Liberal Democratic Model in the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Liberal Democratic Model in the USA - Essay Example Liberal Democratic Model - USA There exist different versions of liberal democracy adopted by countries. Using case study, this paper will address the concept of liberal democracy in the United States of America. Freedom of speech, elections, and separation of power, are components of democracy, which will be analyzed using the liberal democratic model to determine how USA embraces liberal democracy. The concept of democracy dates back to Aristotle’s era. He was the first Greek philosopher to explore this concept. Later, Christian thinkers related democracy with the worship of God, that all human beings are equal before God. The American Revolution was first to introduce components of liberal democracy. Slavery and other discriminatory practices were abandoned, as Americans embraced a more popular rule. This marked a new beginning of liberal democracy in America. Today, liberal democracy is associated with the American political philosophy (Vanberg, 2011). Components of libera l democracy are dynamic. For instance, in the 18th Century, liberalism protected citizens from the government. However, in 20th Century people started to consider governments as source of protection from social crimes. In the USA, the human rights activists rely on government authority to develop programs that enhance human rights. The government is no longer a threat to its citizen’s freedom, but a positive force (Neal, Douglas, Simon, and Joseph, 2012). The liberal democratic model encompasses three views, political pluralism, the elitist theory, and the Marxist view of power. As we shall see, political pluralism is deeply rooted in American politics. Pluralism theory holds that multiple groups, and not few individuals, run a country. These groups are; trade unions, environmental groups, and civil rights bodies, among others, which influence a country’s policymaking process. In pluralism, political power is distributed differently among the groups. For example, the C ongress addresses tax issues, the president sends the USA army on missions, the Supreme Court passes the death penalty, and a police officer stops a motorist for over speeding. In the USA, of all the multiple groups, no single elite group dominates. Some of these groups are well funded, organized, and have more influence, while others are not. They also vary in size, are politically autonomous, and exercise their right to participate in the politics. Freedom of speech is an element of democracy, which characterizes a pluralist society. In democratic states, freedom of speech ranks above all liberties. In the US, freedom of speech is provided in the constitution’s First Amendment of the Bills of Rights, and in different state and federal laws. Individuals and organized groups, including the media, are free to air their opinions on political decisions, thus indirectly controlling political leaders. Individuals have the right to gather information and hold meetings. However, in the US, restrictions are put on child pornography, obscenity, and lawless acts, among others. Separation of power is another element of democracy present in a politically pluralist society. In the US, state power is divided into three parts. These are: 1. The legislative power (the Congress) 2. The executive power (the president) 3. The judiciary power (Courts) The US constitution authorizes the legislative to makes law, the executive to enforce law, and the judiciary to interpret law.

Gay Marriage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Gay Marriage - Essay Example Massachusetts became the first state to legalize marriage between same-sex couples on May 17, 2004, as a result of a November 2003 decision by the state’s highest court that denying gay and lesbian couples the right to marry violated the state’s constitution. (Smith, 2005:2) Though homosexuality has been being practiced for centuries in almost all parts of the earth, both explicitly or secretly, and men and women belonging to various age groups get indulged into it, yet an overwhelming majority of human societies apparently denounce the same provided it challenges the moral values prevailing in the culture as well as unrestricted permission of the same may put the reproduction system as well as survival of human race at grave jeopardy. Marriage’s role in upholding respect for the transmission of human life is the first event in procreation. Humans undergo unprecedented challenges to that respect because of new techno-science that opens up unprecedented modes of t ransmission of life. (Somerville, 2003:3) The religious leaders including rabbis, monks, priests and bishops particularly condemn and censure same sex relations and marriage due to the very reality that the Scriptures do not allow it at any cost. According to Bible, if a man also lies with mankind, as he lieth with a woman; both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. (Leviticus, 20:13) It is therefore, the Abrahamic faiths, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam, rebuke gay sex without granting any space to this activity. Though several western countries, having Christians in majority, have displayed relaxation to voluntary gay sex, yet the Muslim states are still reluctant to bestow such rights upon their subjects. They cite the example of the people of Prophet Lot, tale of whom has manifestly been narrated in the Holy Qur’an, who were pelted with stones from the heavens and destroyed en masses for transgr essing from the right path for openly developing male-male relationships and thus ignoring their women and putting reproduction at stake subsequently. (Al-Aaraf: 80-82)Â  Moreover, other conservative faiths including Hinduism and Confucianism also denounce gay marriage on religious grounds, without giving slightest way to the same. Gay sexual union observes opposition beyond religion too, as a large proportion of scholars, thinkers and philosophers consider it as the violation of morality and thus perversion in the real sense. They declare homosexuals as mentally retarded patients, who are undergoing psychological and emotional collapse or disorder because of some deprivation or incident they have undergone in their past. They are of the opinion that the children who were ransacked, abused and molested could turn as murderers, child molesters, pederasts and rapist as well while adopting criminal line on becoming grown ups. It is therefore the homosexuality cannot be tolerated or ne glected as a curse for society. The price of toleration of serious deviance from a society’s constitutive morality is the loss of a distinctive form of interpersonal integration in community understood as something worthwhile for its own sake. (George, 1993:65). The opposition of gay rights is not confined to the