The Most Important Principle of Government
The most important principle of government in a democracy is popular sovereignty. This is because it acts as the government’s feedback, keeps the government limited, and lets the people express their feelings.
First, popular sovereignty is important because it acts as the government’s feedback. If a government is doing very well and keeping the people happy, then they receive positive popular sovereignty, such as thank you letters to congressman, in return. If the government is acting too much like a dictatorship, then they will receive negative popular sovereignty, such as protests, in return. So why is “feedback” important? Think of the world as a school, and America’s government as a student in that school. In a school your grades are the most important aspect. They are the measurement of how well you are doing. In other words, they are your feedback. Therefore, since grades are important, and grades are nothing but feedback, feedback must be important as well. Furthermore, since feedback is important and popular sovereignty is a form of feedback, popular sovereignty must also be important.
Second, popular sovereignty is important, because it keeps the government limited. If a democracy is slowly turning into a dictatorship, the people will be sure to let the government know through popular sovereignty. If the government doesn’t respond to the people’s protest, the people will turn to more severe forms of popular sovereignty such as civil war and treason. At that point the government will be powerless. What is a ruler with no one to rule? Therefore, a government is limited by popular sovereignty, because if the government tries to exceed those limits, popular sovereignty will deny it the power to do so. It is important to have a limited government, because if not, it will turn in to a dictatorship, an unfavorable form of government.
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