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Democracy is a common term that is used by many people to describe a form of governance. There are various definitions that can be put forth to describe this term. Among those who give the definition of this term are scholars Hauss and Dahl. Dahl describes democracy as a type of political system that has characteristics of almost or in other cases complete responsive governance to its citizens. He brings forth the term and emphasizes on the term responsive to its citizens in complete or near complete manner. Dahl gives three opportunities that citizens need to have in order to claim that they are in a democratic country. The three opportunities are formulation of their preferences, signifying preferences of fellow citizens and having different preferences weighed out evenly by the government. Weighing of the preferences should be done with no discrimination in any democratic government.
According to Hauss, democracy is defined when concepts, like free and fair elections, complete and competitive elections, capitalist economy and strong civil, social and cultural society are present. His definition is based on what is present in the ruling governance. The presence or absence of certain concepts may mean that their governance is not democratic. He is however quick to point out that holding elections regularly does not make a form of governance democratic. Hauss notes, “Some observers also claim that a democracy has to have a capitalist economy and strong civil society and civic culture, although not all political scientists would include these two criteria”.
There are many claims that American Political System is ‘exceptional’. This, according to Seymour Martin Lipset, an American Sociologists, means that American history is qualitatively different from those of developed or developing country’s with democratic forms of governance. In this claim, Lipset says that this is evident from the way America has never come up with a conventional mass socialist party. According to Lipset, America and its people are different from the rest of the world. For example, he sites that America is the best country in almost everything it does. He gives an example of its religious stand, where American citizens are among the best in the world with their lawyers being the best in per capital income rates. He also points out how Americans are keen on moral values and how the country has the biggest number of people in jails as compared to any other country in the world. This shows how the country is the first and in both positive and negative values.
The positives are in one extreme while the negatives are in the other extreme. Lipset’s point is that the United States of America is a country where no one is perfect but people understand that their lives are intertwined hence the need for everyone to take charge of their lives. Lipset proves that the country is the highest-paid nation in real income terms making it the wealthiest country. He also points out that the country has the highest education rates in the world with people going through postgraduate education and then enrolling in alternative studies while working. Furthermore, they focus on the economical development rather than on participating in leisure; they are more committed to working rather than focusing on enjoying their time and money. He points out in regards to egalitarian that it is the least among developed states in distribution of income. It is the country that focuses on upward mobility in terms of professionalism and elite occupations.
It is a country where crime rates are very high and people may argue that it is the most immoral society. However, one needs to take it from a different point of view. The country has the highest number of divorce cases in the world. This may make them immoral, but it points out that they do not wish to sit there and be oppressed when a relationship is not going as expected. They rather stand out and fight for what is right. This is why the country has the highest number of people in prisons. They do not condone immoral values and they take actions against the wrongs done. This makes the country the most moralistic nation among developed countries. The huge protestant population and commitment to numerous initiatives to help each other can support this. People identify themselves with their historical standings and are not based on the ideologies that can be corrupted over time. It proves the point that positive and negative values are just two sides of one coin. Just as Lipset says, “The more well-to-do a nation, the greater the chances that it will sustain democracy”.
American political system has changed rapidly since the 2010 elections with a major shift in the control of the number of representatives. Conservatives are taking over and they are planning on radical changes in the market. The fight for power now means that republicans are giving power to market operators with no regard to its consequences. As such, there have been massive changes as the result of elections are now proving that America may be going back to the early 1920s, where women’s rights will be limited. All this is possible because of the shift in the majority rule, which is most common in democratic leadership. It is however ironical that the majority seems to be on the receiving end since the elections.