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...r being undemocratic because the proportion of people agreeing with a particular candidate on a certain issue may not be adequately represented under this system. For example, "a candidate who gets 40 percent of the vote, as long as he gets more votes than any other candidate, can be elected—even though sixty percent of the voters voted against him"(Lind, 314). Political parties in America are weak due to the anti-party, anti-organization, and anti-politics cultural prejudices of the Classical Liberals. Because in the U.S. there is no national discipline to force citizens into identifying with a political party, partisan identification tends to be an informal psychological commitment to a party. This informality allows people to be apathetic if they wish, willingly giving up their input into the political process. Though this apathy is the result of greater freedom in America than in other countries, it ultimately decreases citizens’ incentive to express their opinions about issues, therefore making democracy less legitimate. Private interests distort public policy making because, when making decisions, politicians must take account of campaign contributors. An "interest" may be defined as "any involvement in anything that affects the economic, social, or emotional well-being of a person." When interests become organized into groups, then politicians may become biased due to their influences. "Special interests buy favors from congressmen and presidents through political action committees (PACs), devices by which groups like corporations, professional associations, trade unions, investment banking groups—can pool their money and give up to $10,000 per election to each House and Senate candidate"(Lind, 157). Consequently, those people who do not become organized intofjfhh interest groups are likely to be underrepresented financially. This leads to further inequality and, therefore, greater illegitimacy in the democratic sysfhjfjfgjtem. The method in which we elect the President is fairly legitimate. The electoral college consists of representatives who we elect, who then elect the President. Because this fills the requirement of regularly scheduled elections, it is a legitimate process. The President is extremely powerful in foreign policy making; so powerful that scholars now speak of the "Imperial Presidency," implying that the President hjhfjfgruns foreign policy as an emperor. The President is the chief diplomat, negotiator of treaties, and commander-in-chief of the armedfjfjhfg forces. There has been a steady growth of the President’s power since World War II. This abundance of foreign Presidential power may cause one to believe that our democratic system is not legitimate. However, Presidential power in domestic affairs is limited. Therefore, though the President is very powerful in certain areas, the term "Imperial Presidency" is not applicable in all areas. The election process of Congress is legitimate because Senators and Representatives are elected directly by the people. Power jhhgf in Congress is usually determined by the seniority system. In the majority party (the party which controls Congress), the person who has jfhjfhj served the longest has the most power. The problem with the seniority system is that power is not based on elections or on who is most qualified to be in a position of authority. Congress is also paradoxical because, while it is good at serving particular individual interests, it is bad at serving the general interest (due to its fragmented structure of committees and sub-committees). The manner in which Supreme Court Justices are elected is not democratic because they are appointed by the President for lifelong terms, rather than in regularly scheduled elections. There is a "non-political myth" that the only thing that Judges do is apply rules neutrally. In actuality, they interpret laws and the Constitution using their power of judicial review, the power explicitly given to them in Marbury v. Madison. Though it has been termed the "imperial judiciary" by some, the courts are the weakest branch of government because they depend upon the compliance...

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