Long Time Promoted Democracy in United States of America (Coursework Sample)

American Democracy
Institution
Name
United States has for a long time promoted democracy. America was founded on democratic grounds from the time its founders were freeing from religious prosecution. Democracy is not all about religious freedom or rights of workers, but to create a more stable, secure and stable nation. Through democracy the nation can achieve peace, promote economic growth and protect the citizens. American democracy is achieved by use of certain institutions which include bureaucratic federal agencies, constitution, the judicial system and interest groups.
The U.S constitution forms a strong foundation of the central government which regulates commerce, enforces citizen rights and defends the citizens (Stevens, 2014). The constitution offers the federal government procedures and principles which it has operated with since 1789. Some responsibilities are delegated to the states while others to other federal bodies. The constitution divides powers between the three branches of the government (Levy, Karst, & Winkler, 2000). In addition, it gives a system that prevents one branch from having power over the other.
The original parts of the constitution are very specific especially the Bill of Rights, but is vague in other parts. Due to this vagueness, the constitution can be adapted to changes through adding amendments and also by interpretation by the judicial system. Amendment results to more clarity of the constitutions or brings about some restrictions (Stevens, 2014). Originally, the constitution supported liberty but did not support women and slaves liberty. The laws were exploited in order to keep these groups in the same situation. The adaptability of the constitution gives it strengths while providing more restrictions through the amendments is a major weakness of the constitution.
While different amendments have proved to be beneficial, the congress should consider whether the amendment will give more restrictions or will provide more benefits. For example, 13th Amendment led to abolishment of slavery while 14th Amendment made slaves citizens and gave them rights to vote (Stevens, 2014). The more the constitution is amended the more there will be restrictions which mean that amendments should be as limited as possible (Levy, Karst, & Winkler, 2000). For example, if in a certain field such as in business there were a lot of laws, business would find it hard to operate and there will be few entries to certain industries.
Agencies of bureaucracy have a variety of roles which ranges from collecting revenues to regulation of the economy. Members of the bureaucracy are not elected and they respond to elected officials who hold public offices. As a result these people have expertise in certain areas due to them specializing in that area or staying in office for long. They are the people who administer the policies and most of the times know much about different issues than members of the congress (Sidlow & Henschen, 2013). In addition, they have a large impact on the process of policy making. Agencies of federal bureaucracy should leverage this advantage of having expertise in certain areas while putting into practice different policy.
On the other hand, civil service laws presents a disadvantage to the agencies in that these laws affects hiring, firing and promotion. Therefore, it is very difficult to maintain competence among the employees. There lacks competence among employees of agencies which makes their performance to be low (Sidlow & Henschen, 2013). It is hard to fire an employee of incompetence in such agencies unless they commit a serious crime. Since the employees feel that they are protected by the civil service laws, they are incompetent which then affects performance of the whole agency.
In order to ensure that the agency remains staffed with employees who are highly skilled, they should be selected on the basis of experience and expertise. These personnel should be clearly investigated for any misconduct and their competent gauged (Hanrahan, 2008). Reforms to the civil service laws should be made such that they allow hiring and firing in case of poor performance, incompetency or lack of accountability. The result is ease of firing in case of incompetence which will then improve performance.
The presumption of innocence is where one is said to be innocent until proven guilty. In most of the world’s nation, presumption of innocence is a legal right of the persons who have been accused and the U.S is one of those nations (Sidlow & Henschen, 2013). The prosecution is mandated with the role of proof where compelling evidence is required to be collected and presented in order to convince the Trier. Actual evidence and testimonies which are admissible according to the law are considered. In addition, evidence in most cases should be legally obtained in order to accuse someone beyond doubt that he or she is guilty. In case there is reasonable doubt, then the accused is acquitted (Hanrahan, 2008). Under the American law, the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty of all the acquisitions and the burden of proof remains with the accuser.
Presumption of innocence requires that the prosecution prove all the elements of the offense beyond reasonable doubts. In addition, the accused has the burden to proof that the accused is guilty (Hogan, 2006). The phrase innocent until proven guilty was coined by an English lawyer known as Sir William Garrow. According to Garrow, accusers are to be heavily tested in the court of law. On the other hand, an objective observer as part of the jury has to conclude reasonably that the person committed the crime. Jean Lemoine, a French Cardinal and jurist created presumption of innocence in order to favor the accused as most people are not criminals (Hogan, 2006). This is considered favorable evidence of the accused which requires the Trier of facts to begin with a presumption that the state is not capable of supporting it assertions.
In order to ensure that presumption of innocence is protected by the law, three rules are used in criminal trials. The first presumption is that whether the defendant committed the crime he or she is charged with, the state carries the burden of proo (Hogan, 2006 )f. The defendant does not carry the burden of proof under any circumstance (Burns, 2009). The defendant does not have the obligation to call the witness, testify or present any evidence, In addition, if the defendant decides he or she will not testify, this cannot be used against him or her. Thirdly, the jury or the judge is supposed to pass the judgment based on evidence alone. The judge or the judge cannot pass the judgment based on the negative inference of the case facts without arguing based on the evidence collected (Burns, 2009).
While the government can detain some criminals who are said to poses danger to the public, criminals can be released from jail before trial. Presumption of innocence is a public symbol and at the same time it requires proof beyond reasonable doubt. In reality no defendant would be faced by a trial unless someone else such as prosecutor or a police officer believes that the defendant is guilty (Hogan, 2006). Presumption of innocence is a criminal processes and it keeps the juries and judges focused on the issues presented in a case. It requires that the judge or jury determine whether the prosecution has proven that the defendant is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. This has led to a fair judicial system in that an individual is proven innocent until proven guilty.
On the other hand, the hearing processes takes a short time or they are done in a fast manner which can suppress important evidence. The amount of time that it takes from arrest to passing the judgment varies depending on the crime. For example, a case of drunk driving may be solved within months from the date of arrest. However, there are some cases where there are speedy trials. Once the trial has been started, the defendant can force the case trials to be done in a quick manner (Burns, 2009). In California, the law requires that the defendant be brought to trial within 60 days of indictment in case there is no good reason for delay otherwise the case will be dismissed by the judge.
While the law requires that the trial be carried out within a given time, it is important that the important information be collected. Therefore, it may take long to collect the necessary information which means more time will be needed. In addition, the more complicated a case is the more it will require more time and also if a lot of parties are involved (Hogan, 2006). However, most of the courts will try to rush in order to meet the requirements of passing the trial within a predetermined period (Hogan, 2006). The time required for a case to go to trial should be determine by the number of parties involved and how complicated the case is.
One positive impact of interest group is that of offering people an opportunity to contribute to democratic political processes. Through having competing goals among i...