Stephanie Patrick

Alan Wood

POS 428

24 January 2022

Democracy Paper:

Contemporary American Democracy

You can see Greek inspiration in the United States from the architectural style of our

government buildings to the type of government we chose to run the country by. Democracy is a

Greek invention, first practiced in the city of Athens, Greece in which the people had immense

say in their government–from the laws to electing those who presided over the city. Democracy

by definition is “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised

by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically

held free elections” (Merriam-Webster, 2016). There are many different takes on what makes a

democracy successful, however I believe that there are a few key aspects that provide the ideal

democratic state.

There were quite a few limitations regarding the Greek democratic way of life and many

of those ended up transferring over to America when the country was using Greece and Athens

as inspiration for their government. For example, Hudson explains in his book that Greece, while

involving their citizens in governing:

“the Athenian Assembly (Ecclesia), composed of all male citizens…[excluded] the

female half of the population…[and] the enormous slave population, larger than the

number of free citizens (about three slaves for every two citizens), had no right to

political participation” (Hudson, 2017).

This exclusivity was a part of American democracy until the right to vote for all was officially

established in the early 1900s, and one could even argue that it wasn’t fully established until the

1960s when the Voting Rights Act was passed to keep from discriminating against the Black

population and others who were barred from the voting booths. This weakness of American

democracy has continued to today.

Voting is a large part of democracy. One way to get our voices heard is through voting on

who will represent us in Congress and which pieces of legislation we like or dislike in our

counties and cities. Democracy relies on the voices of the people: “the ‘one person, one vote’

idea ensures that the voting power of the many will counterbalance the potential political

advantages of the affluent few” (Hudson, 2017). We have come very far in this from first

allowing all white men–even the working class–to vote, to all men–including those of color–to

women and lowering the voting age requirement, but there are still some problems with this

major component of American democracy. Just recently, the Senate blocked a voting right bill

that was essentially expanding on the Voting Rights Act, making it harder for states to add

restrictions and requirements during election season (Hulse, 2022). We have come far, however

we are still struggling with the exclusion that our original democracy template gave us.

I am a big supporter of debate, lively discussions and arguments. While voting is

definitely one of the most considerable components of American democracy, so is open

discussion and debate. After all, the only way to come to an agreement and vote on a law in

Congress is to debate and discuss. Today, the United States is very good at debating. Sometimes,

it seems as though that is all Congress does, and the voting aspect is never reached. While

debating has always been and always will be, I do think that our debates in Congress are so

polarized and very partisan that it has reached a bit too far. In fact, according to Pew Research,
the majority of Americans believe that Congress is too polarized and should meet halfway so as

to get things done (2021). This is something that I do think that our country should work on;

after all, the American people are the face of American democracy.

Debates are also prevalent in the media, which is a huge aspect of democracy. Most

people don’t always consider the media a part of government or a part of American democracy,

but in recent years, the media has exploded with political views and has greatly influenced the

way that people think. This, in turn, influences our democracy. Democracy is all based on the

people and who they vote for and what they believe. If the media–both traditional and social

media–is influencing the public, then it does play a large role in our democracy. I think that this

can be utilized in a good way. There are a lot of people who don’t know much about politics or

don’t necessarily care about it. This could be because they think it is complicated or because they

think that it is handled by their representatives, I don’t know. What I do know is that using the

media would be a great way for the American people to get more information and be more

involved with our democracy. The media, the internet, and social media won’t ever go away so

politics might as well use it and allow the people to learn more about democracy and participate

in ways that democracy has never seen before.

Democracy is a system of government by the people. Democracies give the citizens of

the nation power and allow them to have a say in government. The United States has a

democracy that was influenced by the Greek and has influenced other countries around the world

to follow in their footsteps. It isn’t perfect, by any means, but it is progressing as the centuries

pass. Because the people have so much voice, American democracy is able to make those

changes and will continue to throughout the years.

 References

Hudson, W. E. American Democracy in Peril: Eight Challenges to America’s Future, 8th Edition

(Thousand Oaks, California: CQ Press, and imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc., 2017).

Hulse, C. (2022, January 20). After a day of debate, the voting rights bill is blocked in the

Senate. Retrieved from

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/19/us/politics/senate-voting-rights-filibuster.html

Merriam-Webster. (2016). The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.

Political Polarization in the American Public. (2021, April 09). Retrieved from

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-pu

blic/