legitimacy remains. A truly democratic political system has certain

characteristics which prove its legitimacy with their existence. One

essential characteristic of a legitimate democracy is that it allows

people to freely make choices without government intervention. Another

necessary characteristic which legitimates government is that every

vote must count equally: one vote for every person. For this equality

to occur, all people must be subject to the same laws, have equal

civil rights, and be allowed to freely express their ideas. Minority

rights are also crucial in a legitimate democracy. No matter how

unpopular their views, all people should enjoy the freedoms of speech,

press and assembly. Public policy should be made publicly, not

secretly, and regularly scheduled elections should be held. Since

"legitimacy" may be defined as "the feeling or opinion the people have

that government is based upon morally defensible principles and that

they should therefore obey it," then there must necessarily be a

connection between what the people want and what the government is

Policy making may be considered democratic to an extent. The public

using their power of judicial review, the power explicitly given to

the democratic system. The method in which we elect the President is

aspects, and illegitimate in others. Because voting is class-biased,

intelligent, best informed, wealthiest, or most successful business or

fairly legitimate. The electoral college consists of representatives

Some common words found in the essay are:
Legitimate Democracy, Peter Principle, Classical Liberals, Marbury Madison, House Senate, Power Congress, Court Justices, Imperial Presidency, War II, Free Press, public policy, legitimate democracy, scheduled elections, regularly scheduled elections, regularly scheduled, cliffs jersey prentice, imperial presidency, vote person, bibliography dye, dye thomas, thomas who's, prentice hall 1995, hall 1995 lind, jersey prentice hall, america clinton,
Approximate Word count = 1393
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)