Democracy in the Constitution

Test your knowledge with free interactive questions on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

Extent of Democracy in the US Constitution

The US Constitution enshrines democratic ideals and processes, but there are some limits to this.

The US Constitution enshrines ideas of democracy and individual liberty as being important for the nation and for the individuals living there.
The Constitution and its amendments set out rights and freedoms of individuals, and has been expanded to allow more people to be represented in government.
Because the Constitution is entrenched, these fundamental ideals are protected and difficult to change.
The ideals are outlined in the Preamble, which says that the Constitution is put in place in order to “form a more perfect Union” and “establish Justice”.

The Constitution ensures that the US will have a system of representative government.
The Constitution puts the power in the hands of the people, making sure that government is done with consent from below.

The Constitution means that there have to be regular elections, and this allows the American public to have control over their government.
There are elections every two years for the House of Representatives, every four years for president, and every six years for the Senate.
This guarantees a regular transfer of power, which is important for a democracy.
For example, in 2018 many people were unhappy with the Republican party, and so the Democrats won a majority in the House of Representatives.

The Constitution states that the Electoral College must be used to elect the president.
The Electoral College gives different numbers of Electoral College votes to each state and guarantees that smaller states have power in the election.

However, the number of Electoral College votes for each state is not proportional to present-day populations.
So, smaller states get a much larger say in presidential elections — states like Wyoming with small populations have fewer people per Electoral College vote than larger ones like California.
This means that votes count differently in the Electoral College system, which is not fully democratic.

The Supreme Court can limit the actions of the executive and legislature.
However, judicial review is not explicitly stated in the Constitution, so the Supreme Court can decide itself how to go about exercising it.

Having a separation of powers and checks and balances are important parts of the US Constitution which limit the amount of power that any one individual or group can have in the US government.
For example, the US judiciary was able to briefly stop President Trump's travel ban in 2017.
But, this also slows down the law-making process if there are opposing parties in different government branches.

Democracy in the Constitution has several impacts, strengths and weaknesses.

The Constitution is vague which allows the ideas to be interpreted and changed according to the needs of the present day.
For example, under the “necessary and proper” clause, the federal government can make laws that they believe are important for the continued proper running of the government, such as healthcare and welfare bills.
However, some lawmakers and judges still wish to follow the Constitution as it was written, which may limit rights for people who were not represented by the original Constitution (such as women and LGBTQ+ people).

Amendments to the Constitution, such as the 19th, increased the number of people eligible to vote.
This has made the US more democratic, and the results of elections are more representative of the wishes of the population.

The Supreme Court and judicial system still have an important part to play in maintaining checks and balances on the executive and legislature.
The nominations for the Supreme Court are politicised, so the justices on the court may not be neutral and may make political decisions that impact groups in the US.
- For example, in 2022 the Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson, removing the federal right to abortion — an outcome shaped by Trump’s three Supreme Court appointments.

The amendment process means that any changes have to take place with consent from democratically elected representatives and state governments.
The separation of powers limits the individual power of any one person or group to prevent tyranny and despotism.
Frequent elections mean there can be a regular transfer of power and regular opportunities for the people to cast a vote.
The Constitution enshrines democratic ideals and was one of the first of its kind to do so.

The Electoral College does not give equal representation to all voters.
The vagueness of the Constitution allows the executive and the legislature to make laws which have not been consented to by the public.
The Constitution does not account for other factors that may influence the decision-making process, such as lobbyists, and does not account for the difficulties of campaign finance.
The amendment process means that a small group of states can block the will of a majority of states.