Pros And Cons Of Direct Democracy

Words: 1269
Pages: 6
Open Document
Lexi Reamer
PSC 2302
Professor Mathie
Essay Prompt #1
October 12, 2016
ESSAY 1
America’s founders initially believed in pure democracy but when the Constitution was drafted many figured that pure democracy could result in dangerous problems. Pure democracy, also known as direct democracy, is a type of democracy governed by the people where all the people make the decisions. James Madison was a federalist against pure democracy because he believed there were many dangers that occurred when this type of democracy was put in place. These dangers included the people loosing freedom, the promotion of a central power with out meaning to, the states being unequally represented, and the lack of unity amongst states. Ultimately, James Madison believed …show more content…
One particular issue Madison felt could result in the formation of factions was the accumulation of land. This represented people gaining more power solely due to wealth. Therefore, this would create a society that had a faction of the rich and a faction of the poor. He believed factions were inevitable no matter how the government was run. He wanted to avoid factions being created because of the detrimental consequence of factions resulting in the destruction of the democracy. In the federalist 10 papers Madison says, “There are again two methods of removing the causes of faction: the one, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests.”(Federalist 10., 2) Madison alludes to the idea that factions in the United States are unavoidable if the people want to have a say in government. This is because factions were inevitable when people were given liberty. “Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment [something that nourishes or feeds] without which it instantly expires,” (Federalist 10., 2). The meaning of this quote and what Madison is trying to say is that the effects of factions are what need to be addressed, not the initial cause of factions. The initial causes of these factions is liberty that which should not be taken away, yet the effect of liberty needs to be controlled to …show more content…
While Madison hated factions not agreeing with them and saw problems with unequal representation among states he was willing to compromise through the Virginia Plan. James Madison thought the solution was to propose a republican form of government instead of a democracy. In order to prevent domination by majority, James Madison thought a republic would decrease potential factions and their affects on society while guarding against losses of freedom. The loss of freedom and submission to tyranny was exactly what James Madison was running away from when leaving England, so naturally he had a different idea of what the government should look
Show More

Related Documents: Pros And Cons Of Direct Democracy

Pros And Cons Of Representative Democracy

been working on learning about democracy and monarchy for a month now. I’ve been also trying to learn the difference between direct democracy and representative democracy. So let’s see the difference between these two governments. So direct democracy is a form of democracy in which people themselves, rather than elected representatives, determine the laws and politics by which they are governed. There are a bunch of citizens/ people who are in charge of democracy. They remain in charge until…

Words 661 - Pages 3

Essay about Forms of Government and the Human Condition

republic in part on their opinions of human nature that republic is best form of government and it’s also best for human condition. I don’t certainly believe that I believe in Direct Democracy. In my opinion direct democracy is the most beneficial to the human condition and best form of government. Direct democracy is a form of democracy where people decide to vote on, policy plans directly; community is involved in making decisions and it gives people the freedom to know what is really happening for the…

Words 978 - Pages 4

Electoral College Pros And Cons

they combined their ideas into the electoral college. There are many pros and cons about the electoral college and what they do. One con of the electoral college, is that most people generally don't understand it or how it works. A lot of Americans don't understand the equality of the votes and how it is fair that some states have three votes while others have fifty five. It can confuse the public and the idea of a democracy…

Words 680 - Pages 3

Politics Revisaion Essay

Politics (AS) Revision 1.1 - Democracy Forms of Democracy Direct Democracy – This is where the power to make decisions lies with the people. The earliest accepted form of this democracy was in Ancient Greece whereby the people (although only the Men) would gather, listen to speeches from leading citizens and then vote upon the issue. The majority vote was accepted. Clearly however, this form of democracy is not applicable with today’s society as many more decisions must be made and the voting…

Words 4097 - Pages 17

Pol Sci Paper

core ideals and values. Everyone will not have the same views on the ideals and values but the majority of people subscribe to these Ideals such as liberty, equality, democracy, independence, and even individualism. The American political system has pros and cons to it, such circumstances like Federalism in early America which was a pro at that time, but it also prevented an establishment of a national policy. Who were the minority of early America? or the limitations in the government, even the ties that capitalism had to liberalism in early…

Words 892 - Pages 4

Are Political Parties Necessary Or Detrimental

decision making on the basis of charisma and personality of the candidates and not the ‘ratio’ that they uphold. Healthy party practices aggregate common will, resolve clashes, address public needs and minimize abuse of democracy power. These are functions essential for a successful democracy and are often hard to accomplish without parties due to the sheer lack of a stable and defined structure. Political parties form a link between voters and the government and also the legislature and the executive…

Words 2291 - Pages 10

Role of Media in a Democracy Essay

Micaela Keller Professor Pieracci Sociology 102 22 April 2014 News Network’s Role in a Democracy News networks are a large source of public instruction when it comes to learning of important events and developments throughout the world. People often turn to news networks because it is simple, the information that the networks feel are most important are all in one place (DellaVigna and Kaplan 1202). The problem here is that the public is receiving one sided, bias, and sometimes inaccurate…

Words 1268 - Pages 6

Essay on global context

global context 1. The definition of globalization involves: the integration of world economies the integration of world markets a way to expand the degree and form of cross-border transactions between people, assets and goods and services growth in direct foreign investment a shift towards economic interdependence to create one world economy or economic system 2. the importance of globalization Removal of trade barriers benefits all countries Domestic countries benefit by exporting goods (grows economy…

Words 835 - Pages 4

Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College

an institution as old as our country and has been around since it was created during the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The Convention debated many methods of electing the president of the United States. Some called for more direct voting, such as in a direct democracy, while others wanted the vote to belong to members of congress themselves. This method was not selected because it would hamper the checks and balances they were building into the constitution, giving more power to congress. Finally…

Words 598 - Pages 3

Essay on History: United States Constitution and Government

Amendments exist to correct any perceived problems within the existing document. The subject matter that will be addressed in this document is: Should the Constitution be amended to give voters the power to enact or reject laws by ballot initiative, as a direct method in addition to the legislative authority of Congress? The proposing amendment to be considered is as stated; “It is in the power of each individual to enact or reject laws by ballot initiative.” The proposal of this amendment would allow the…

Words 1439 - Pages 6