“We the people….” As the opening statement in the constitution shows, the American Government is a democratic republic, and the people have the power to influence almost everything. Things have not always been so; before the declaration of independence, Americans suffered many injustices under British rule since its power was not limited and the people did not have much influence. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution changed and shaped the fundamental ideals of American democracy and also influenced how they are applied. This paper explores those ideals and principles, how they are applied in today’s American Government, and the landmark court cases involved.
The first and most significant ideal of American democracy is natural rights, also called unalienable rights. “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.” (Declaration of Independence, 1776). These rights are supposed to be granted to people by the government without any interference. No one should be denied a right to life, and in extreme circumstances like the death penalty, the government should follow the due process of law. Liberty involves personal and economic freedom; people can operate with limited government involvement, allowing free trade and a laissez-faire economy. The pursuit of happiness, also a euphemism for the pursuit of wealth, means that people are free to do what makes them happy without being limited by the government.
On natural rights, the constitution added equality, right to property and expanded liberty through the Bill of Rights. All persons are allowed to own property under the Fifth Amendment without the government taking it away. If they have to take it for public use, they should compensate justly as provided in Eminent Domain (Ginsberg et al., 2021). Equality implies treating all citizens the same when it comes to opportunities and politics regardless of their race, sex, gender, or ethnicity. Today, American democracy applies natural rights in protecting life, liberty, property, the pursuit of happiness, and equality.
However, there are still gaps in areas like equality and liberty. According to the Pew Research Center (2020), when it comes to equality for White Americans and Black Americans, it is two different worlds; racial discrimination persists in employment, education, housing, and especially in law enforcement. There is also gender inequality evident in pay gaps, employment, and politics. According to United Nations (2022), for every dollar a man makes, women earn 77 cents; it would take nearly 257 years to correct this gap. Terror events like 9/11 led to a restriction on liberty; people do not have as much liberty as they might want. The government has to protect people through activities such as intercepting some information online and stringent searches at airports or when entering some buildings. While this is for the people’s security, some people believe that that is compromising the same freedom that the government should be defending (Hamilton, 2019).
Another ideal of American democracy is the idea of a social contract. American citizens enter into a contract with the government to protect their rights. The citizens institute the government, give it consent and can abolish it and institute a new one if the old fails to serve. This introduces the other ideal, popular sovereignty, which stipulates that the government gets its consent from citizens, and if it disregards the will of the people, then its power becomes illegitimate. People give consent to the government through principles of democracy such as voting. Since America is not a pure democracy but a republic, people vote for representatives who represent their will. Framers of the constitution feared that pure democracy would be problematic, leading them to adopt representative democracy/ republicanism.
Another ideal is limited government. Since America is a constitutional government, the powers of the government are limited by the constitution, the rule of law, and the Bill of Rights. These factors ensure the government does not act in its interests over the people. The constitution has other ideals and principles, such as the separation of powers and checks and balances. Separation of powers implies that there are three arms of government; legislative, executive, and judiciary, and each performs different tasks. On the other hand, checks and balances help ensure that no one particular arm of government is too powerful; they all keep each other in check.
Although the two documents provided an excellent guide for the American Republic, not everything was a hundred per cent plain; the supreme court had to decide about some cases which are still relevant to date. Different cases address ideas such as equality, liberty, separation of powers, due process of law, federalism, and limited government. Some crucial cases on equality include Plessy v. Ferguson, Grutter v. Bollinger, and Brown v. Board of Education. In Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme court decision was about the “separate but equal clause” regarding White and Black American facilities. This ruling led to inequality for a long time since separate was unequal. This ruling was challenged and declared unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education. From then on, institutions were no longer segregated, and that applied up to date. In Grutter v. Bollinger, the supreme court decided that higher education institutions have a legitimate interest in promoting diversity (US Courts, 2021). These cases influence the equality we enjoy today in different institutions and across races; schools are integrated and diverse, admission is done equally, and every citizen enjoys equal facilities.
Some cases on liberty and the right to privacy include Roe v. Wade, West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, Romer v. Evans, Obergefell v. Hedges, and Lawrence v. Texas, among others—the last three cases, as per the list, involved same-sex marriages. In Obergefell v. Hedges, the Supreme court ruled that same-sex marriages should be protected and recognized across states. In Lawrence v. Texas, same-sex couples were granted privacy, and in Romer v. Evans, same-sex relationships received extended rights and protections (US Courts, 2021). Today same-sex marriages enjoy the same freedom and protection as any other; this ensures equality. In Roe v. Wade, women were granted the right to abort in the first trimester; this gives people liberty and privacy over their bodies and choices without interference. Under the free exercise clause of the First Amendment, the Supreme court in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette upheld that Jehovah’s Witness children did not have to salute the flag in school; everyone is free to practice whatever religion they want (Ginsberg et al., 2021). These cases have helped advance liberty and privacy by ensuring that the government does not intrude on matters relating to married same-sex couples or abortion. Although abortion is still a significant debate, we have come a long way.
Mapp v. Ohio, Miranda v. Arizona, Terry v. Ohio, and Gideon v. Wainwright cases explore issues around fair trial, the right to a jury, and due process of law. In Mapp v. Ohio, evidence obtained illegally by violating other rights like protection from unnecessary searches and seizures is inadmissible in court. This helps protect the individual and the law by ensuring all evidence is obtained accordingly. In Miranda v. Arizona, the court held that police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning to avoid self-incrimination. Today, these rights help ensure that people get justice without being coerced by police to confess crimes or incriminate themselves. In Gideon v. Wainwright, the court held that every suspect has the right to an attorney, and if they cannot afford one, they can get a public one; this helps ensure a fair trial for all citizens, poor or rich (US Courts, 2021)
Case precedents relating directly to the government include United States v. Nixon and Barron v. Baltimore. United States v. Nixon, the court limited the power of the president, which is almost like limiting the power of the government because if a president had unlimited power, then the same would extend to his government, which would be inconsistent with the ideals of the American democracy. In Barron v. Baltimore, the Bill of Rights was nationalized and started applying to both states and the federal government; before Barron v. Baltimore, the Bill of Rights was limited only to the actions of the federal government (Ginsberg et al., 2021).
References
Benjamin Ginsberg, Theodore J Lowi, Margaret Weir, Caroline J Tolbert, Andrea L Campbell, Robert J Spitzer (2021). We the People, Essentials Thirteenth Edition W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Hamilton, J. (2019). The Delicate Balance Between Civil Liberties and National Security. https://www.venice.coe.int/SACJF/2006_08_MOZ%20Maputo/Hamilton_delicate_balance.htm
Pew Research Center. (2020, August 27). On views of race and inequality, blacks and Whites Are Worlds Apart. Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2016/06/27/on-views-of-race-and-inequality-blacks-and-whites-are-worlds-apart/
The Declaration of Independence. (1776). The declaration of independence: Full text. ushistory.org. from https://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/
United Nations. (2022). Closing Gender Pay Gaps is More Important than Ever | UN news. United Nations. https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/09/1126901#:~:text=For%20every%20dollar%20men%20earn,the%20global%20gender%20pay%20gap.
United States Courts. (2022). Supreme Court Landmarks. United States Courts. https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/supreme-court-landmarks
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