What are the key features of a democracy?
Explain and seriously assess the features produced by the U.The main reference to E. Wood is in the S Constitution.From ancient to modern-day conceptions of citizenship, agent democracy is a term inseparable from the U.The constitution of S.The participants of the Philadelphia Convention created a variety of government that went on to become the most influential of all federal governments.
It was the beginning of the dominance of democracy in the world.The rise of capitalism and the creation of representative democracy were two key functions of the constitution.They separated the financial sphere from the political one.The arrival of liberalism saw a focus on limited powers of government, protecting private rights and civil liberties, essentially the freedom of the individual and their right to personal home.
The 2 features are closely connected and could not have arisen without the other.A representative democracy where participation in politics is indirect and eliminated from civic life or the financial sphere is linked with the separation of civic society from politics.Their relationship will be examined further in this essay, along with how they have defined representative democracy.
We will uncover what E. Wood is suggesting in his chapter, "The demos versus "we the people": from ancient to contemporary conceptions of citizenship".
The key features of representative democracy were created by the U.The constitution needs to be compared to the birth of the democratic ideal in Athens.Democracy as a political concept and method of structuring a community began in Greece in around 500 BC.The Athenians knew that the democracy they had would be known as a participatory democracy.
It is obvious that it was a form of rule for the people.Democracy is named after the Greek word for popular government.The Greek words for "common people" and "rule and strength" were used to create the word "Demokratia".If the poor are included in the political community, democracy can only be a success.A revolution in which peasants sought to liberate themselves from the political domination of their superiors led to the creation of this form of government.
The men of the Philadelphia Convention set out to achieve something, which could be described as a powerful, propertied minority looking to secure their property and liberty against the threat of mass population.If the Athenians were freeing themselves from the powers of the wealthy by instigating a demokratia, it could be said that the American elite were trying to create a democracy that would allow the poor to vote.
Having just secured their property and prospects from the British crown in a bloody and expensive war, the propertied elite on the west coast of America were now having their wealth threatened by an increasingly politically active and aggressive majority.The experience of the American Revolution made people politically active.The general wrote to George Washington that the people who were the rebels felt like their poverty was the weakness of the government.The Philadelphia Convention in 1787 was prompted by the acknowledgment of the mass desire for equality, along with a huge national debt and need to successfully manage inflation.The constitution of S.
The writer of the Constitution was forced to do so.If they didn't introduce some kind of democratic rule, they wanted to secure their wealth from any form of governance.They set out to limit the powers of government and protect their individual interests when they were forced to introduce a democratic government.In a democracy, the mass would look to balance society's inequalities.
The most common and durable source of factions has been the various and equal distribution of property according to prominent federalist Madison.Those who are without property have formed distinct interests in society.Federalists were worried that this majority could overturn or alter their rights of property.The first object of government was the protection of these rights.
The libertarian rights are protected by the constitutionalist nature of the government and the separation of powers.The structure and interaction of the U.S. legislature, executive and judiciary means that it is very difficult to make a big or controversial change to the Constitution.The rights of property in federal law were secured by the Federalists.In order to secure the rise of capitalism, the birth of liberalism was enabled by their invented form of representative democracy.
The rapid expansion of capitalist agriculture, industry, commerce and banking would be impossible if the rights and liberties of property were not codified, according to B. Roper.Property being linked with the advancement of capitalism is a key component of liberalism.E. Wood believes capitalism made possible the redefinition of democracy.
In a capitalist democracy, the rights of the individual become the focal point of citizenship, a society of individuals with private interests represented by a removed central government.The Constitution justified cementing capitalism as the desired economic model through a number of ideals that are now associated with liberalism.The rights of the individual were protected by the separation of power and constitutionalism of American governance.It is difficult for the Constitution to be changed.
There was a clear effort within the constitution to keep the power of the state in check.The political form of democracy was born out of the Philadelphia convention.The economic sphere is invulnerable to democratic power because of a separation.America's ideal is that all men are created equal and that they have the right to life, liberty and equality.
The existence of a free market is what distinguishes feudalism from capitalism.The right to own labour and property without interference from the state signaled the end of feudalism, but also caused a shift in power from those born into privilege to those with wealth.In a society where everyone is equal with the same rights and privileges, the real source of power within the society became an economic advantage.
There is a clear distinction between equality in the political sphere and in civic society, which was made redundant by capitalism.E. Wood said political equality in capitalist democracy not only coexists with socio economic inequality but leaves it fundamentally intact.The men of the Philadelphia convention were successful in giving the people of Philadelphia democracy and political equality while maintaining their own interests of protecting their private property and ability to trade and expand on it.
The essence of what E. Wood means is here.The free-born and poor control the government as they are the majority in a constitution that was defined by the direct political action of the people in Athens.The American system of representative democracy equates rule of the people by a third party, a far off federal government, to their political interests.
Federalists decided to remove the political sphere because they believed the poor were better served by the elite.The idea of representation of all classes of people was unrealistic according to Alexander Hamilton.They were to be best lead by representatives of the elite, the merchant was the best representative for mechanics and manufacturers, and the large landholder was best for small landholders and highly educated professionals such as lawyers.Two forms of democracy are the opposite of each other.Rather than placing power in the hands of the people, representative democracy involves a transfer or sign over of power to a separated political sphere.