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Evaluating American Democracy: A Critical Analysis of the Constitution

Explore the democratic framework of the American Constitution today, reviewing Dahl's argument and assessing the Constitution's alignment with modern democratic standards. Delve into undemocratic elements like slavery, suffrage issues, lack of popular control, and more. Uncover the journey of the Constitution towards greater democracy through suffrage expansions, abolition of slavery, and changes in the election of Senators. Compare the American system with other democracies, highlighting differences in legislature structure, judicial review, and electoral systems. Analyze the performance of the U.S. democracy based on stability, individual rights, responsiveness, and equality in policy outcomes. 8

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Evaluating American Democracy: A Critical Analysis of the Constitution

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Presentation Transcript

  1. How democratic is the American Constitution?

  2. Today… • Review of the argument • Your reactions to Dahl’s argument • Prerequisites for democracy?

  3. Dahl’s argument • The Constitution is not a sacred text • Ours is no better than other democratic systems • Our system does not live up to modern democratic standards

  4. How is our Constitution undemocratic? • Slavery • No guarantee of suffrage—left up to states • Insulated from popular control • Senate • Judicial review • No clear allowance for regulation or taxes

  5. Why is our Constitution undemocratic? • Politics of ratification

  6. How has the Constitution become more democratic over time? • Expansion of suffrage • Abolition of slavery • Changes to election of Senators

  7. Other democratic systems aren’t like ours! • Unitary, not federal • Unicameral (not bicameral) legislatures • No judicial review • Parliamentary not separated system • PR not Plurality

  8. PLURALITY Just need one more vote than next candidate to win a seat in legislature Favors two parties PR Party gets seats in legislature proportional to the percent of the vote it received Favors multiple parties Plurality vs. Proportional Representation

  9. Our democracy is no better than other democracies • Stability • Individual rights • Responsiveness • Equality and policy outcomes

  10. U.S. Compared to other Democracies

  11. On a scrap of paper, answer the following questions. (Put a question mark if you don’t know the answer….) 1. What is a primary election? 2. How long is the term in office for a member of the House of Representatives? 3. Who is William Rehnquist? 4. Who is Dennis Hastert? 5. Which political party is more conservative? 6. What did President Bush talk about on Thursday? 7. What countries did the U.S. fight against in World War II?

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