With origins dating back to ancient Greece, democracy is considered one of the fundamental and founding elements of the United States. It is a political system and a means by which the people of a nation can choose their leaders and hold them accountable for their actions and policies. This can only be achieved through the maintenance and preservation of four fundamental pillars: protection of people's human rights, due process of law, active political involvement of people and fair and free elections. This highlights the importance of having a strong and stable central government that prevents the possibility of a monarchy. For this reason, I believe that the system of checks and balances is the most crucial factor in promoting American democracy. While echoing the voices and intent of the framers of the Constitution, the system of checks and balances unifies the country's citizens regardless of ethnicity, background, socioeconomic level, gender, and political party under a single systemic idea for which the growth of democracy could be vital. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Before the creation and development of the United States there were the 13 original colonies fighting for the possibility of everything we have today. However, the real driving force and main instigator was the tyranny of the British throne. The monarchy in the mother country (Great Britain) provided the colonists with the right fuel for revolution such as: the Stamp Act, the establishment of a tyrannical authority to replace a representative government, the rejection of legislation proposed by the colonies, the replacement of governments colonials with his personal ministers, etc. (Kennel et Al. 2016). This not only paved the way for a revolution, but also created the fundamental need for a representative democracy rather than another tyrannical monarchy. Fearing another case of King George III, the Fathers established the system of checks and balances largely based on the French philosopher Charles, Baron de Montesquieu, who argued that “the concentration of governmental power could be effectively limited by placing the different functions of government – legislative, executive and judicial – into separate and independent institutions”. Simply put, the system would allow each of the three branches of government to limit or overwhelm the authority of the other two (Kennel et Al. 2016, 59). This implementation was surely a direct consequence of the perceived horrors of monarchical rule. Luckily for us, this gave rise to a new form of government in America: democracy. Eliminating the possibility of tyranny is fundamental to American democracy as it allows it (American democracy) to exist. Without means to safeguard our government from the possible seizure of power by a higher branch or a sector with too much power, democracy would be eradicated and the people would have to answer to a dominant power (the monarchy). Our country's founders recognized this potential problem and implemented two systems: the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances. The latter can be seen throughout history and even in modern times whenever the executive branch vetoes bills from the legislative while the judiciary can declare executive actions unconstitutional and so on. Even today, the system is still very relevant because “Of the 487 regular vetoes cast between 1945 and 2014, only 51 were overridden” (Kennel et Al. 2016, 267). This shows that checks and balances are definitely in place in the as well..
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