THE TRUTH OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

          Welcome to America, land of the free and the home of the brave, but according to our government are we actually free? If we look into any history textbook, we will see that the United States is defined to have a direct democracy form of government. This form of government is defined as a form of democracy in which people decide policy initiatives directly (Wikiquote), or a form of government in which the supreme power is retained by the people, but which is usually exercised indirectly through a system of representation and delegated authority which is periodically renewed (Melina). When looking into other types of government, we can see the American government being a federal republic. A federal Republic is defined as a system of government in which states have their own form of self-government, the central government is kept in line by not having too much power, and the sovereign power relies on voters who get to choose their government officials (Melina). If we actually take into account that the United States is not a direct democracy, we can conclude that the United States is a federal republic. We can see the United States as a federal republic because the central government is restricted, our states have their own degree of self-government, and voters who get to choose their representative in the government.

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            As most people know, the United States government has three branches, the judicial branch, the legislative branch and the judicial branch. The judicial branch is the branch of government that is in charge with the interpretation of the laws of the United States and the administration of justice (Judicial Branch), our legislative branch is the branch of government that proposes new laws and policies (Legislative Branch), and the executive branch is the branch of government that enforces and execution of the laws and policies (Executive Branch). Each branch of government plays their own role in maintaining checks and balances in our governments decisions. Checks and balances happens when one area of the government restrains another branch so one does not become too powerful. For example, we can observe how the legislative branch and the executive branch. The executive branch, or the president, can veto a law that the legislative branch composes, but then the if the bill is vetoed then the legislative branch can override the veto with a two-thirds vote (Checks and Balances). This plays a role in the federal republic form of government where the central government are restricted. Each branch of the government is also controlled by the constitution, as well as every civilian, but the constitution also keeps the government in check in what laws they can make and how they can be used for everyday use.

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            Another characteristic of a federal republic is that the states, colonies, and provinces have their own self-government while still being under the control of the higher government (Melina). In the history of the United States, we can see that the states of the United States used to be more independent from the central government; for example, all states used to have different currency that could not be used in other states. After the evolution of our country, we now see the states all part of the same system. While we do still have our own form of self-government in our states, our states are under federal law of the central government. This plays in the form of state and federal laws; as the states do have their own laws, federal laws will overcome the state laws. For example, states like California and Colorado it is legal under state law to smoke marijuana, while under federal law you can be prosecuted because marijuana is illegal under federal law. As you can see, this falls into the form of government of federal republic because of the states having a degree of their own self- government, but still being under control of the higher government.  

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            One of the grandest reasons why the United States is not a direct democracy is because the overall fact that American voters do not get what they voted for based on the electoral college. This process eliminates the popular vote and therefore does no give the United States a direct democracy. A prime example of this was in the previous presidential election, when President Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton, even though Clinton won the popular vote. Overall, this system of government that the United States has is more related to the federal republic. This system of government allows us to still vote for our representation in government through representatives, but we as people do not vote on policy ourselves, we just elect a representative and hope their views match ours. While us as a nation still have a form of democracy where we vote for our governmental representatives, our overall government does not relate to the system of direct democracy, but more to a federal republic.

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            While the American government has bits and pieces that can fall into the category of another form of government, we can see that the United States is a federal republic because of our central government being restricted to a certain point, our states still being able to self-govern under central governments control, and our ability to vote for our representation in government through representatives. In conclusion, we can see how the United States government is more related to a federal republic as their overall form of government.