What is democracy? And most importantly is the United States and California Democratic? One of the first societies that exercised democracy was Athens. The Athenian people were democratic and valued political affairs. Thought out 594 B.C.E to 338 B.C.E democracy in Athens flourished. To the Greeks‚ democracy meant that the people ruled (L). Now we define democracy as popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty is when the people are the ultimate source of authority and the government does their bidding
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There are two different understandings of democracy: direct democracy (the rule of many) and representative democracy. The US government uses representative democracy‚ everyone is given their own power‚ even if it’s as minimal as voting for a leader to represent you. The Framers of the Constitution believed a direct democracy would lead to people following the popular opinion instead of the common good for the nation. Despite being run on a democracy‚ people have separate views of how the government
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Direct democracy is where the people vote directly on the laws. The problem with this is rational ignorance‚ where cost outweighs the benefits. There are three kinds of direct democracy: recall‚ initiative‚ and referendum. It happens in four stages: preparation stage‚ qualifications stage‚ voting stage‚ and the implementation stage. Direct democracy is only good because people get what they want and many innovative ideas happen at the ballot box. It’s bad because there is budgeting at the ballot
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Democracy is a system of government where people rule. Democracy allows the people to rule themselves‚ giving them ultimate power. By supporting democracy we support important American values including religious freedom‚ worker rights‚ as well as creating a more organized‚ united nation. We have established several organizations to both support and advocate democracy‚ one of which is the Bureau of Democracy‚ Human Rights‚ and Labor (DRL). With the people’s opinion and such organizations‚ American
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based off of the Ancient Greek’s idea of democracy‚ in which people voted themselves on issues pertaining to their government (Samons 1). While the founding fathers did use a kind of democracy‚ it was a representative rather than pure democracy. The American government does‚ however‚ use direct democracy in certain states‚ for better or worse. The theory behind direct democracy seems to fit what the American people want exactly. The people have a direct say on things that will affect their government
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the Distinction between Direct and Representational Democracy The dispute over direct or representational democracy has been a heated discussion for several years. There are some persuasive arguments on either side of the table. Direct democracy lends itself to the conception that the people should decide the law of the land‚ and that the people know fully how to govern. In contrast‚ representational democracy contends that the prevalent individual does not have adequate education about the
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Direct democracy is a type of democracy that allows the people of a sovereign state to vote for leaders and legislation without representation. This form of democracy is based on a direct participation from all citizens of this country to decide the path of their nation through elections. One strength of direct democracy is that it gives the voters of the nation a greater sense of efficacy‚ the ability of a citizen to both understand and influence political events. However‚ direct democracy does
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Direct Democracy vs Representative Democracy The term Democracy is derived from two Greek words‚ demos‚ meaning people‚ and kratos‚ meaning rule. These two words form the word democracy which means rule by the people. Aristotle‚ and other ancient Greek political philosophers‚ used the phrase‚ `the governors are to be the governed’‚ or as we have come to know it‚ `rule and be ruled in turn’. The two major types of democracy are Representative Democracy and Direct Democracy. Clearly
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Democracy‚ also known as democratic government‚ is essentially a government by the people. It is a form of government in which the supreme power is retained by the people‚ but sometimes exercised indirectly through a system of representation and delegated authority periodically renewed during elections. Democracy differs from other types of government.For example‚ absolute monarchy‚ in which an individual holds all the power‚ or oligarchy‚ in which a few individuals hold all the power. There
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Democracy is the political system where all governmental power is dispersed among the people. What the people want‚ is what the people get. Everyone has as much of an equal say as the next person; whether that person is more wealthy‚ more influential‚ or more well liked. It was created in opposition to many forms of government where the main power is held solely by one‚ or a few individuals‚ such as an oligarchy or a dictatorship. There are many modified forms of democracy that exist‚ but the main
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