The United States of America has five fundamental principles that guarantee the country's capacity. The basic foundations: core value, equality of all people, majority rule, minority rights, need for compromise, and individual freedom. This paper examines three of the five principles: majority rule and minority rights, individual liberty, and the need for compromise. Two such cases of individual liberty plus majority rule and minority rights that the United States has failed to support. The third case on individual freedom is at this point an undecided case. The United States must not ignore the importance of these actions in making judicial decisions, otherwise the country's stability will be at risk. Majority rule and minority rights are a fundamental foundation of democracy. A general concept of this foundation is that the popular vote will be the deciding party in most cases. Along with this concept the minority population will retain some basic human rights which will not be compromised by the popular vote. A challenge to this principle occurred when the Asheville City District zoning was voted on many years ago and unfortunately passed. The rules and restrictions that come with zoning are phenomenal. In many cases, taxes increase depending on the zoning of the property. For example, if the property is zoned commercial, the taxes are considerably higher than if the property were in a residential zone. Consequently the minority is punished here. You must obtain multiple permits and have plans approved before you can do anything on your land. The zoning was voted on by the majority, however the rights of the minority were not fully maintained. People must maintain some basic rights, and these rights concern what they can do to their property. Justification of how the government has failed to honor this fundamental foundation. Individual freedom is by far one of the most important foundations for the survival of a democracy. Individual freedom is difficult to define, although a general meaning is illustrated by a quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes, "The right to shake your fist ends where another man's nose begins." Forcing people to wear seat belts against their will is an example of how America has failed to uphold one of the most important foundations of democracy. People should have the right to choose whether or not to wear a seat belt. The American and North Carolina governments have specifically passed a law requiring all front seat passengers, regardless of age, to wear seat belts.