The United States of America is regarded as a democracy by the rest of the world. Most nations around the world have turned to the United States to provide a center stage in matters of democracy. The American government has consistently encouraged nations to accept equality and ensure that all people are active in policymaking. Surprisingly, this has not been the case in the United States, where the government has empowered the rich, elites, and special interest groups to be the only class that has a voice in big policy decisions. The poor and the middle class have been invariably isolated when important policies that affect their lives are being made. In this respect, the United States of America do not practice and embrace democracy. The paper seeks to provide an in-depth discussion that shows that America is not a democratic nation.
The democracy only exists in a country when the masses are involved in making the important policy that affects their lives. If they are not given a chance or denied to participate in this process, then such a country has no element of the democracy. Most of the American believes that their country is democratic, but this is not the case. A democratic government must ensure that there is an equitable distribution of resources, there is justice for all, and that the voices of the poor, the middle class and the rich are all incorporated when policies are being made (Van Dyck 173). The American has managed to provide justice for all and to show equity and fairness in the distribution of the resources, but it has failed to involve the entire citizen in the formulation of the meaningful policies. Important to point out is that the democracy also connotes to the respect of the will of the majority, but when the minority are left to make the decision for the majority, then such a country does not practice the democracy (Van Dyck 173).
America qualifies for an oligarchy form of government rather than a democratic society. The policy formulation in America in matters of the public interest is influenced majorly by a few people and communities that matter most. The general public has been deprived of the powers to make concrete and sound decisions. Since the system of the discussed country does not incorporate the entire citizen in the essential functions such as the policy making, it, therefore, lacks the democracy. Worst to note is that the elite that form a smaller fraction of the society, for instance, the organized interest groups make a larger contribution in the making of the decisions that affects public policy (Caramani 54). The common people who make up the lawful citizens of America in many cases have little and totally no independent influence in on public policies. It has been reported in many cases how the interest groups make decisions in their favor in matters that affect the general public. It is in no doubt that business-related policies and the market structure all work against the common people. The elites make sound decisions concerning the rates and the interest on public property all leaving the general public on the unknown side (Caramani 54). The common majority does not have a voice; they only get a subscription of the already set laws and business policies.
The federal laws despite being enacted at the grass root levels also have a bearing to the elite minds. The organized groups at the state levels also have their own formation and targets to achieve. The drafted laws before being signed by the governor should have gone through a series of processes which in most cases are processed to make the law suitable for the interest groups. The big lie is that the elites work for the common man (Kashwan 139). It has been a game changer between the majority and the minority that the few who gas got money and power matter most than the sound minded many who are poor. Power balance is a dream in the American history and will remain a problem till the time the United States of America as a whole nation would go viral and say enough is enough. The wealthier Americans are making advances as they did in, the earlier times all to ensure that they remain relevant in policy making (Williams 23). Notably, there is no single policy that has been put in place by the wealthier class is proportionate to the in favor of the elites as well as the poor people in the nation. This is an explicit indication that America is ruled by a particular class of people, making it devoid of democracy.
The involvement of the elites, the businessmen and the interested in formulation and changing of the policy is an explicit indication that the power of money matters as compared to the democracy. If the democracy of the America can be reduced to the power of money, the discussed nation should not be listed and classified a country with full democracy (Williams 23). The poor and the middle-class people who have meager wealth have therefore been left out when issues that affect their lives are formulated.Works Cited
Caramani, Daniele. "Will vs. reason: The populist and technocratic forms of political representation and their critique to party government." American Political Science Review 111.1 (2017): 54-67.
Kashwan, Prakash. "Inequality, democracy, and the environment: A cross-national analysis." Ecological Economics 131 (2017): 139-151.
Van Dyck, Brandon. "The Paradox of Adversity: The Contrasting Fates of Latin America's New Left Parties." Comparative Politics 49.2 (2017): 169-192.
Williams, Ryan T. "The Fourth Reich? The Perilous Parallels between Hitler and Trump and the Fall of American Democracy." (2017).
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