Write an essay stating why the US isnt really a democracy

Write an stating why the US isnt really a democracy - Essay Example However, there has been a consistent debate as to whether US can truly be considered as the democracy. The history of US indicates various legislative efforts, social and political divisions as well as racial bias which may not be otherwise accepted under democracy. Though there are no characteristics defined for democracy however, equality as well as freedom are considered as two important characteristics of democracy. Apart from this, democracy also need to ensure that the control is upward i.e. sovereignty reside at the lowest level of authority, political equality to each citizen as well as the social norms under which only those acts are considered acceptable which falls under the first two principles. As such democracy provides a complete system wherein political, social and economic rights of the citizens are taken care of and are considered as equal. (Levine,115) One of the key arguments in suggesting that US is not a democracy is based upon the fact that US is a republic. In democracy, people decide the matters directly through deliberations and town hall type meetings however, in a republic, the same is done through elected representatives of people. As such there is a fundamental difference between a democracy and republic and US being a republic may not be purely a democracy in its true nature. The Constitution of the country do not directly allows referendums and direct public opinion seeking in policy development matters. Despite this, some States however, engage into direct referendums and ballots to allow public to directly exercise their power to influence and create policies against issues of public nature. This argument is also based upon the assumption that the framers of the constitution were not actually in favor of providing public a direct mean of expressing their opinion. It is believed that the framers of constitution were of the opinion that the public may not have the required wisdom to express their opinion