Democracy

The declaration of independence was the first official declaration by the people of the United States of America affirming their rights to elect their administration. In writing the declaration, Thomas Jefferson was driven by the following ideas. All human beings are born with certain inalienable rights such as the right to life and liberty and the government is a social contract between the people and their leaders and can be terminated if the leaders fail to honor the people’s welfare. This declaration, however, omitted checks and balances and rule of law as principles of democracy as seen below.

Checks and balances is a principle of democracy that was omitted during the declaration for independence. Under this principle, different arms of the government are empowered to regulate actions by other arms of government. Power is shared among the judiciary, legislature and the executive (America in Class, 2013). Checks and balances are a significant part of democracy as each of the three arms of the government can limit the powers of the others. As a result, no arm becomes too powerful thus preventing dictatorship. The omission of checks and balance meant there was no restriction and division of power.

Declaration of independence also omitted the rule of law which ensures that all individuals in a state are subject to law that is justly applied. Rule of law is substantial as it acts as the basis of a liberated society that imposes restrictions on the administration such that all people of that society including leaders are similarly subject to law (Inter-Parliamentary Union, 1998). Rule of law ensures that all people are equal.

In conclusion, principles of democracy played a pivotal role in the declaration for independence. They acted as the guiding principle of the statement by Thomas Jefferson. However, he omitted checks and balances and the rule of law. This meant that power was not shared among the different arms of government and all people in the country were subject to the law.

References

Inter-Parliamentary Union. (1998). DEMOCRACY: ITS PRINCIPLES AND ACHIEVEMENT . Inter-Parliamentary Achievement, 1-110.

America in Class. (2013). DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. America in Class, 1-5.

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Democracy

Paper details
Identify what principles of democracy are missing from the Declaration of Independence. Needs a good thesis