FREE ESSAY ON JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY

JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY

Equality in Democracy 
The United States of America was founded by its people, for its people in the pursuit of
life, liberty and happiness, by attempting to provide freedom and equality. The way of
life back when the government set down its foundation was quite different than it is
now.
Some things were just considered natural law and were left out of law making and the
Constitution because they were morally
accepted as right and wrong. For instance, I highly doubt that the government would have
allowed Nazi party privileges to exist under
freedom of speech. The idea of My rights end where yours begin states that an individual
has freedom until the freedom interferes
with the rights given to another. To create and maintain a quality form of government,
one where privileges are not abused and
equality is taken seriously, we must decide how large a role we want the government to
play in the maintaining of morals and natural
law. The use of all nine roles of government is needed to maximize the quality of
democracy because it promotes the equality of
each individual. (Godwin&Wahlke 15-30) The four minimal roles of the government
(protection and order, collective goods and
dilemmas, negative externalities and rights and duties) are generally accepted as a basis
of what a government should 
provide its people. The government must protect the safety of its people and protect
itself from internal revolutions and external
invasions. Also, it attempts to improve the general welfare of its people by resolving
collective dilemmas, minimizing negative
externalities and providing collective goods wherever possible. To do this, the
government must specify and enforce the rights and
duties of its people. The four roles are obviously needed for control and order within a
society and prove to be beneficial to everyone.
(Godwin&Wahlke 23) From there, the government should apply the five additional roles of
government. The five roles are: social
justice, economic intervention in the economy, government as a moral force and political
socialization. The application of these roles
is necessary to the quality of democracy because they attempt to increase social justice,
improve economic efficiency, encourage
morality and socialize citizens to accept obligations appropriate to their roles in the
existing society.(Godwin&Wahlke 23) By
attempting to accomplish these goals, things like discrimination, public opinion and
self-interest are discouraged by the promotion of
a common morality. Government as a moral force, in a way, works with social justice in
that it sets the foundation of which social
justice attempts to achieve. Standards, set by the people and implied by the government,
should 
promote and be built around natural law. Locke's theory of natural law produces natural
rights,'' providing the right to life, liberty,
property, and equality before the law. (Godwin&Wahlke 48) These rights encourage an equal
chance in life for freedom and
property/wealth. To protect society and individuals from discrimination by preserving
equal rights, social justice attempts to provide
an enjoyable life and an opportunity for equality, whether it be social or economic. This
role of the government is needed to provide a
gateway for the less fortunate and struggling people of America to have an equal chance
of success and happiness in life. In
contrast to the Gospel of Wealth which William Henley states, I am the master of my own
fate; I am the captain of my own soul,
(Bizzell&Herzberg 415) Rawls believes that Institutions should be created to keep people
from falling below a minimal threshold of
well-being. No one should be so disadvantaged that they cannot maintain their
self-respect and defend their interests against people
of much greater wealth or power. (Godwin&Wahlke 63-64) Social justice is essential to the
quality of democracy because, without
it, society would allow selfishness, public opinion, and personal interest to rule,
condemning the less fortunate to their status and
not honoring their rights to and equal chance of life, liberty, and happiness. Through
the ideals stated in social justice, economic
efficiency attempts to provide positive goods or services to all of society at minimal 
cost. The basic idea behind it is to put as little effort or money into something that
provides the greatest amount of goods possible.
As an example, the public school system, paid by the taxes of the public, provides an
education for anyone in the community for
free. The public pays little individually to provide anyone an opportunity for an
education. This role of government is needed to provide
beneficial and efficient services to the public and to further social justice. In short,
economic efficiency is needed to organize and
provide services that are beneficial to all of society. Government Intervention in the
Economy is another additional role beyond the
four minimal roles of the government. This role allows the government to intervene in
economic issues, promote social justice and
maintain its moral beliefs of economic justice. Things such as minimum wage and right to
strike are topics of government
intervention. In earlier years, the government allowed companies and industry to severely
abuse and exploit the workers. As
Elizabeth Phelps describes in The Silent Partner, working conditions in the late 1800's
were beyond exploitation. The wages were
literally close to impossible to provide for a family and survive on, and the conditions
were in most cases slowly killing the workers.
(Bizzell&Herzberg 590) Today, because of economic intervention, the work force has the
right to strike, and rightfully so, allowing
them to have some leverage to fight with, thus giving them 
power to stand up for their needs, wants and demands. This is, in a way, the executive
branch of the five additional roles of
government. It is a must in order to preserve and apply the morals set forth in social
justice and to provide economic efficiencies
within a society. To create a perfect democracy, absolute participation is needed. This
is not a realistic goal, but through political
socialization, the government attempts gain the favor of the people in hopes that they
will be more likely to participate. The
government wants and needs to be popular among its people in order to make day-by-day
steps in improving the quality of
democracy. In America today, Republican protesters are ripping the nine roles of
government down. They want as little as possible
of government intervention to be allowed into their lives. The application of the nine
roles is being repressed everyday by the
argument that they limit personal freedom. Too much of a good thing can be bad; there
obviously needs to be set limitations to the
rights provided by the government. The government does limit freedom to a point, but it
is only done in the interest of the people by
attempting to maintain the greatest form of democracy known to the world today. The
application of the nine roles of the government
needs to be conserved for the benefit of democracy in America. 
The quality of the democracy is dependent on the moral foundations created by the people
and accepted by the government. From
there, the foundation of Social Justices is determined, and the basis of providing
economic efficiencies can be established. With an
understanding of the society's set beliefs, government intervention carries out and
applies its views. The highest quality democracy
allows the greatest happiness for the greatest amount of people. By effectively applying
all nine roles of government within society,
the quality of democracy will have an opportunity to reach its zenith. Mark Olson 8/6/98
Essay 5 
Equality in Democracy 
The United States of America was founded by its people, for its people in the pursuit of
life, liberty and happiness, by attempting to
provide freedom and equality. The way of life back when the government set down its
foundation was quite different than it is now.
