The Evolution Of American Democracy Essay - 1406 Words

The Evolution of the American Democracy United States can be seen as the first liberal democracy. The United States Constitution, adopted in 1788, provided for an elected government and protected civil rights and liberties. On the American frontier, democracy became a way of life, with widespread social, economic and political equality. The system gradually evolved, from Jeffersonian Democracy or the First Party System to Jacksonian Democracy or the Second Party System and later to the Third Party System. In Reconstruction after the Civil War (late 1860s) the newly freed slaves became citizens, and they were given the vote as well. (Web, 1) After 1815 Americans transformed the republic of the Founding Fathers into a democracy.†¦show more content†¦Petitioning, parading, and mobbing (each of which included Americans who were not white males) had all been crucial to the American Revolutionary movement, and they had continued to play important roles in Jeffersonian America. By the 1830s and 1840s, spontaneous parades and mob actions played smaller roles in political life, and more-respectable citizens viewed such activities as disorderly and criminal. Popular participation in politics was more and more limited to voting. Furthermore, voting was organized not by the voice of the citizenry, but by a national twoÂâ€"party system staffed by disciplined professionals. These professionals included candidates, appointed office holders, newspaper editors, and local leaders who organized voters, wrote party platforms, and developed party ideologies in ways that only partially and indirectly reflected popular wishes. Thus political participation was democratized by the 1830s. But democracy included only white men, and even they were transformed from citizens to spectators. Neither the Jeffersonians nor their Federalist opponents admitted to being a political party. To them the term party meant the same as faction. It also meant the victory of selfishness and conte ntion over the selfless unanimity they felt a republic needed. However, two events caused important politicians to reconsider the value of parties. First, theShow MoreRelatedThe Evolution of American Democracy1440 Words   |  6 PagesThe Evolution of the American Democracy United States can be seen as the first liberal democracy. The United States Constitution, adopted in 1788, provided for an elected government and protected civil rights and liberties. On the American frontier, democracy became a way of life, with widespread social, economic and political equality. The system gradually evolved, from Jeffersonian Democracy or the First Party System to Jacksonian Democracy or the Second Party System and later to the Third PartyRead More Individual Liberty Versus Majoritarian Democracy in Edward Larson’s Summer For the Gods878 Words   |  4 Pages Individual Liberty Versus Majoritarian Democracy in Edward Larson’s Summer For the Gods The Scopes trial, writes Edward Larson, to most Americans embodies â€Å"the timeless debate over science and religion.† (265) Written by historians, judges, and playwrights, the history of the Scopes trial has caused Americans to perceive â€Å"the relationship between science and religion in . . . simple terms: either Darwin or the Bible was true.† (265) The road to the trial began when Tennessee passed the ButlerRead MoreWalt Whitman Poetry Essay1685 Words   |  7 PagesWhitman’s Contribution to American Identity Walt Whitman’s portfolio of poetry was a crucial staple in the American identity. 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However, culturalRead MoreThe Evolution Of Democracy In The Early Republic. The Evolution1206 Words   |  5 PagesThe Evolution of Democracy in the Early Republic The evolution of democracy from the time of President Thomas Jefferson to President Andrew Jackson can be depicted as a minimal change in conceptually agrarian viewpoints and strong supporters of equality for the common man. While the two men essentially shared many of the same beliefs and ideas, there was a noticeable difference to how they acted on them and spoke out about them. As the nation s third president, Jefferson organized the national governmentRead MoreThe Role Of Liberal Values At The International Level1617 Words   |  7 PagesComprehensive Economic Partnership, in which Western governments play a significantly smaller role than in longer-existing institutions, such as WTO, NATO, etc. In addition to that, as I have argued before, although China does not fight against liberal democracy with a counter-ideology, it does approach the potential norm of promoting liberal democratic values with the norm of international diversity. The concept of international diversity is that â€Å"respect for differences in countries in terms of theirRead MoreAfter the Second World War, the emergence of high-level warm peace in West Germany was understood600 Words   |  3 Pagesexpellees from the East result to the destabilisation of democracy in West Germany which nearly caused the collapse of the government. The US came to aid in mitigating the problem and assisting the state into a successful German democracy. As discussed earlier, the realist factors of American hegemony had produced cold peace in the Western Europe, but insufficiently produced high-level warm peace. However, with the nature of liberal democracy in the region, the cold peace gradually turned into a high-levelRead More Americas Democracy Essay1091 Words   |  5 PagesAmericas Democracy The United States of America is a republic, or representative democracy. Democracy, a word that comes to us from Greek, literally means the people rule (Romance, July 8). This broad definition leaves unanswered a few important details such as who are the people, how shall they rule, and what should they rule on (July 8). Defining the answers to those questions means defining a model for a democratic system. William E. Hudson defines four such models in his book American DemocracyRead MoreSatire In Herman Melvilles Moby Dick1239 Words   |  5 PagesMelville’s themes are typical of American Romanticism: the â€Å"isolated self† and the difficulty of self-revelation, the imperfections of human knowledge, the contrast between immorality and virtue, and the pursuit of the truth. Although Melville intended to publish a sort of moral parable, he rejected its unambiguity and one-sided interpretation. Moby Dick portrays many American symbols: the Nantucketer as a new type of h ero; the ultimate American legacy, democracy (a political concept which abolishesRead MoreEssay on Media Monopolies are Not a Threat to Democracy 1123 Words   |  5 Pages The Idea which became the United States of America was invented in 1776. A country founded on Democracy, where a government chosen by the people, would be led and protected by the very persons they would elect to carry out this important job. Long before this was established, the explorers and settlers left their homelands in Europe and Asia seeking profit and fortunes in a brave new world. They were entrepreneurs and were business oriented as well as trade driven. The concept of â€Å"Supply