FURK

1)  James Madison's model for government was very concerned with the prevention of any faction gaining too much power. He made a system to safeguard against tyranny of the majority and protect minority rights. With all of these safeguards some branches of government were more loosely linked to the citizens than others. The part of the national government that was most closely related to the citizens was the house or representatives because these representatives were, and still are, directly elected by the citizens. Their short, two year, terms also make them more reactive to the people. This makes them the most closely tied with the citizens.

The constitution limited majority rule in many ways. One way that majority rule was limited by the constitution was through the appointment of judges and justices. Justices are appointed to their positions by the president instead of by a majority vote and serve for life. Another way that majority rule was limited was by the use of the electoral college in presidential elections. Because the president was voted upon by the electoral college, a candidate could have a majority and not get the presidency.

Over time America has become more and more democratic. One example of this is the increased use of primaries over caucuses. In modern times we have significantly more primaries than we used to and, by default, significantly less caucuses. This makes us more democratic because primaries are based on voting as opposed to caucuses where only a few people decide. Another area that shows our increase in democracy is the passing of the 17th amendment. This amendment changed the election system for the senate from an appointment by state legislatures to a statewide vote. This puts power into the hands of more people and is, in turn, more democratic.

2) Historically, America's voting rates have been steadily decreasing. Today the voting rate is extremely low. Luckily, Americans can participate politically in other ways besides voting. Two other forms of political participation include protesting and running for office.

One major advantage of protesting is that it gets lots of media attention. Because it gets lots of media attention, it has another distinct advantage attached to it. Protest can get issues onto the political agenda very quickly--much faster than voting. Running for office is, on the other hand, a very slow process. Luckily it has its' advantages too. Firstly, running for office lets more ideas be heard. The more people run for office, the more ideas are being discussed and debated which increases the flow of ideas and democracy. Another advantage to running for office is that it may increase voting. When more people run for office, it is more likely the average joe has a candidate that he can relate to. If he has a relatable candidate then he is much more likely to vote and participate.