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Constitutional Law Paper

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Constitutional Law Paper
Constitutional Law Mid Term Paper

It is evident that over the past few years, American Democracy has been loosing its power. The causes toward this effect are many. Some amongst the many are decreased political participation and the minimum quality of functioning of government. Before understanding that these are some of the effects that has caused the waning in American Democracy one must understand what Democracy is and its measures as well. Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state. It is equal access to power where the people are the supreme source of that power. There are rights, laws, and policies that reflect the will of the people, consent of the governed, and popular sovereignty. Amongst the government, there are 6 basic principles within the democracy. They are Popular Sovereignty, Rule of Law, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, Judicial Review, and Federalism. The U.S Constitution is built upon these basic principles. It is logical that by having these 6 principles to abide by, the U.S Democracy would have the highest ranking when it comes to measures of Democracy. It would make sense that American Democracy would have a high rank in the following categories: Electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation, and political culture; but, in reality it isn’t that way. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the United States has a world rank of 19 as opposed to Norway who has a ranking of 1. The Democracy Index developed by the EIU shows that the U.S is has the lowest ranking for political participation. This is one of the factors that are causing our government to lose power. This political issue is caused by the voting requirements set. Under California law, you must meet several requirements in order to be able to vote in state and local elections. You must be a U.S. citizen, and a resident of California, who is

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