However, this is too simply a definition of the word. Author O'Neil maintains the word means "political power exercised either…...

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References

Mueller, Dennis C. Constitutional Democracy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

O'Neil, Patrick. Essentials of Comparative Politics. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2004.

Putnam, Robert D. "Democracy in America at the End of the Twentieth Century." Participation and Democracy, East and West: Comparisons and Interpretations. Eds. Rueschemeyer, Dietrich, Marilyn Rueschemeyer, and Bjorn Wittrock. Armonk, NY M.E. Sharpe, 1998. 233-259.

democracy and representative government central inspirations for European feminists in the 19th and early 20th centuries? Were there other issues that inspired the feminists?
urning in the heart of each person is the desire to be free and to be recognized as a valuable part of society while at the same time receiving recognition as an individual. This desire is not trained into us by our society, because regardless of the social organization, or culture, all men and women feel this burning desire equally. The desire to be free, independent and recognized as valuable is a part of what separated men and women from animals. We are important, and our contribution to the social order is an important process by which we make carve out our own identify, and self-worth.

However, this desire for identity and recognition should not be confused with, nor forcibly molded into a desire for sameness between…...

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Bibliography

Sources of the Western Tradition: From the Renaissance to the Present, 5th edition, Volume 2 - written by Marvin Perry, Joseph R. Peden & Theodore H. Von Laue - 2003

History of World Societies: Since 1500, 6th Edition, Volume 2 - Written by John P. McKay, Bennett D. Hill, John Buckler, Patricia Buckley Ebrey - 2004

In these very conservative Islamic countries, and even those less conservative like Jordan and Egypt, we see symbols of capitalism. This gives rise to the question of whether or not these countries can in fact be a part of a world economy without surrendering their theocratic rule to more liberal forms of democratic rule; or whether they reject - as Iran has done - Westernization completely.
At this point the outcome is unknown, but this does help explain the conditions in the Middle East today, and why the situation in Iraq has become so violent. The question becomes one of whether or not the fundamental principles of Islam can survive against the fundamental principles of democracy; the answer is predictably no. This is what has given rise to Islamic fundamentalism in the region; those Muslims who - and perhaps rightfully so - under stand the threat of over exposure to…...

representative system of government has motivated a vital chain of discussions in the literature about police workers administration and representation of women and racial minorities. The serious questions in this study are: (a.) Does the under oath police force rationally mirror a cross section of the groups being monitored? And (b.) hat aspects are measured in representation of women and minority police officers in law-enforcement agencies? Black and Hispanic depictions on police forces are strongly associated with its incidence in community populations. Regions differ in the quantity of female and minority illustrations, blacks being better characterized in southern police forces than in another place; women are better characterized in the northwest. Nevertheless, findings disclose that men, more often than not whites, maintain to hold unreasonably more sworn positions in the largest part of law-enforcement agencies. The data sets of female and minority representation also demonstrate the extent of female…...

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Works Cited

Ayres, Ian, and Steven Levitt. Measuring Positive Externalities from Unobservable Victim Precaution: An Empirical Analysis of Lojack. Quarterly Journal of Economics, February 2008, 43-77.

Bahrke, Mike, and Bob Hoffman. Identifying the Fitness Needs of Law Enforcement Officers. Working Paper, Fit Force, 2007.

Coate, Stephen, and Glenn Loury. Will Affirmative-Action Policies Eliminate Negative Stereotypes? American Economic Review, 2003, 1220-40.

Donohue, John J, and Steven D. Levitt. The Impact of Race on Policing, Arrest Patterns, and Crime. Working Paper, Stanford University Law School, August 2009.

It is difficult to answer any question that asks about how the founders felt about anything.  While there were many more people involved in the American Revolution, resulting in some disagreement about who was a founder, there is a list of 10 people that consistently get mentioned as founders or founding fathers.  However, these 10 people were not ideologically identical.  In fact, there was a substantial amount of disagreement among them about a number of topics, including the rule of the average person in democracy.  To get a better feel for their competing ideas, you can reference....

Ideologies and Power Dynamics in Political Systems

Ideologies are sets of beliefs that guide individuals and groups in their political actions. They encompass fundamental assumptions about the nature of society, the role of government, and the distribution of power. Ideologies play a crucial role in shaping the dynamics of power in political systems by:

1. Defining the Goals and Objectives of Power:

Ideologies provide the underlying principles that determine the goals and objectives of those seeking power. For example, a socialist ideology emphasizes the equitable distribution of wealth and resources, while a conservative ideology prioritizes the preservation of traditional values and economic freedom.....