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A More Perfect Union: An Exploration of American Democracy

1999
America is governed under a democratic system that may be considered among the best in the world. Successfully implemented, democracy serves the needs of all citizens well. Unfortunately, a variety of factors prevent the American implementation of democracy from being as efficacious as possible. While consensus on what exactly these factors are is unlikely, a clear argument can be made for their existence. General apathy among the electorate, for example, has led to low voter turnout, in comparison with other democratic countries, which has created a governing body that is not fully representative of the citizenry. Special interest groups sometimes prevent congress from acting upon the wishes of the majority. Others argue that a lack of ethics has permeated politics. Why is it that most people have not acted upon these problems? One convincing explanation is that citizens are not well enough informed about the workings of our government and the hurdles which it faces. Also, some people may not feel that the government has much impact upon their daily lives, and thus may not care. Educating the public about democracy and perceived hurdles to its effectiveness could help revitalize interest among the public. Our entry's aim is to educate the public regarding democracy.  basic elements of democracy are be discussed  an emphasis would is placed on the potential problems democracy faces  solutions from multiple viewpoints are examined  various sociologists' views on government are discussed