Democracy: A Measure of Modern Nations' Success - Essay Sample

Introduction

For a nation to develop or keep up with the contemporary world the country should possess specific standards; and among them, democracy is the most important. In the modern world, nearly all of the nations, with the exemption of several governments that are still socialists or autocratic, comes a general dominator, and roughly as a measuring standard, there is democracy. Some authors argue about whether democratic governments are better than those that are not democratic or whether that government, which is democratic, tends to function better as compared to that is not. When referring to democracy, it can have numerous meanings, whether a government system by the entire population or all state's eligible members, typically via elected representatives. Therefore, a democratic country refers to a country that is governed by its agents or people chosen by them within a free electoral system. In simple terms, it is one where its citizens possess a higher degree of political and civil freedom. Partial democratic nations have a low degree of one of them or both. This essay focuses on North American democratic countries that are the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

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The United States

It is a representative federal democracy determined by elections in which lobbyists and citizens' diverse interests compete. The United States federal government comprises three distinct branches that are executive, legislative, and judicial, and the Constitution of the U.S. vests their power within the Congress, the President, as well as the federal courts, plus the Supreme Court, correspondingly. It is a representative democracy, where citizens elect representatives to state, national, and local government. The chosen individuals are responsible for creating the laws that rule the U.S. society. Though nothing within the United States law needs it, in practice, its political system is dominated by several political parties. Its politics are typically shaped by two significant political parties that are Republicans and Democrats (Boundless 1-2). Through rare exceptions, the elections are resolved between the two major parties. Despite the citizens voting for individual candidates, most of them are allied to one party or another. Thus, much of the United States politics boils down to the politics of the party.

Also, the United States is a diverse society, where citizens' competing interests are shown in politics. Citizens may possess different voting preferences relying on their family backgrounds, their race or age, the type of jobs they own, and whether they possess children. In U.S. politics, individual citizens are not merely a player. Though the individual citizens are the only entities who can cast votes, particular interest lobbyists and groups may influence law-making and elections. At times, this manipulation has grown so conspicuous that a number of them have called into query whether the United States is a democracy of the people or an oligarchy of particular interest groups (Boundless 1-2). Additionally, the media play a vital role within politics by manipulating public sentiment as well as acting as the information filter.

Therefore, the United States is a presidential regime. It is a federal presidential republic, where the President is the head of government and chief of state. The American President is elected by the citizens indirectly via the Electoral College that is constituted of representatives who are people elected and who vow to vote for a particular candidate (Boundless 1).

Levels

The United States government comprises three separate levels that are the state governments, federal governments, and local governments. The United States Constitution empowers the federal government to undertake specific tasks and allots all other powers to state governments. Each state government set up the local governments in their territory and hand over certain powers to them.

Branches

The United States' Constitution splits the federal government into three significant branches to ensure that no group or individual will have excess power. The three major categories are the legislative, executive, and Judicial (Boundless 2). It should be noted that each government branch alters acts of the other different branches. The legislative branch comprises of the Congress that is the House of Representatives and Senate and exclusive agencies as well as the offices that offer support services to the Congress (United States of America). The Citizens of America possess the right to vote for the representatives and Senators via free and confidential ballots.

The executive branch comprises the President, the vice president, executive departments, independent agencies, the Cabinet, and other boards, committees, and commissions (United States of America). The citizens of America have the power to vote in the President and vice president via free and confidential ballots. The judicial branch comprises the Supreme Court plus other federal courts.

The function of the Legislative Branch

It includes the Senate and the House, and it is provided extensive powers by the United States Constitution. It is the only branch that can change existing laws or create new ones. Once a bill has successfully been passed via the legislative branch, the President is obliged to sign it for it to be a law (United States of America). The legislative branch has the power to override the veto of the President only if both houses concur in doing so by all of its members attaining a two-thirds vote.

The United States Constitution exclusively lists the legislative branch powers. The enumerated powers include; the power to borrow money, tax, to control commerce with foreign countries and among the states, to declare war, to raise and maintain a navy and army, and to set up a post office (United States of America). Clause 18 of this vital section provides the legislative branch with the power to create all laws that shall be essential and proper as well as to carry out the itemized powers. The same clause permits the branch to remain flexible and change with the circumstances which changing times require.

