The concept of democracy in the United States is one of representative government.
To a great extent, the framers of the nation sought to avoid two concepts of governance. The first concept was that of a centralized government in the form of a monarchy as this was considered authoritarian rule and not a government of the people. The second concept that the founders believed was to be avoided was the classical concept of direct democracy as they considered this classical system was primary a failed system.Instead, the founders opted for a system of representative government where the people would vote for representatives who would, of course, represent them. The number of congressional representatives was sent based on population within the states and the number of senators was capped at two per state.
The election of the President was removed from the congressional/senatorial process in order to maintain the separation of powers.Also, the Electoral College was devised so that the President would be forced to campaign in small states and less populated area. Also, the concept of democracy in the United States revolves around the notion of federalism. Under this concept, government remains on a local level in certain areas. This is visible in the form of “states rights” where state governments can rule their own territories without interference from the federal government UNLESS federal law explicitly bars certain activities.In James Madison’s THE FEDERALIST PAPERS #10 and #51, the concept of democracy is examined in a more minute level.
In particular, #10 details the concept of “factions” within the election process. In other words, certain sub-segments of the population (factions) may push for their own interests in the spite of the fact that these interests may not serve the wants and desires of the nation as a whole. To a certain extent, factions essentially refer to the emergence of different political parties.When it comes to the subject of factions, what must be understood is that factions are not inherently bad in and of themselves. After all, different groups will have different needs, goals and desires and as long as these needs, goals and desires are not seeking to destroy the nation then there really is no harm in them.
On a baseline level, factions essentially refer to different political parties and a there is nothing truly wrong with a nation that has more than one party as a one party system is little more than a totalitarian nation.However, if a nation has too many parties and factions, as in the case of Italy, there comes the possibility that nothing can be done due to the presence of too many factions. This, however, has not proven to be a problem in the United States. The Federalist Papers #51 refers to the aforementioned separation of powers where the different branches of government (executive, legislative and judiciary) remain “separate, but equal. ” Additionally, #51 refers to the notion that no branch can appoint the other.For example, one of the early rejected notions of electing the president was that congress would elect the president as it would eradicate separation of powers completely.
Another rejected notion was the concept that the state legislatures would elect the President as this would place all the power in the most influential states. Ultimately, the notion of separation of powers eradicates the centralization of authority as well as it maintains the elimination of dependency of one branch of government on the others.
