Ideals and Principles of American Democracy and the Supreme Law Cases
You must write an essay (1000 words minimum) in which you address the following two questions or topics:
The fundamental values that inform how are democratic government is legitimated and organized are enshrined on the Declaration of Independence and in the Constitution of the United States.
1.Identify and discuss the basic ideals and principles of American democracy and how they are applied in our republican form of government.
Those ideals and principles are discussed in the first and second chapters of your textbook. You can also visit the following websites to read the original document in which these fundamental values were first stated and how they were later incorporated in the American Constitution:
The Declaration of Independence: http://www(dot)ushistory(dot)org/declaration/document/
The Constitution of the United States: https://www(dot)archives(dot)gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript
2.Identify the most important Supreme Court cases and executive actions and their impact on law and on our society.
The history of the United States has been marked by the progressive expansion of voting rights and the protection of its citizens through legislation and Supreme Court decisions. At the same time, executive orders, particularly in periods of crisis led to the violation of individual rights. Throughout this module these issues are covered.
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Foundation
1. Identify and discuss the basic ideals and principles of American democracy and how they are applied in our republican form of government.
Democracy in the United States resulted from Celtic, Teutonic, and Roman ideas. The American democracy is a civil composite with several evolutions recorded in different political adjustments. Supporting it in the country is essential in fostering fundamental American values and creating a more stable, safe, and growing global arena where the USA can boost its national interests. To achieve these, there are various incorporated basic ideals and principles of democracy in America. These ideals and principles are practical to the Republican government in different ways.
By definition, the democracy of America refers to a government system that is accountable to the individuals. This type of government fosters equality of opportunities for every citizen giving them the freedom to vote for their rights and their desired officials. The state constitutions are determined to avoid legislative favoritism and enable citizens to participate in self-rule (Bulman-Pozen and Seifter 862). While the interpretation of the meaning has slightly changed, the ideals and principles have remained. Some ideal comprises equality of opportunity, individualism, diversity, and working to achieve a common good.
Equality refers to the value that everyone should be treated honestly and with dignity and embraces chances for economic growth, education, happy life, and political involvement. Unfortunately, many citizens are yet to be guaranteed this right. For instance, low-income families cannot send their children to pre-schools due to the high cost they cannot afford. Individualism argues that people should be guaranteed control over their lives without being influenced by the government and society. Finally, diversity educates individuals to respect and acknowledge that everyone is unique irrespective of their culture, race, belief system, heritage, and socioeconomic status.
On the other hand, the principles of democracy guarantee the citizens the right to religion, speech, and press. While the country's Constitution assured the rule of law to every citizen and offered liberty, inequalities, and slavery were still present in women's status that contradicted the concept of equal rights. As a result, democracy states that every person should be treated equally before the law with no favoritism. Also, there should be no class hierarchy sanctioned by the law. The principle of the rule of law asserts that organizations, individuals, and entities are answerable to the laws which are equally enforced, publicly promulgated, solely adjudicated, and steady with principles of international human rights. Moreover, the US political system provides the national government with limited but not total or supreme power. Limited government recounts to classical liberalism, free markets, and self-regulating economies. Representative democracy is the principle in which individuals vote for people to represent them in the government. The voters elect representatives to Congress acting for the individual's best interests.
The republican type of government has critically embraced these principles. These fundamental rights represented in the Constitution of the USA guarantee every state a republican government. The republican government functions independently for the best interest of individuals under the jurisdiction. Individuals are also guaranteed the freedom to vote, and the basic principles of American democracy remain under this type of government. With justice in the voting system, exercising fairness in governing procedure would be...