Some things were just considered natural law and were left out of law making and the
Constitution because they were morally
accepted as right and wrong. For instance, I highly doubt that the government would have
allowed Nazi party privileges to exist under
freedom of speech. The idea of My rights end where yours begin states that an individual
has freedom until the freedom interferes
with the rights given to another. To create and maintain a quality form of government,
one where privileges are not abused and
equality is taken seriously, we must decide how large a role we want the government to
play in the maintaining of morals and natural
law. The use of all nine roles of government is needed to maximize the quality of
democracy because it promotes the equality of
each individual. (Godwin&Wahlke 15-30) The four minimal roles of the government
(protection and order, collective goods and
dilemmas, negative externalities and rights and duties) are generally accepted as a basis
of what a government should 
provide its people. The government must protect the safety of its people and protect
itself from internal revolutions and external
invasions. Also, it attempts to improve the general welfare of its people by resolving
collective dilemmas, minimizing negative
externalities and providing collective goods wherever possible. To do this, the
government must specify and enforce the rights and
duties of its people. The four roles are obviously needed for control and order within a
society and prove to be beneficial to everyone.
(Godwin&Wahlke 23) From there, the government should apply the five additional roles of
government. The five roles are: social
justice, economic intervention in the economy, government as a moral force and political
socialization. The application of these roles
is necessary to the quality of democracy because they attempt to increase social justice,
improve economic efficiency, encourage
morality and socialize citizens to accept obligations appropriate to their roles in the
existing society.(Godwin&Wahlke 23) By
attempting to accomplish these goals, things like discrimination, public opinion and
self-interest are discouraged by the promotion of
a common morality. Government as a moral force, in a way, works with social justice in
that it sets the foundation of which social
justice attempts to achieve. Standards, set by the people and implied by the government,
should 
promote and be built around natural law. Locke's theory of natural law produces natural
rights,'' providing the right to life, liberty,
property, and equality before the law. (Godwin&Wahlke 48) These rights encourage an equal
chance in life for freedom and
property/wealth. To protect society and individuals from discrimination by preserving
equal rights, social justice attempts to provide
an enjoyable life and an opportunity for equality, whether it be social or economic. This
role of the government is needed to provide a
gateway for the less fortunate and struggling people of America to have an equal chance
of success and happiness in life. In
contrast to the Gospel of Wealth which William Henley states, I am the master of my own
fate; I am the captain of my own soul,
(Bizzell&Herzberg 415) Rawls believes that Institutions should be created to keep people
from falling below a minimal threshold of
well-being. No one should be so disadvantaged that they cannot maintain their
self-respect and defend their interests against people
of much greater wealth or power. (Godwin&Wahlke 63-64) Social justice is essential to the
quality of democracy because, without
it, society would allow selfishness, public opinion, and personal interest to rule,
condemning the less fortunate to their status and
not honoring their rights to and equal chance of life, liberty, and happiness. Through
the ideals stated in social justice, economic
efficiency attempts to provide positive goods or services to all of society at minimal 
cost. The basic idea behind it is to put as little effort or money into something that
provides the greatest amount of goods possible.
As an example, the public school system, paid by the taxes of the public, provides an
education for anyone in the community for
free. The public pays little individually to provide anyone an opportunity for an
education. This role of government is needed to provide
beneficial and efficient services to the public and to further social justice. In short,
economic efficiency is needed to organize and
provide services that are beneficial to all of society. Government Intervention in the
Economy is another additional role beyond the
four minimal roles of the government. This role allows the government to intervene in
economic issues, promote social justice and
maintain its moral beliefs of economic justice. Things such as minimum wage and right to
strike are topics of government
intervention. In earlier years, the government allowed companies and industry to severely
abuse and exploit the workers. As
Elizabeth Phelps describes in The Silent Partner, working conditions in the late 1800's
were beyond exploitation. The wages were
literally close to impossible to provide for a family and survive on, and the conditions
were in most cases slowly killing the workers.
(Bizzell&Herzberg 590) Today, because of economic intervention, the work force has the
right to strike, and rightfully so, allowing
them to have some leverage to fight with, thus giving them 
power to stand up for their needs, wants and demands. This is, in a way, the executive
branch of the five additional roles of
government. It is a must in order to preserve and apply the morals set forth in social
justice and to provide economic efficiencies
within a society. To create a perfect democracy, absolute participation is needed. This
is not a realistic goal, but through political
socialization, the government attempts gain the favor of the people in hopes that they
will be more likely to participate. The
government wants and needs to be popular among its people in order to make day-by-day
steps in improving the quality of
democracy. In America today, Republican protesters are ripping the nine roles of
government down. They want as little as possible
of government intervention to be allowed into their lives. The application of the nine
roles is being repressed everyday by the
argument that they limit personal freedom. Too much of a good thing can be bad; there
obviously needs to be set limitations to the
rights provided by the government. The government does limit freedom to a point, but it
is only done in the interest of the people by
attempting to maintain the greatest form of democracy known to the world today. The
application of the nine roles of the government
needs to be conserved for the benefit of democracy in America. 
The quality of the democracy is dependent on the moral foundations created by the people
and accepted by the government. From
there, the foundation of Social Justices is determined, and the basis of providing
economic efficiencies can be established. With an
understanding of the society's set beliefs, government intervention carries out and
applies its views. The highest quality democracy
allows the greatest happiness for the greatest amount of people. By effectively applying
all nine roles of government within society,
the quality of democracy will have an opportunity to reach its zenith.