by C. L. Craven

Created on: August 28, 2009

A democracy, although thought by many to be the perfect form of government, at times, infringes on the rights of people who believe that a democracy entitles them to absolute freedom. For instance: The new smoking law in Pennsylvania now forbids smoking in public places, unless one is twenty feet from the establishment's door or entryway. For smokers, this is a major concern regarding their right to smoke. Interest groups ban together to plead their case and often times, a law goes in to effect without a vote from society as a whole. So, in essence, democracy had no bearing on the decision making powers. Or, did it?

The average citizen carries little knowledge of legal processes and therefore, travels through life in a void of confusion when laws are handed down without warning or opportunity to vote on these laws. Representatives voted in by the people hopefully fight for the majority, but do we as a people know what the majority opinion is? As a people we trust that our government has our best interests in mind when laws are voted on and installed. In this day, to become more aware of our governments activities is the only solution to deter our government from gaining too much control over its people.

If the government is for the people and by the people then the people should be in more control than they are at present. But how does one gain control? By becoming more active on a community, local and state level, citizens of this country can understand how government functions and its various idiosyncrasies. One must face the fact that the United States Government, regarding taxes, regulatory agencies, social security benefits, just to name a few, will always have the upper hand when it comes to financial control, to a certain extent.

Generally, people are struggling to survive each and every day to pay taxes and support their families and have little time to devote to governmental affairs. One hopes that a democracy will protect and serve its people, but has failed its people many times in the past and will fail its people in the future as well. Ultimately, however, a democracy, despite its inability to boast perfection, has survived since 1776 and has continued to give the people of this country hope.

Hope keeps the Constitution alive and was founded by our forefathers to protect its people. And so, government must work within the confines of the Constitution. Other than that, government can do whatever is legal and binding to protect its people from harm, as displayed by President George Bush after 9/11. The controversy of war is always open for debate, but the inevitable fact is, war has its place in a democracy. Fighting for the freedoms we as a democratic people cherish, is and has been considered the greatest honor for those who have fought and died to support democracy and the freedom it represents.

Because each state has its own governing bodies, ironically, no two states in the union are exactly alike with respect to taxes, health benefits, etc. How amusing when one thinks that moving to another state would relieve them of paying real estate taxes or attending college free. All one has to do pick up and move. Now that is democracy in the works! So, perhaps government, because it is being run by the people isn't an issue of control at all, but merely people trying to control all the issues that present themselves on a day to day basis. That's a huge responsibility that requires dedication, stamina and the desire to preserve democracy.

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