The Constitution grants the legislative Brach with the power to make the federal government's annual budget. Therefore, with this budgetary power that is facilitated via the collection of tariffs and taxes, it can expressly direct how the monies of the federal government should be spent. The Senate and the House of Representatives can investigate possible wrongdoings in the federal government (United States of America). The power consists of the right to subpoena people to appear before the Congress and make testimony under pledge to further an investigation. Also, the House can as well impeach a federal official, counting the Supreme Court justice or the President that means to table charges of possible wrong-doings. After the impeachment, a trial is conducted in the Senate that decides whether the individual is guilty or innocent.

Functions of the Executive Branch

In the U.S., the President is the head of the executive branch and the armed forces' commander-in-chief (United States of America). The executive branch oversees the enforcement and implementation of all laws successfully passed by Congress. The President of the U.S. endorses and carries the bills approved by the Congress. Also, the President negotiates and removes or appoints other top government officials. Vice President is the second-in-command to the United States' President. The Vice President should always be ready at a moment's announcement to assume the President's role as a result of resignation, incapacitation, or death. The United States Vice President also performs the function of President of the Senate and throws the deciding vote within the event of a tie.

Functions of Judicial Branch

It is in charge of settling on the meaning of laws, their application to real situations, and if code breaks the Constitution rules. The Constitution of the U.S is the highest law in the nation. The nine justices of the Supreme Court hear cases that have made their way up via the court system. The Supreme Court's main task is to resolve matters which may differ from the United States Constitution (United States of America). The Supreme Court decision in a case is always final and can only be altered by a later Supreme Court resolution or by amending or changing the Constitution. It is a very significant power that can affect the lives of numerous people. Also, the judicial branch is mandated to decide whether laws violate the Constitution.

Compare Countries

Canada

In the north of North America democratic nations, there is Canada that is a federal parliamentary democracy. Also, it is a constitutional monarchy because its present Monarch and state head are Queen Elizabeth II, the queen of the United States. It should not be confused with the government head that is the Canadian Prime Minister (Bercuson and William 1). The Monarch has practically no real power or impact over any proceedings with a true democracy. The government of Canada can be very complex to comprehend. It is a different system that can be depicted in four ways. It can be termed as a Constitutional Monarchy, a Party System, a Representative Democracy, and a Federal System. It is a federal structure due to its vast size.

The government system was instituted to make sure that the needs of its distinct region did not endanger the country's needs as a whole country's. People elected to government positions are political party members. In Canada, the major political parties are the Progressive Conservatives, the Liberals, the Reform Party, the Bloc Quebecois, and the New Democratic Party (Bercuson and William 1). Since democracy is a nation that is eventually run by its people, Canada falls in this class because people elect representatives to carry on governing duties. Therefore, it makes Canada be a representative democracy.

Levels

Canada is a country that has three government levels, and it can be viewed as a pyramid. The federal government is at the pyramid top, and it takes care of the country's needs. The provincial government level is in the pyramid middle, making each territory and province have a government that takes care of its particular need. At the bottom, there is the Municipal level, and it consists of different towns and cities having their government type of caring for their unique needs. The federal parliament possesses power over numerous areas of the nation, such as international trade, national defense, taxation, currency, shipping, citizenship, banking, and criminal law.

Branches

In Canada, three branches work jointly to govern it that is the executive, judicial, and legislative branches. The executive branch termed as the government is the decision-making branch that is constituted of the Monarch. It is represented by the Governor-General, the Cabinet, and the Prime Minister. The legislative branch stands for the law-making branch that comprises of the elected House of Commons and the appointed Senate. The judicial is a sequence of independent courts that interpret the laws approved by the other two branches. The parliament itself is constituted of three parts that are the Monarch, the House of Commons, and the Senate. Notably, Canada is a country that is a constitutional monarchy; hence it means they recognize the King or Queen as the State Head, and the Prime Minister is the Head of Government.

The Function of the Branches

The executive branch members are the Parliament decision-makers, and they implement the laws. On the other hand, the legislative branch makes the laws. The queen is the sovereign and Head of State. The Governor-General stands for the Canadian Crown and performs the responsibilities of the Head of State by making sure the nation always has a Prime Minis...