History of Democracy Essay Example

History of Democracy Essay The main focus in this course, broadly, was the concept that ideas drive events. It seems sufficient to begin by reflecting back to one of the first few classes. Somewhere in that hour and a half class, I remember learning about educational perennialism. This is the notion, derived from Robert Hutchins, that there are a group of ideas that keep coming back and remain relevant in our present and in our future; in other words, it is the concept that history is repeated. The idea behind this concept is to not only process the facts of history, but to think critically of ideas in light of a brighter future, much like the Socratic method.Thus, this course does not serve the purpose of merely memorizing names and dates, but rather studying ideas derived from original source documents, to see how those ideas have impacted human history. Your professor continually expressed the importance of history; in quote, it is the â€Å"living, breathing story of who we are and how we got exactly wher e we are today. † Within this concept is the fact that our families experienced many of these historical events, and that if any of our ancestors did anything differently, we may not exist.After setting this foundation of common ground, we learned about Democracy’s history and development. One of the first documents we looked at was the Thebian Dialogue. First, let me explain the guts of the piece. To put it simply it is a document where two men argue over two forms of government, democracy and despotism. Theseus was arguing in favor of democracy whereas the Herald, also known as a messenger, was arguing in favor of despotism. After a dialogue of opposing views, it set a foundation of ideas that we can fall back on and refer to in the further developing of government.With this, too, brought to light the fact that although democracy allows every individual to contribute their opinions, it does not guarantee us any substantive rights. This is due to the absence of liberty , which was further developed in later documents that we looked at throughout this course. The development of an individual’s liberty derived from the ideas written in The Magna Carta and Cicero on the Laws, which later influenced our treasured Declaration of Independence and U. S. Constitution.The Magna Carta, written in 1215, was established because the barons felt as though the King of England at the time had too much power. He was then forced to acknowledge that he did have restrictions and can’t do whatever he wanted. Some notable references, such as section 61, set up a counsel of 25 barons that can overturn the King’s laws or even take his property, much like the Parliament. Clause 35 set standardized weight and measures, and clauses 38, 39 and 40 prevented unreasonable seizes and searches.The king immediately renounced section 61 for obvious reasons, mainly because his power was being restricted. The most notable idea that came to life and remained so, w as the right to a writ of habeus corpus, also known as a legal procedure that allows those held as prisoners to be innocent until proven guilty. This concept is still prevalent today in the court systems and has only been suspended a few times, for instance during the Civil War by Abraham Lincoln. In summary, the Magna Carta was an article that forced the King to treat individuals according to the law rather than his personal views.Thus, democracy was in the makings of being developed based on this idea. The ideas from The Magna Carta that were developed in our democracy today can be seen in the Bill of Rights under the U. S. Constitution. It was the first major development that started the erosion of absolute monarchies; it set a foundation towards individual rights. There are several similarities in both documents, in which the founding fathers were greatly influenced by. For instance, in The Magna Carta, article 39, it states, â€Å"To no one will we sell, to no one will we refu se or delay, right or justice. This mirrors the U. S. Bill of Rights, where it reads, â€Å"No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. † The reason they are so similar is because the founding fathers looked at past documents to help write our current Constitution. Thus, it explains why ideas, despite how old they are, remain intimately important to us. Without the Magna Carta, who knows if Americans- regardless of gender, race, or creed- could enjoy the liberties and protections it guarantees in our democracy today.The next piece, Cicero on the Laws, also developed individuals’ liberty into our government. Cicero was a great politician, philosopher and lawyer. He expressed his ideas on law, stating that it is an eternal principle â€Å"commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong. † He thought that law is based on reason and is the same as one’s conscience, derived from the Gods. Additionally, Cicero f elt that unjust laws should not be enforced as ones and may be regarded as null and void. Cicero’s idea on natural law developed into the natural rights and liberties of every individual.This idea remains prevalent today and is seen in the Declaration of Independence. For example, the Declaration of Independence states, â€Å"We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. † The idea that every individual has these rights in our democracy could not be developed without the rooted idea from Cicero. Another similarity seen in the Declaration of Independence is the idea that unjust laws may be regarded as null and void.For instance, â€Å"to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destruct ive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. † This is an example of the idea that if something is not working out, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it.In summary, the first half of the declaration of independence relates to Cicero’s ideas on how all men are created equal, they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, and