With a great deal of debate the design of the United States along with the lay out by the founders of the country who took their roll in laying down the “rules” of the United States of America very seriously. The Articles of Confederation, the Bill of Rights, and the US Constitution lay the floor work of a layer of protection afforded to all United States Citizens. Each of the doctrines provides a step towards the written words that have granted many men and women protection from persecution as well as freedoms not received in other parts of the world. The last piece of the three historical documents, the US Constitution is comprised of a set of amendments, which have been written to protect several different rights that as a citizen are protected from false persecution. These constitutional amendments play a large roll, in the manner in which aspects of court procedure handled in both juvenile and adult court systems.…
In 2005, the City Council passed a plan for the re-zoning and development of much of the Greenpoint and Williamsburg waterfront, as well a large block of the upland area. The plan is known as the Greenpoint-Williamsburg Land Use and Waterfront Plan. The plan focuses on changing zoning regulations along the northern Brooklyn waterfront and some of the upland areas, mostly to allow for large residential buildings to be built. Many residents of the community were worried about the waterfront development buildings being built very high, and pushed for regulations limiting the number of stories a building was allowed to have. There were also concerns about new condominium & rental developments being geared only toward those with high incomes, and not toward those with average Greenpoint & Williamsburg incomes (Williamsburg has an even lower median income than Greenpoint, $23,567.) An attempt was made to strike a compromise between the community and the development groups, to solve both of these problems in one fell…
The definition of democracy is “a form of government where the supreme power is vested within the people and exercised by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.” The main principles of democracy include majority rule with minority rights, competing political parties, individual liberty, and free elections. These ideals have been the foundation of American democracy since the Declaration of Independence. However, other democracies value each ideal differently than the United States. This paper will evaluate whether or not the principles of democracy are reflected in the qualifications, election, and structure of the executive branch. It will argue that although liberty is represented in the qualifications of the executive branch, that free elections, and minority rule are not represented in the election and structure of the executive branch.…
As the USA has been the one of the most powerful and influential countries for the last century, it’s important to understand dynamics, the ideology and principles of the country. Given the fact that the current face of the USA has been shaping by history, in this essay we’ll follow a historical approach of the American principles, starting with the birth of America until the XXI century. We are going to see how some of the values claimed by the American Constitution and the early principles have partially been abandoned and how some of the other values and principles have been expanded throughout the years.…
Today, The United States of America represents true democracy and a sample of strong and free country, which is fully able to ensure human equal rights to its citizens. However, the history of American democracy and liberty has a long and bloody path. The early colonies of Puritans played a significant role in the establishment of American democratic regime. Next, but not less important contributions made the revolutionary generation of Americans in gaining liberty and equal rights. Two generations of two different periods had one common idea - building a faithful community, which will agree to follow set of rules and recognize the authority…
The country as a whole has taking huge strides over the past 60 years when it comes to equality, race, and integration. Gentrification however, is still a major ongoing problem today that is faced across all areas of the United States. Many people are behind remolding projects to promote an overall better community. At the same time, this in turn hurts the poverty line, because they can no longer afford to live in a revamped community. It is a very difficult decision to take a stand on either side of the argument, but when you do, you need to make sure that you way in all the facts, that affects, both sides of the argument, before you take a bold stand on whether you are for or against it.…
Between 1825 and 1850 many reform movements gained momentum and began to transform the laws and institutions of the United States. These reform movements were spurred largely by the Second Great Awakening which, because religion was moving into a more liberal light, spread a contagious desire of reform nationwide and allowed for the bettering of American lives. Among the reform movements driven by the Great Awakening was a rise in anti-slavery supporters, vast women’s rights movements, and reform of school, prison and institutional systems. All of the reform movements that began in the early 19th century enabled the expansion of the most important Democratic ideal, the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.…
most important parts of a democracy is the fact that we, the people, have a say in what happens…
there are six basic principles on which the constitution is based on. The 1st is Popular Sovereignty, the 2nd is Limited Government, the 3rd is Separation of Powers, the 4th is Checks and Balances, the 5th is Judicial Review, and the 6th one is Federalism. The constitution embodies these key principles along with describing the basic structure of our government.…
In a true democratic society, it is essential to ensure a government that follows the will of the people and not the one that force the people to follow it, that is, a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” as said by Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg address which lasted a little over two minutes on November, 19, 1863. Democracy is not government of some people by some people and for some people as a frequent practise in some developing nations. Democracy is a nation ruled by its citizenry. The beauty of democracy is that the minority will have their say but the majority will have their way. Functioning democracy implies where the people approve to the government operating the nation. All eligible voters are given chance to select their leader through their right to vote and to be voted for. In a truly democratic society, the representative or candidate who have been elected are liable in many ways to the people who voted and elected them. They have to implement those pledges made during elections with much transparency, accountability and good governance.…
All residents regardless of income level want to live in a beautiful and well constructed city and Houstonians have found ways to work around the lack of zoning regulations. From Houston’s case example, the lack of zoning does not mean a lack of rules, but it does mean a lack of thoughtful planning and consideration of who the rules benefit. It is commonly the more affluent neighborhoods that have strong homeowner associations to police deed restrictions, while lower-income neighborhoods with weak or non-existent deed restrictions are left defenseless. Government regulations must balance the interests of residents to have aesthetic neighborhoods with the need for the construction industry to respond to market demands for housing so prices can be kept…
In the beginning of the chapter, we are told what is power, in the political sense, and who has the authority to use it. There are two different understandings of democracy: direct democracy (the rule of many) and representative democracy. The US government uses representative democracy, everyone is given their own power, even if it's as minimal as voting for a leader to represent you. The Framers of the Constitution believed a direct democracy would lead to people following the popular opinion instead of the common good for the nation.…
The United States is said to be and has the properties of a democracy. A democracy is defined as a government in which the people decide matters directly through town hall meetings or voting on a ballot box. There have been a few major laws passed that have been passed by Supreme Court in which the people didn’t have a vote or consent on the law. Two examples of this are legalizing gay marriage and gun laws. The United States has also in a way turned into an oligarchy. It has come to where the rich are starting to rule the country. If the U.S was truly a democracy the government would look to all of the people for their vote and consent on a law, and their should be equality between the first, middle, and lower class people.…
Majoritarian portrays “government by the people” which mean government by some of the people. This model depends on the people’s participation by electing their representatives of their choice. During the voting period, there are three principles of procedural democratic theory which consist of universal participation, political equality and majority rules. Universal participation, that everyone should participate in the decision-making processes. Political equality is making one vote per person and all the votes counted equally. Majority rule is when all the votes are tallied and the winner is decided by get more than fifty percent. Majoritarian also provides the people with initiatives, initiatives are petition that registered votes must…
However, not all zoning rules deal only with property values. In fact, one the primary purposes of zoning laws is to protect people from various hazards. For instance, the City of San Francisco passed an ordinance restricting the use of wooden buildings for laundry facilities in 1880. These establishments were required to obtain a permit from the Board of Supervisors because they represented a fire hazard. Although this ordinance had the people’s best interest, its implementation made a negative impact on the Chinese population of this area, who owned about 95% of the city’s laundries. Other zoning ordinances regulated height, limited growth of certain industries, and became the means for growth management.…