Democracy in America: Political Science Assignment - Module Name

This assignment delves into the principles of democracy in America, examining the structure of the government and the rights of citizens. It discusses the evolution of voting rights, highlighting the historical struggles for suffrage and the role of legislation in ensuring equal participation. The assignment references Alexander Keyssar's work to emphasize the importance of universal suffrage in a true democracy. It also touches upon significant events like the 2008 Presidential election and the election of Barack Obama, which is considered a landmark moment in American history, demonstrating the progress made in achieving equality and representation within the democratic system. The assignment underscores the ongoing significance of civic engagement and the importance of understanding the foundations of American democracy.

Running head: DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA
Political Science
Name of the Student:
Name of University

2
DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA
The government in United States is a representative democracy, which is elected by
citizens. The representatives are responsible to take forward concerns and ideas of welfare to the
government. The government is divided into two parts, State and Federal through which people
and the nation are governed (Keyssar, 2009). People take part in democratic elections by casting
their votes in favor of a representative who contests the election. The suffrage for voting for men
and women took place in 1975, which allowed people, who are aged over 18 years, to cast their
votes. The same legislation also protect the rights of language minorities in the nation. However,
the struggle for attaining equality and the right to vote, dates back to eighteen century, since
when people had to face discrimination, racism and unfairness and the path towards
enfranchisement was long and troublesome.
American people had to fight for several decades to gain their civil and fundamental
rights, I order to take part in democratic election and be identified as citizens. The
experimentation of democracy began very early though the rights were only granted to a section
of the society. In the decades to come, some of the southern states even had new laws and
regulations introduced, which were directed to disallow the black men and women from having
their rights to vote. It can be noted from Alexander Keyssar’s (2009) work that "A nation
certainly could have universal suffrage without being a democracy, [but] a polity cannot be truly
democratic without universal suffrage." Eligibility of people for voting is set by the state laws
and the constitution from 1965 onwards, not allowing discrimination to follow. The Presidential
election of 2008 is regarded as a landmark in the history of America, as Barack Obama, was the
first African American to have been elected to the White house gaining 53% of popular votes.

3
DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA
References
Keyssar, A. (2009). The right to vote: The contested history of democracy in the United States.
Basic Books.