The issue of freedom in the constitution is an issue of concern to many countries. It is a system of governance that gives citizens the freedom of expressing their opinions. According to Meese III (2014), it all started with the declaration of independence. The way of ruling is primarily based on the consent of people in the society. The legitimacy of a government is measured by its ability to rest on the public consent. As a result, people consider a democratic constitution as the best since it promotes their rights and gives them a chance to contribute towards governance. Therefore, the element of independence in the American constitutions defines its first fact of being democratic.
The US constitution has a concept of checks as well as balances that aim at decentralizing power in one level of the government. The idea also reduces the power of interest among some communities or economic-social classes that may oppress the minority. Such separation of authority in the constitution gets rid of an unhealthy ruling in the authoritative structure. In the United States of America, the government is divided into levels starting with the national, state and the local administration ( Meese III, 2014) . Federalism has ensured an equitable division of resources within the different levels of government denying a particular level the power to centralize available resources. The Constitution formulates a society where people rule themselves by the help of social and moral virtues. Political systems are meant to represent the voice of the people at the national level. Hence, democracy is what the US Constitution offers to its citizens by limiting the authoritative power in the political system.
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The reason as to why American people associate themselves with superiority is because they compare their way of political governance with other countries that are characterized by numerous conflict and nondemocratic regimes. Buchanan (2003) argues that the American constitution has been able to fight corruption, gender violence and overthrows through its democratic element. However, Americans forget that the state has reached the tip of development and is old enough to be associated with immoral behaviors generated from the greed of power. Underdeveloped continents like Africa has a lot to achieve regarding development hence creating a scene of conflict when it comes to equitability of resources ( Mason& Stephenson, 2015) . The American constitution has been amended to favor the ordinary citizen through human rights and freedom of expression. Therefore, the democracy exercised by the American constitution remains to be a benchmark even to the developed countries.
It is arguable to say that unequal representation in the American Chambers is on the extreme side. For example in the senate house, California ca afford to have two representatives legally allowed by the constitution. It becomes difficult to understand how judges can deny lawmakers the right to amend a bill in the constitution. Distribution of federal power to the state judges has limited legislatures from passing laws that may act contrary to the peoples' opinion. They have the right to rule out a bill as unconstitutional, something that is uncommon in other countries in the world. A state of democracy practiced by the American constitution has given scholars a challenge to rationalize the broad power granted to the judicial system. However, putting into consideration judges’ ideology, biases, as well as preferences, has affected the democracy in America ( Buchanan , 2003). Other developed countries where democracy has been successfully applied tend to allow multiparty representation in the hierarchy of governance. Things are different in the American Constitution as the Supreme Court judges ruled out the amendment of a multiparty system in the country. Political aspirants can take either side with the democrats or the republicans. That limits their chances to differ with the goals and motives of the two parties.
Americans claim to be the most democratic nation is based on a couple of ideas. First, the fact that democracy is an article of faith to every citizen. They all believe and talk of the fruits of living in a democratic state ( Epps, 2013) . Secondly, American political system rests on a closed circle that eliminates biases and inequality when compared with other democratic nations globally. The third articulation of democracy liberalism achieves through narrowing down the legal standards ( Lazare , 1998). Different movements have had the opportunity to conduct their business in harmony and fulfill the desires of their hearts. A perfect example is the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which ensures there are no imbalances in the bill of rights. As a result, American people are fully entitled to enjoy the freedom expression on matters regarding politics, sex as well as worship. The element of democracy in their constitution allows them to have a society where people can freely talk and write what they are in their mind.
Looking into the issue of liberty from another perspective, freedom of citizens rests within the bill of rights. Beyond that point, the American Constitution can be said to have a negative look on how it citizens are treated. Comparing it with other developed countries, US residents are treated harshly by the constitution that still gives them extreme measures of freedom. For example, the country experiences frequent jailing of citizens who are denied the chance to defend themselves socially and economically ( Lazare ,1998). The law curtails them when it comes to political matters making them have the narrowest political expression compared to other countries like Japan and China. Statistics shows that most of the voters in America are demoralized by the limitations in the political field resulting to small numbers of people turning up to vote. The political dilemma is affecting the industry sector and creating a commotion on mass employment. Despite equal representation of the states in the upper house, the American constitution act politics affects the liberalism in the country.
