Democracy In America
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This document discusses the origins and development of democracy and society in the United States. It describes how the absence of aristocracy and emphasis on individual land ownership led to democratic ideals taking hold during the American Revolution. Laws around inheritance and a focus on individualism and obtaining personal benefits contributed to a culture of democracy and cooperation with the law. Ongoing debates between political parties have helped democracy and society in the US evolve over time.
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An Essay On Political Development
HIST 4020 Intro
This document discusses the roots and evolution of American political culture and government. It covers the philosophical influences on America's founding, such as ideas from Aristotle, the Greeks, Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. It also examines the key characteristics of American democracy, including popular consent, majority rule, and individualism. Additionally, it outlines changes in the US population over time including increasing diversity and an aging population. The document concludes by looking at modern American political ideologies like conservatism, liberalism, and libertarianism as well as views of and expectations toward the government.
Political Ideologies
This document discusses several political ideologies:
- Communism is based on Karl Marx's ideas of public ownership and equality but fails in practice due to human rights abuses and lack of political freedom.
- Socialism also stems from Marx and aims to replace capitalism by arguing it exploits workers and wastes resources. Socialists emphasize society over individuals.
- Capitalism is seen by socialists as unjustly dividing society into workers and capitalists who cannot agree on shared interests.
It also outlines how the two major British parties, Labour and Conservative, generally reflect socialist and capitalist ideologies respectively in their economic and social policies.
1 American Politics and Founding PrinciplesRypsoniStock .docx
1 American Politics and Founding Principles
Rypson/iStock Editorial/Thinkstock
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to
• Define and compare the political philosophies of liberalism and republicanism.
• Outline the core American values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
• Analyze the role political philosophy and competing ideologies played in developing founda-
tional documents such as the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
• Define politics, and analyze what constitutes American politics.
• Explain why the term “American values” means different things to different people.
• Analyze the relationship between competing interpretations of core values and competing polit-
ical ideologies, and describe how they shape American politics.
fin82797_01_c01_001-022.indd 1 3/24/16 2:32 PM
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In March 2010, Congress passed, and the president signed, the Patient Protection and Afford-
able Care Act (PPACA, or ACA), a sweeping reform of the nation’s health care system. Accord-
ing to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “The Affordable Care Act increases
access to care, makes health insurance more affordable, strengthens Medicare, and ensures
that Americans have more rights and protections—and more security that health insurance
coverage will be available when it is needed” (2015).
The plan requires employers to pro-
vide insurance to their employees or
face a fine. It also requires individu-
als to purchase health insurance, with
those unable to pay for it receiving
government assistance to do so. Indi-
viduals with plans valued at more than
$18,000 for family coverage pay a fee to
help pay the cost of assistance. Individ-
uals whose incomes exceed $200,000
and families whose incomes exceed
$250,000 pay additional fees, which
many criticize as being akin to a tax.
Debates over the proposed law were
intense and divided along ideological
lines. Liberal (left-leaning) supporters
maintain that a wealthy industrialized
nation such as the United States owes
its citizens some measure of universal health care. They argue that individuals lacking insur-
ance, either because their employers do not provide it or because they cannot afford it, should
not be denied basic health care. Other industrialized nations, including Canada and Mexico,
provide universal health care to citizens and non-citizens alike. Universal health care sup-
porters generally believe that a just society does not allow its citizens to starve, nor does it
allow its citizens to go bankrupt because they get sick. The liberal view thus holds that health
care reform furthers the core American values of liberty and individual independence by pro-
viding greater security.
Conservative (right-leaning) opponents, however, view the legislation as a government take-
over of the nation’s health care industr.
civiceducation.pptx
This document discusses citizenship and the role of citizens in a democracy. It defines citizenship as how people live together in communities and interact locally, nationally, and globally. It also explains that democracies require active, informed, and responsible citizens who are willing to take responsibility for themselves and their communities. The document then discusses some of the rights and responsibilities of citizens, such as attending community meetings, volunteering with charitable organizations, and understanding how local government works. It emphasizes that citizens have both rights that governments cannot take away, as well as obligations to exercise their rights peacefully and respect others.
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Democracy In America
- 1. Jose M Cantera History 141 Arguello 5/11/2009
- 2. Society in the United States is an effect of circumstances and laws that exist within the land, also combination. One essential feature that distinguishes culture in America is its democracy. Its origins were born from the absence of aristocracy. Instead democracy was born from aristocratic thinking and individual proprietor of land. During the American Revolution was when democracy was heavily influenced into the minds of the people. The people of New England were forced to come up with a government system once they won independence and became independent as the United States. Several laws were created such as the law of inheritance. Once a land owner died their children would debate on who would receive what. It was mentality like this that gave people pride in their land and a sense of individualism as a society. This also gives rise to the mentality that a person is to focus on obtaining what benefits him at the present time. People are also inclined to cooperate with the law to keep what they possess intact.
- 3. A country as large and diverse as the United states is bound to have conflicting ideas between its people. However, they all still follow the same form of government. People with opposite ideas produce different political parties. It is during times of argument that ideas are settled a time of prosperity follows. During a time of settlement is when people believe that their social and government structures have reached an end and do not require remodeling. People fail to look into the future and prepare for further debates. It is ongoing debates that arise through time that keep the different political parties alive. Rival parties are composed of different principles to solve the same obstacle. Large parties are created by their extensive involvement in politics and acceptance by the people their ideals govern. Small parties remain small because the majority of the population don’t accept or understand their ideals they want to put forward. Smaller parties are even seen as corrupting rather than helpful because they strain away from popular opinion.
- 4. According to De Tocqueville the United States has no interest in philosophy. Instead Americans have a different philosophic method in which the people follow certain ideals and keep their minds set to similar goals. Americans do not like to think as their behavior as systematic. Instead they tend to follow facts and information. By this method Americans change their behavior based on facts that will make them live better. This philosophic method is based on an individual pursuing their own advancement in society. Different people with different interest are in charge of different task in the community. People independently control their lives in different aspects and control their own judgments. This leads to habits in their daily lives. An American’s philosophy is that a person will control something individually while someone else controls something else. In this sense society functions based on the idea that everyone cooperates towards the system that has risen.
- 5. In a democratic nation wealth derived from heredity is not common. Every man earns his own income. The concept of honest work is widespread and accepted and performed. Work is not considered dishonorable but looked upon, those who do not work are not wanted. Americans pursue a job in industrial or commercial positions and spend what they earn on living. Equality for work is expected and people work to keep a good name. In a democratic nation people work for their own interest but also for the advancement as a society. People work for profit in order to enable their family and their children to begin from a higher position in society. Everyone works for a salary and are not humiliated by their job.
- 6. Social equality in democratic armies makes soldier independent from officers destroying the structure created through discipline. Democratic soldiers are not shackled by constrains of social enslavement. Society does not prepare soldiers for a state of obedience. Obedience will be forced to grow as a situation becomes more critical. No room for personal decisions will be present. Soldiers soon become silent and obey their superiors. Military in a democratic nations gets rid of a person’s creative freedom. It is replaced by instinct and reason.