Democracy in America - Coursework Example

Democracy in America American is one of the prominent secular democratic countries in the world. Judiciary, Parliament and Executive are thethree major pillars of a democratic state and all these elements are hyper active in America. Religious rights, human rights, freedom of expression etc are protected by law and order in America. In short, America is offering maximum freedom and liberties needed for the people of a civilized society. But, many people believe American democracy can be improved further. Some of the liberties given to the public in the name of democracy are causing problems whereas some other areas need more liberalization. This paper briefly analyses the areas which need further modifications or improvements in order to make the democracy stronger in America. American Democracy Today America is a country most of the people like to immigrate because of the immense freedom, liberties and opportunities existing there. Perhaps America is the only country in the world which is developed equally well in most of the areas of human life. If China can compete with America with respect to economic development, they are far behind America with respect to the protection of human rights and freedom of expression rights are concerned. Sometimes United Kingdom can match United States in these areas. But they are also far behind America in terms of strength of democracy. U.K. is not a true democratic country since the monarch is believed to be the head of United Kingdom at least on papers. In short, America is the richest and most civilized country in the world and the major reason for such huge developments is nothing but the strength of stainless democracy. At the same time many political gurus believe that American democracy have lot of spaces for improvement. In their opinion, American constitution, style of government functioning, civil liberties, Electoral College, presidential power, procedures of selecting Supreme Court judges etc are some areas which should be improved further in order to make the American democracy perfect. Challenges to American Democracy American Political Science Association (2004) has mentioned that the ideals of equal citizenship and responsive government may be under growing threat in America at present because of persistent and rising inequalities. In their opinion, disparities of income, wealth, and access to opportunity are growing more sharply in the United States than in many other nations, and gaps between races and ethnic groups persist (American Political Science Association, 2004, p.1). America is a capitalist country and the major criticism labeled against America by the critics is the accumulation of wealth by only a particular segment of people in the society. In other words, the rich become richer while the poor become poorer because of the loopholes in American democracy. The above fact was more evident when the recession hit America recently. The poor people struggled to counter the recession problems whereas the rich people did not face many troubles. The racial discrimination in America has been prohibited by law, but still the black community is facing many challenges in the society which is another drawback of American democracy. “Every citizen- regardless of income, gender, race, and ethnicity — should have an equal voice in representative government” (American Political Science Association, 2004, p.4). When Obama became the President, he has rewritten the American history and fulfilled the dream of Martin Luther King. Bobby Jindal is another person from black community who succeeded in becoming the governor of Louisiana. The value of civic values in America can be better understood only when we compare the election of Obama as the president of America with the failure of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi to become the prime minister of India, one of the prominent democratic countries in the world. Even though the congress party got majority in the 2004 Indian parliament elections, the opposition parties raised strong protest against a person of foreign origin becoming the Indian prime minister. Thus Sonia Gandhi, a person of Italian origin and the Congress party president, forced to promote Dr. Man Mohan Singh as the prime minister of India. Even though racial discrimination is evident in many other forms in America, they avoided such things when they voted in the elections. The abilities of the American public to refrain from racial considerations while electing their political leaders are definitely one of the brightest points of American democracy. Constitutional Changes The American constitution seems to be more liberal than the constitutions of some other prominent democratic countries in the world. The American Constitution was able to give supreme power to the national government; still the states enjoy substantial freedom in making local statutes. America is a big country with so many states with people of different culture. The statute suitable for one state may not be suitable for another state. For example, the legal age of consent for sexual activities is different in different states in America - in some state it is 17 whereas in some other states it is 18. At the same time, drink age, smoking age, voting age etc are standardized across the country. In my opinion, America should have a uniform law across the country with respect to all critical matters affecting the basic necessities and freedom of a person. For example, according to American constitution, a person who completed 18 years can vote in the elections, but he should wait till the completion of 21 to drink legally. A person matured enough to elect a government should be matured enough to control himself. Even though America is a civilized country, capital punishments are more in America compared to some other countries. According to Sharp (1997), approximately 5900 persons have been sentenced to death and 358 executed (from 1973-96) in Untied States (Sharp, 1997). I think the increased capital punishments are contradictory to America’s claim as the saviors of human rights. Capital punishments should be completely prohibited and the criminals should be given life sentence instead of capital punishment if needed. The constitution should be changed to prohibit capital punishments and to standardize the legal age across the country with respect to different rights of a person. One of the major advantages of US constitution is the authority given to the Supreme Court to control the administration. Cohen (2006) has mentioned that the Supreme Court succeeded in controlling or limiting the Bush administrations excesses in the war on terror - or that the administration has been eager to nominate justices with an expansive view of presidential power (Cohen, 2006). The control of Supreme Court over the government is definitely a big plus point of the American constitution as the court can interfere whenever the government commits mistakes. Civil liberty or Civil Right Changes Civil liberties and rights are entirely different topics; civil liberties deal with topics such as freedom of speech, right to