democracy is governed by the people (â€Å"we†). The second half is also derived from Cicero’s natural law; the declaration of independence says that colonies are free and independence states. Additionally, the U. S. is separate from Britain. Although there are differences between the two documents, our liberties laid out in the Declaration of Independence would not be present without th e original idea from Cicero.It symbolizes the beginning of the end of English rule in the thirteen colonies, thus making it the most important document in American history. Democracy continued to develop after we created a system of branches. This system originated from Polybius in Ancient Rome during the period of the Roman Republic (before it turned into the Roman Empire). We learned about this after reading and analyzing the document â€Å"Rome at the End of the Punic Wars†. The three groups within the Roman government that Polybius discussed in the document were the consuls, the senate, and the people.The consuls represented a monarchy, the senate represented an aristocracy, and the people were represented as a democracy. What makes this piece so intriguing to our system today is how similar the Roman system is to the three branches in our government- consisting of the executive, legislative and judicial branches. The consuls are much like the commander in chief/†pr esident† (in other words the Executive branch), the senate in the Roman Republic is much like the legislative branch in the U. S and finally the people in the Roman Republic closely represent the judicial branch.In short, the main focus of the piece was to make sure that one group would not get too powerful. For a solution to this problem, they created a system of checks and balances in which without it, our system today would not function- much like the Roman Republic didn’t without it, too. It is a critical component that helped balance power in our democratic system as well as provide us with a sense of order. Throughout American History, democracy as a form of government has worked pretty well, particularly after the constitution was created.It has only been changed 15 times in 220 years. One of the problems we learned about during this course was the issue of religion and politics. Roger Williams wrote a book in 1644, where he was the first to write, in words, the idea of separating church and state. His idea was a cornerstone of change in the functioning of a democracy. It allowed both the Church and the state to function independently and properly. Roger Williams was not only the first to express this idea in words, but he was the biggest advocator in freedom of conscience and genuine political democracy.He founded the first Baptists church in North America, and is known as an important figure in American history. Religious freedom is fundamental to democracy, and his idea fostered I critical improvement in the way our government works. Another important figure in the functions of democracy throughout American history was a man named Stephen Douglas. He was the senator of Chicago in the mid 1800’s, where he wanted to start a railroad yet they needed more states.He developed a well-known role in society preceding the Missouri Compromise, where there was a line at the Southern border declaring Missouri to be a slave state and everythin g above that line to be free states. The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, where they had to determine whether states are free or slave states. Stephen Douglas suggested the idea of having an election. It would be scheduled so people could move there and hold the responsibility of voting as individuals. This created democracy, although along with this suggestion came Lincoln, who later disinterred Douglas’ idea.He said, â€Å"When a white man governs himself, that is self-government; but when he governs himself, and also another man, that is more than self-government†¦ it is despotism. † This was aimed at the idea of slavery, where although Douglas had the idea of being a democracy and voting, the idea of democracy could not exist if minorities (which were just as much of people as everybody else) did not have an individual vote as well. The development and history of democracy in America has shaped where we are today as a functioning and civil society, but it also determines how well suited we are for our future.So, because democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people, it is up to the people to play an active and informed role in our government. If a majority of the people becomes ill informed, uneducated, manipulated by the politically corrupt, an effective democratic government can’t survive the way we’d like to see it. I see challenges in our democracy today, such as politicians who engage in nasty head games and petty arguments for personal interests rather than the country’s success as a whole.For instance, representatives elected by the people are, a lot of the time, not the most capable for forming the government. They may compromise the interests of the public to serve their own interests and get caught up in greed, etc. Additionally, due to the fact that democracy is dependent on our votes, there are instances where the government may avoid taking decisions and act ions that are in fact in the interest of the people in the long run yet unpopular in the short run.One of the biggest struggles in face of the 21st century for democracy today, is to maintain itself as well as continue to refine itself into a better and more complete democracy. Keeping in mind the terrorism, corporate greed and selfishness in our society and our government, I hope our future will continue to educate each other in efforts for a better-run government. The ideas I learned in this course have driven me to respect history in all forms. I am less ignorant on the past and more informed on today’s pressing issues in hopes that I can contribute a well-educated vote for my country’s success.