A Democracy or Oligarchy?

Paper Summary:

The paper relates that a democracy is a form of government where the majority rules and selects the leaders. The paper discusses how, in the case of American Democracy, the majority of the electorate is not interested in participating in the process. The paper asserts that this apathy of a large portion of the population should be alarming, but it is met by the same apathy as the voters exhibit. The paper proposes that the midterm elections of 2006 were an example of an oligarchy due to apathy, where the decision of governance was in the hands of a few persons.

From the Paper:

"The Fifth Edition of Black's Law Dictionary defines Democracy as "That form of government in which the sovereign power resides in and is exercised by the whole body of free citizens directly or indirectly through a system of representation, as distinguished from a monarchy, aristocracy, or oligarchy". (Black 1979) This form of government, that is held dear and touted by the citizenry, and as Black said is distinguished from a monarchy, ruled by a king, an aristocracy, ruled by the privileged, or an oligarchy, ruled by the few, manages to only garner a minority of its citizens to participate in its elections. The United States Election Project of George Mason University (www.elections.gmu.edu) document the participation rates in elections, and of the 226,357,772 voting age members of the population, excluding ineligible 1.3 million in prison, 2.4 million on probation, half a million on parole, 2.99 million convicted felons, 3.3 million overseas, only 85.3 million found time to participate in the mid-term elections of November of 2006. (www.elections.gmu.edu 2006)"

Sample of Sources Used:

• Henry Campbell Black (1979). Black's Law Dictionary. St. Paul: West Publishing Company
• Associated Press (November 5, 2006) Mature U.S. Democracy Hobbled by Disinterested Voters. www.foxnews.com January 1, 2007 from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0.2933.227601.00.html?Page=fnc .politics/youdecide2006
• Andrew Kohut (November 14,2006). The Real Message of the Midterms. Associated Press www.pewresearch.org January 1, 2007 from http://pewresearch.org/obdeck/?ObDeckID=91
• Curtis Gans (November 9,2006). Bush, Iraq Propel Modest Turnout Increase Ending 12-Year Republican Revolution. Washington D.C.: American University Media Relations
• Constitution of the United States of America. (n.d.). Retrieved December 28, 2006, from http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.html

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