vote, right to marry etc whereas civil rights deal with basic rights to enjoy equal opportunities in employment, housing, food, religious beliefs etc. "Civil liberties" concern basic rights and freedoms that are guaranteed -- either explicitly identified in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, or interpreted through the years by courts and lawmakers” (Find Law, 2009). Even though all the civil rights and civil liberties are equally important, in my opinion, the civil right to have equal opportunities in employment and the civil liberty to have the right to vote are the most crucial ones. Employment should not be denied to anyone on the basis of gender, race, or class. Employment should be provided on the basis of merits. Same way the right to vote helps the people to decide who should be their administrators. ‘The right to live’ is a civil right which should not be denied under any circumstances considering the value of human life. But, capital punishment is allowed in United States even though many other countries prohibited it by law. In my opinion, America should prohibit capital punishment in order to strengthen democracy. Changes in the Electoral College American Electoral College needs drastic changes in order to make the election process more meaningful. Now the Electoral College ignores the popular vote while declaring the winner of the president election. “Theres a chance that someone could be elected president without receiving more popular votes than any other candidates. Two candidates in the 19th century as well as George W. Bush in 2000 were elected president without winning the popular vote” (About the Electoral College, 2010). Popular vote should be taken as the basis for electing the President of America. Even though Al Gore got more popular votes in 2000 American elections, he was forced to accept defeat because of the loopholes in the procedures of the president election. If a person with more support from the public fails to achieve power, it is an absolute failure of democracy. In democracy, everything is decided based on majority and isolating the president election from the norms of majority cannot be justified under any circumstances. Congressional Structure A bill becomes a law in America if it acquires support from the majority of the Congress members. It is too easy for the lobbyists to make a law in America by influencing the congressional members. Same way it is easy for the lobbyists to prevent a bill from becoming a law if it is against their will or interests. If the public demand was high enough, then also a bill can be passed easily as the congressional members need the public support for their reelection. The congressional structure was intended to safeguard the interests of the states, the members represent. In short, personal motives and regional preferences are controlling the law making in American congress which is not good for the objectives of democracy. The interests of the poor are quiet often neglected at the expense of selfish motives of the upper class. Congressional members need money for their election campaigns which is provided by the lobbyists and hence they were forced to safeguard the interests of the lobbyists. If American constitution was able to limit the election expenses, then only the influence of the lobbyists will come down in law making. Role of President Currently the US president enjoys the roles as the chief administrator, head of state, commander in chief, diplomat, chief of state, law maker political chief etc (Wisc Online, 2010). In my opinion, the president has more than enough responsibilities at present and a prime minister is needed to assist the president. The president can hold the responsibilities as the head of state, commander in chief, chief administrator etc whereas the other responsibilities should be given to a newly constructed post of Prime Minister like in India. President should be the head of the state and he should give the final words in all policy making. But the over burden of diverse roles will definitely affect his productivity and he needs more support from a candidate like a prime minister. American Bureaucracy Bureaucracy is responsible for the successful implementation of the policies taken by the government. Government actually functions through bureaucracy. Efficient and unselfish bureaucrats are necessary to implement the policies successfully. But in many cases, the bureaucrats may try to dilute the policies which may result in unintended outcomes. Bureaucracy in many cases, encourage the back door dealings and hence the chances of corruption are more. America should enforce more control over the bureaucracy in order to prevent corruption and delaying of administration procedures. Selection of Supreme Court Judges Federal judges and Supreme Court justices are not elected; they are appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate at present. An unelected judiciary in democracy is a big question mark for many people. Election is the core of democracy and nomination is taking place in judiciary. In my opinion, not many options left to improve the selection process of the Federal judges and Supreme Court justices. It is not practical to elect the judges same way like the president. Even the elected judges may try to safeguard the interests of the people who voted for him. But judiciary should be free from any prejudices, biases or selfish interests in order to provide justice to all and hence in my opinion, the present system of selection of judges can be continued. Conclusions American democracy needs some changes to make it more acceptable to the public. The current election process of the president should be revised and the antidemocratic policies like capital punishment and disparities in age limits for different personal rights in different states should be avoided. The responsibilities of the president should be reduced and the formation of a new prime minister post would be better. Social injustices with respect to employment, class, race, religion etc should be avoided completely in order to make the American democracy more meaningful. References 1. About the Electoral College. (2010). Retrieved 18 July, 2010, from http://www.lwvct.org/voters/electoral-college.htm 2. American Political Science Association. (2004). Task force on inequality and American democracy. p.1-4. Retrieved from http://www.apsanet.org/imgtest/taskforcereport.pdf 3. Cohen A. (January 23, 2006). Democracy in America, then and now, a struggle against majority tyranny. New York Times, Retrieved 18 July, 2010, from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/23/opinion/23mon3.html 4. Find Law. (2009). “Civil Rights" vs. "Civil Liberties". Retrieved 18, July 2010, from http://public.findlaw.com/civil-rights/civil-rights-basics/civil-rights-vs-liberties.html 5. Sharp D. (1997). Death penalty and sentencing information. Retrieved 18, July 2010, from http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/dp.html 6. Wisc Online. (2010). United States Presidential Roles & Responsibilities. Retrieved 18, July 2010, from http://www.wisc-online.com/objects/ViewObject.aspx?ID=cas2802 Read More