Democracy is defined in the book The Struggle For Democracy, as a system of rule by the people for the people, defined by the aspects of popular sovereignty, political equality, and political liberty. To understand the meaning of the definition of democracy, the three principals must be defined. Popular sovereignty is basically that the majority is the final rule. Political equality is the tenet that all persons have equal sway in the political business. The right to have basic freedoms without interference from the government is political liberty. The United States has been viewed as the most democratic country in the world and US citizens automatically say, "yes, we (US) are democratic" or even go as bold as saying "I love our democracy!" without even understanding the full concept and definition of democracy. To really understand the idea, it has to be broken down. Consider popular sovereignty, does the government really do what the people really want? Are the people informed well enough to make proper decisions? Are the people even able to be involved when they want to, or is it selected in what they have a say in? Then going to the second concept of political equality, can't we say that money has more say then the average person? Then when it comes to political liberty, it can be asked does all citizens have the same rights and liberties all available to them? (Greenberg 14) When those questions are answered then the question of "How democratic are we?" may be able to answer. Democracy has been twisted and warped from the original meaning and purpose that the framers intended. Some concepts, but not all have been changed for the better; such as women and African American men are allowed to vote. Considering the literal meaning of democracy, the United States is not incredibly democratic when the framers intentions and the appearance of the government's structure are considered.
