Democracy is our form of government.
Therefore, it is the role of democracy, or government, to ensure our rights, liberties, and freedoms. Our Democracy, as spelled out in our U.S. Constitution, is the only place in our society where our rights, liberties and freedoms are articulated – and most importantly, actualized by our local, state and federal government. OR, our rights and liberties may be infringed or harmed by our government …
As individuals, we have the right to pursue happiness and create our future. To a degree. We are also intimately interwoven with other people, who have the same opportunity to pursue their own happiness. As long as we do not infringe upon another’s opportunity to pursue their freedom.
In other words, we are inextricably interdependent upon other people as well as our ecology and environment.
Welcome to our societal agreements as to appropriate and accepted conduct. In the most immediate sense of these agreements, we have codes of conduct in our community.
For example, in a rural community, one may have the right or the liberty – the opportunity – to own animals such horses, pigs, cows, chickens, and even … roosters, who will wake everyone at dawn!
One may even have the right to shoot a gun on their own property, for sport or hunting.
Who makes these decisions? Essentially, a body of elected representatives form the local city council. Some communities have a rotating member of the council who is chosen as mayor by the other elected council members. Some towns require the citizens of that town to elect the mayor.
In more rural areas, it is the county which has citizens elected as the representative members of the county council. These members are known as County Supervisors. The rural areas simply do not have the population base to form a town. So, the closest body of government is the county council, or the county Board of Supervisors.
Beyond the most immediate town or county government is the state government. Each state elects members to the U.S.Congress, which has two bodies: the U.S. Senate; and the U.S. House of Representatives.
So, every state has two U.S. Senators. The members of the U.S. House of Representatives are elected based on population. The guideline during this decade, based on the 2020 U.S. Census, is 760,000 people per House district. States have the responsibility of forming the boundaries of a Congressional district, based on population.
One body of Congress is the U.S. Senate; two per state. Each Senate term lasts six years.
The other body of Congress is the House of Representatives. Each House district will have no more than 760,000 residents. Each House term lasts two years.
Every two years in November, the even numbered years, there is an election for every member of the House. All 435 House seats are up for election.
During the same election as the House, there is an election for either 33 or 34 Senate seats. There are 100 Senators, and every two years there will be an election for either 33 or 34 Senators.
The House districts are now comprised of roughly 760,000 residents. Vermont, population appx. 550,000, has one House member. Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming also have only one member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
States which have a bit more population have two members elected to the House: Hawaii; Maine, Montana; New Hampshire; Rhode Island; and West Virginia. These states vary in population, but W.VA has the greatest population at appx. 1,769,000 while Rhode Island has the fewest, appx. 1,112,000. So you see, the population number of each House district will vary. But the guideline is 760,000 residents, based on the 2020 census count. California has 53 House members, the most of any state, due to having the greatest population.
Perhaps the most intriguing and distinguishing characteristic of state governance are issues in the news today:
* the issue of women’s reproductive freedom and the choice of whether to have an abortion, to end a pregnancy;
*the issue of whether a person may have the right to legally wed a person of their choice, regardless of gender;
* the issue of gender identity and whether a person has the right to identify as to a gender of their choice, rather than their gender at birth.
* the issue of how marijuana shall be treated. Some states have laws prohibiting the use of marijuana, for example. Other states have decriminalized this use, and limit the amount one may own. Other states have legalized the use and even the sale and distribution of marijuana.
* the geographical boundaries for each U.S. House District.
* * * * *
Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all of the eligible members of a state, through elected representatives.
~ Oxford Language Dictionary
I hope you have a greater feel for what exactly Democracy entails, in its most basic structure:
rural, town, county, and state representation.
Representation is key here.
Democracy is a representative form of government.
There is so much more to Democracy, which I will continue to bring to you on these pages of …
Our Economic Democracy
* * * * *