<Dl> <Dd> In the United States man would create a society that would be the best and the happiest in the world . The United States was the supreme demonstration of democracy . However, the Union did not exist just to make men free in America . It had an even greater mission--to make them free everywhere . By the mere force of its example, America would bring democracy to an undemocratic world . </Dd> </Dl> <Dd> In the United States man would create a society that would be the best and the happiest in the world . The United States was the supreme demonstration of democracy . However, the Union did not exist just to make men free in America . It had an even greater mission--to make them free everywhere . By the mere force of its example, America would bring democracy to an undemocratic world . </Dd> <P> American policies have been characterized since their inception by a system of federalism (between the states and the federal government) and checks and balances (among the legislative, executive and judicial branches), which were designed to prevent any faction, region, or government organ from becoming too powerful . Some proponents of the theory of American exceptionalism argue that this system and the accompanying distrust of concentrated power prevent the United States from suffering a "tyranny of the majority", are preservative of a free republican democracy, and also that it allows citizens to live in a locality whose laws reflect those voters' values . A consequence of this political system is that laws can vary widely across the country . Critics of American exceptionalism maintain that this system merely replaces the power of the national majority over states with power by the states over local entities . On balance, the American political system arguably allows for more local dominance but prevents more domestic dominance than does a more unitary system . </P> <P> Historian Eric Foner has explored the question of birthright citizenship, the provision of the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) that makes every baby born in the United States a full citizen . He argues that: </P>

Which of the following applies to american society in the 1920s