I am applying to be a Tanglewood Public Representative. I am a first-year student at Mount Holyoke College pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and International Relations. I learned about this position from Kristie Chan, BSO Orchestra Management Assistant.…
With the bitter wounds of British tyranny still stinging, the Founding Fathers thought up the first amendment. Democracy flourishes only when freedoms to express views, both political and those of other concerns, are guaranteed. What happens, however, when your own government seizes and destroys these rights, in its attempt to censor the public 's pursuit of political knowledge. The Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (FEC) court case brings forth this question and many more, as Citizens United, a nonprofit organization, was challenged in their attempt to broadcast "Hillary: the movie," by the FEC. The verdict, which was ruled in favor of Citizens United, deemed the film an act of the organization 'a first amendment right to free speech. Correct in their ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the abolition of restrictions…
Even though President Bush lost the popular vote in 2000, he was still able to win the election because he still had the majority. There are 538 total votes in the Electoral College and a presidential candidate must win a majority of the electoral votes to be elected, exactly 270. In 2000 there were a total of 538 electoral votes available with 270 needed to win the election between George Bush and Al Gore. Bush won 271 electoral votes by winning over more states that count for more electoral votes. Al Gore, won only 266 electoral votes and even though he won the popular vote, the states he won in did not count for enough electoral votes, therefore Bush…
Steinbeck uses many techniques to present the characters of Lennie and George in ‘Of Mice and Men’. This in turn then reveals many insights into what may happen to the two characters as the novel progresses. The reader can tell lots about Lennie through the description of his character’s physical looks and actions ‘opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face.’…
Evaluate how democratic in practice, initiatives and referendums are in making public policy. (30 marks)…
Voter turnout is defined as a number of voters who actually cast ballots in an election, to a percentage of people eligible to register and vote. About half of the voting age population historically does not vote, even in presidential elections. The voter turnout is even lower in off year congressional and state elections. Turn out in local elections is even lower. Voter turn out is always higher in years with a presidential election. Voter turn out has generally declined since the 1960’s. Voter turnout can take a huge upswing when the elections have highly contested issues with differing candidate platforms.…
Referendums are very harmful to a Representative Democracy. They undermine Parliamentary Sovereignty, allow our politicians to abdicate responsibility for major political decisions, prevent them from exercising their informed judgements, and can be manipulated by Governments. This is to say nothing of the premise of allowing important decisions to be made by an uninformed electorate that can be swayed by the Media Industry at the drop of a hat. And indeed, the worst case scenario of Tyranny by Majority is one that should not be disregarded. Of course, Referenda are not entirely harmful. They are useful tools for ensuring that elected Governments do not overstep their boundaries…
When the Founding Fathers began designing America’s government in 1787, one of their greatest fears was the possibility of the dumb majority using their power to pass uneducated and disastrous legislature. They feared “the mob”, the everyday citizens that had little schooling and knew almost nothing about politics. To avoid giving the voters too much power, a Representative-Democracy style government was created, a system where citizens would vote for a person or group to represent them in making legislature. Referendum votes bypass the politicians and ask for the people’s opinion directly- they are direct votes where the entire country is invited to vote on an issue, which give the people a chance for their voices to be heard. While a good…
Goebel, Thomas, A Government by the People: Direct Democracy in America 1840-1940 Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002.…
In the first article “Voters Are Ready to Punish Pro-Gun Politicians. There’s Just One Problem” by George Zornick talks about where the candidates stand on the topic of guns during the races. It is believed that the gun control issue would be a big factor during the race. Voters want to know where it is that the both candidates, Kelly Ayotte and Marco Rubio, stand on. It mentions how 76 percent of the voters in Florida believe that Rubio actually “supports banning people on the terror lists from buying guns” (Zornick). Another 69 percent believe or are unsure whether or not he “supports background checks on gun sales” (Zornick). In the case of Kelly Ayotte, 74 percent of the voters from New Hampshire believe or are unsure that Ayotte agrees…
Although the United States government promises its people that they live in a true democratic country, the United States is definitely not a democracy. A democracy by definition is “the government by people.” However, the United States looks as if it is a constitutional republic, rather than democracy. A constitutional republic is “a state in which the head of state or officials are representatives of the people.” The United States is a country run by the government officials, not the people, the government is taking away the rights that the U.S. Constitution promises its people, and not all citizens are treated equally or given the same rights. Therefore, the United States is far from a democracy at this time.…
Voting in America is difficult. There are many obstacles the potential voter has to run through in order to have their voice heard, and even, their candidate of choice may not win. They have to struggle with paperwork to get registered to vote, which also registers them for the eligible list of candidates for the jury pool, a task nobody wants anything to do with. Then after the hard paperwork and jury duty comes Election Day. The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, which leads to great confusion as to what day the elections are on. Even worse are the municipal elections which vary from town to town, and county to county, leaving masses of voters confused as to what day they have to go out and make their voices heard.…
The government, a republic under democratic ideals, is supposed to represent the people. Yet what is truly being represented, shown in the policies in tax reductions and various other policies, is the rich. Just one of the top 10 most richest people in America have more money than 300 thousand of the lowest people put together. People are so distracted by other things, like racism, the gay marriage laws that were passed, and all these social issues that they don’t see one of the main problems at hand. Because of this “U.S government policies reflect the desires of the wealthy and interest groups more than the average citizen, according to researchers at Princeton University and Northwestern University” (Bondoli 1). Why? A democratic society has the most power in the people as a whole.…
Voter suppression during our years of life has been insane. We have been making ways of people to not be able to vote. We have been placing laws and rules so that people of different ethnics would not be able to vote. We have had Jim Crow Laws, photo and voter ID, and some other ways we have limited voters. Back in the day during the time of the nation being founded, white property owners could only vote. Over time the right to vote was granted to women and youth. During the 20th century Jim crow laws was placed on African Americans to limit their rights and limit their voting rights. The Jim Crow laws had the grandfather clause, poll taxes, and literacy tests to help limit them. These tactics were made illegal due to the Voting Rights Act…
Democracy is a famous form of government that is practiced in many parts of the globe. This form of government vests the highest power on the citizens of the country. It is for this reason that democracy is referred to as the government of the people, by the people and for the people. Citizens exercise and practice their democratic rights via various means: electing leaders of their choice and the representative or rather the candidate that acquires the highest votes gets elected for that particular position. Democracy however is not just about elections, it entails other perspectives such freedoms of the media and the human rights extent to the citizens of the country under consideration. The word democracy has not been mentioned anywhere…