Principles of Democracy

There are six main principles that make up the core of American Democracy.

Popular Sovereignty
Popular Sovereignty is the idea that the true power of the government lies within the people.  The first line of the Constitution states, "We the people…" in order to establish that the authority is within the people.  Although the idea of popular sovereignty suggests that the government is a direct democracy, the United States actually has a republic in order to set constitutional limits. However, citizens make use of popular sovereignty during elections.  All people with political power are elected in the United States.  The idea of popular sovereignty is currently in place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but President Kabila is taking away the rights of the people by appointing corrupt government officials.

Limited Government
The concept of limited government means that all citizens as well as government officials must obey the laws of the Constitution, or else they will be punished.  It also prevents the government from infringing upon citizens' rights by becoming too powerful and abusing its power.  For example, citizens accused of a crime have the right to a trial by jury, but may be convicted of the crime. Government officials are not exempt from trials or punishments.  Two Presidents of the United States have been on trial to be impeached, although neither of them were convicted.  In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, President Kabila has found ways to manipulate the government in order to gain increasing control for himself.  He is abusing his power by appointing corrupt officials to help him create unjust laws.  In addition, many citizens are severely punished for speaking out against the government and its ideas.

Separation of Powers
The United States government is divided into three branches: the executive, the legislative and the judicial.  This prevents any one group of people from becoming too powerful.  For example, the President is the Commander-in-Chief of the army, meaning he has control over the army once the nation is in a state of war.  However, the President is not allowed to declare war; only Congress can do that.  This separation of powers prevents the President from becoming a dictator and having total control of the country's warfare, but allows the President enough power to make quick, important decisions during times of conflict.  The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo is separated into three branches. However, separation of powers is not useful when the people in power are corrupt.

Checks and Balances
The system ensures that no branch of government from becomes too powerful by allowing each branch to be capable of changing or canceling the acts of another branch.  For example, the President has the ability to veto any law passed by Congress.  In return, Congress can override the President's veto with a two-thirds majority vote.  In the Democratic Republic of Congo, many of the government officials are bribed by the President.  The system of checks and balances is useless if all three branches of government are always in agreement.

Judicial Review
The judiciary branch has the power to determine if the actions of the other two branches are constitutional.  An independent judiciary helps to keep the other branches in check and helps protect minority rights.  For example, in the Supreme Court Case Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled that "separate but equal facilities" were unconstitutional.  This decision overruled the influences of the other branches of government.  Unfortunately, seventeen inexperienced judges in the DRC's Supreme Court were appointed by the President. It is important for judges to be fair in order for judicial review to work properly, and it is difficult to be impartial if they are appointed by the President.

Federalism
Federalism is the balance of power between the national and state governments.  The Constitution (the Federal government) is "the supreme law of the land," meaning that its rules must be obeyed above all others.  Anything not addressed in the Constitution is left to the states to make their own laws.  The minimum wage law is an example of the balance of Federalism.  The National government has a set minimum wage, and no state can have a minimum wage less than this amount.  However, state governments have the power to make their minimum wage higher than the national government's standard if they see it fit.