Robert Goldwin, a philosopher in the United States, argues the element of democracy in the American constitution using the arithmetic imbalance that exists. The Constitution can be said to hit a breakthrough when both legislature houses were satisfied with the political plan. The scheme of representation seems to be biased when viewed in a broader perspective. The perfect example that proves arithmetic imbalance is the senator representation of California and that of Nevada. California is a mass state with over 34 million citizens, and their votes can only elect two senators in the Electoral College. While on the other hand, Nevada is a small state with a population of about 2 million citizens and have the capacity to elect two senators in the uppers house. That is what Robert Goldwin argues to be an undemocratic arrangement in the constitution. It means that the vote of a single resident of Nevada is seven times dominant to that of a citizen in California ( Goldwin , 2003). Therefore the foundation laid to ensure remarkable democracy in the local government, as well as politics, has been institutionalized to bring in complexity.
To put more emphasis on the Electoral College system used in the United States of America politics, democracy is not applied in choosing leaders. There is a probability that a presidential candidate with the most votes may not be the president. It is a defect that leaves many people worried of how the election system of the country works. The Electoral College votes are the once to determine who wins ( Goldwin , 2003). The most voted president with a lower count of Electoral College votes is regarded as the looser. The situation has happened once and again in the year 1888, 2000 and lately in 2016. Such a scenario creates a tension of communist country where the majority portion of citizens feel that they have been denied their right to choose a president.
Despite the fact that political representation has much to do with the undemocratic view of the American Constitution, it is also the strongest foundation of equality in America. Choosing two senators in the upper house is an act against the law of "one person, one vote." However, amending the constitution on this issue might be very expensive and time-consuming. The political representation systems are used as the security towards all types of discrimination in the US. It hinders racial and gender discrimination enhancing equality in the continent ( Macedo , 2009). People who have lived in America since the 19 th century can testify the changes of democracy enforced by the system. Therefore, the representation plays a great role in maintaining American constitution democracy without directly expressing it to the world.
America is currently facing great threats that require more input in the intelligence system. However, the actions of the officers on the ground must be by the constitution. American citizens are entitled to various rights that make them free from all kind of inhumanities. Though there is a high rate of imprisonment in the country, intelligence officers must ensure that citizens are not mistreated to the extreme of being denied their rights. The constitution regulates the way in which both citizens and non-citizens should be handled by law enforcers ( Mondale et al., 2013). Therefore, advancement in technology of interrogating people has given rise to different reactions in the society. Most people argue that the intelligence department is going far beyond their power to harass and also convict citizens contrary to the constitution. That is a clear indication of how the democratic constitution is affecting changes in America.
To conclude the discussion on the democracy element in US constitution, the freedom given to citizens by the bill of rights presents a big image of a democratic country to the world. Political representation in the Senate also contributes towards the democratic article of faith in the society. However, there are acts of undemocratic constitution beyond the Senate and human bill of rights. If compared to other developed countries, the American Constitution may not be promoting democracy equivalent to the bigger picture of superiority it displays in the world. Ultimately, its element of democracy can be traced in a few acts that make citizens fill considered and appreciated by making contributions to the way of governance.
References
Buchanan, J. M. (2003). Robert A. Dahl, How Democratic is the American Constitution? Public Choice , 116 (3), 475-476.
Epps, G. (2013). American Epic: Reading the US Constitution . Oxford University Press.
Goldwin, R. (2003). Defending the Constitution. (Review). Public Interest , 131-137.
Lazare, D. (1998). America the undemocratic. New Left Review , (232), 3.
Macedo, S. (2009). Toward a More Democratic Congress-Our Imperfect Democratic Constitution: The Critics Examined. BUL Rev. , 89 , 609.
Mason, A. T., & Stephenson, G. (2015). American constitutional law: introductory essays and selected cases . Routledge.
Meese III, E. (2014). The Meaning of the Constitution. The Heritage Guide to the Constitution , in David F. Forte, Matthew Spalding, and Edwin Meese III (eds), The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, 2nd Ed.
Mondale, W. F., Stein, R. A., & Fahnhorst, M. C. (2013). National Security and the Constitution: A Conversation between Walter F. Mondale and Robert A. Stein. Minn. L. Rev. , 98 , 2011.
