Democracy -- Checks and Balances

A detailed Summary of Democracy -- Checks and Balances

As James Madison, one of the central figures in the drafting of the United States of America's Constitution and later fourth president once wrote, "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands...may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." Democracy is defined as a government, which derives its power from the consent of the people, given in regular, free, and fair elections under conditions of freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of speech. One of the most important contributions to democratic practice has been the development of a system of checks and balances to ensure that political power is dispersed and decentralized. It is a system founded on the deeply held belief that government is best when its potential for abuse is curbed and when it is held as close to the people as possible. While more democratic than some self-proclaimed countries, changes have to be made to the Canadian political system, providing citizens with a more effective means of checking and balancing. In an attempt to better understand the changes that need to be made within the Canadian political system one needs to look into the policies and arrangements of other democratic countri

In essence the term checks and balances within the United States can be broken into two main ideas. Federalism is the division of the government between the local, state or provincial, and national levels, providing an underlying hint of checks and balances. The United States is a federal republic, which is comprised of states having their own legal authority and standing independent from that of the federal government. Unlike the unitary political structure of Britain and France, American States cannot be abolished or changed by the federal government. While power at the national level in the United States has grown greatly during the 20th century, states still possess significant responsibilities in areas such as health, education, transportation, and law enforcement. In centralized or unitary systems, these functions are administered by the national government thereby hindering a larger spectrum for checking and balancing. While individual states further divide areas of responsibility amongst local communities, creating overlap between federal, state, and local agencies in fields such as education, federalism does maximize opportunities for the citizen involvement so vital to the functioning of democratic society.

es, such as the United States of America. As well, aspects of the Canadian system require review, creating area for change.

An example of the above projected initiatives would be the issue of Ethel Blondin-Andrew and gun control legislation. During the legislation process Ms. Blondin-Andrews voted with the Liberals in favour of gun control, even w

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Approximate Word count = 1060
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics