Does The Government Have Our Best Interests At Heart Essay

I am here by writing this essay to explain, how these organizations in the United States such as the MADD, LULAC, and NAACP can educate and help our fellow citizens of America change laws that might well need to be changed. As well as explaining the common interest these groups are concerned with.

In the making of the United States, there were many events that are important. This paper intends to highlight a few of those events including; Magna Carta, Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation and the Federalist Papers. Many events in America’s history helped to establish the United States as a free and independent country. The Declaration of Independence in particular explains the rights and freedoms that Americans. Each document is like a stepping stones that leads to the next and building upon the pervious document.

That ensures that the decisions being made by all and any levels of government are made with the people’s best interest in mind.

It is a well-known fact that the government makes laws that benefit it, and sometimes to the detriment of the average citizen. Take, for example, the tax laws. You would be hard pressed to find a taxpayer who believes that paying taxes is fair. In fact most people would complain that they pay taxes all year by having an amount held out from their check, only to owe additional monies every April 15. This form of governmental taking is probably the most popular, but there are other actions that result in a private citizen losing their property to a governmental agency. However not every instance of a taking leaves the average citizen without a remedy, and in some instances not every instance of taken results in the person having less than when

The government can easily become blinded by money and ignorance. The people should be the ones creating the rules and laws for which they need to abide by. While the government officials are of a higher power, which is a reason that is used to support why the government should be making the regulations, this can blind said officials from reality. They can become only concerned for what the nation itself is, rather than what the people are, without realizing that what makes up a nation is the people. Without the people, there would not be a nation. Only a foundation of what could be. When citizens are forced into submission by the government, they become unhappy. A prime example of this is in “Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea”.

Both sides of the topic have gripping reasons why they feel the way they do. The supporters believe that lobbying is acceptable and contributes to a healthy democracy. In this light, lobbyists are simply seeking power within governmental and public affairs. In the United States our political system is based on power, authority, and legitimacy. One of our nation’s values is the fact that people can and should try to influence our political system; individuals have the power to bring attention to important issues, matters of public concern, and current problems. Supports argue that lobbying cannot contribute to the demise of American democracy. All these factors contribute to what is our political system and lobbyists are arguably doing their best to advocate for the people, even if huge sums of money are involved.

Dating back many decades, it appears that lobbying and politics have always gone hand and hand on any political stage. Lobbying has always had a strong presence in the legislation system. Lobbying is the process of offering campaign contributions, bribes, or information to policymakers for the purpose of achieving favorable policy outcomes. Conventional wisdom suggests that lobbying is the preferred mean for exerting political influence in rich countries and corruption in poor countries. The legislation is meant to benefit society and ensure that citizens are having their voices heard, instead of hindering them in favour of the multi-national corporations. Lobbying has a negative influence on legislations in both developed and developing

Philosophers have struggled with determining the proper role of government. In the absence of government and laws, people could do whatever they wanted, and some of them would try to slaughter others and steal their property. This is the state called anarchy. People have realized that the safety of the people and the country would be in jeopardy in such a state. Thus, it is necessary for a country to have a government and/or ruler. However, a ruler must not have absolute power nor lack authority. But the protection of the people and the country alone is not enough for a country to prosper. The property and the natural rights of the people and the government must also be protected. Thus, the proper role of government is to protect the

Lobbyists often deal with legislators and members of regulatory agencies. Although legislators are brought together in Congress to develop policy and serve the national interests, each legislator is first and foremost responsible to their own constituency. This superseding responsibility gives lobbyists their ammunition. Attempting to influence Congress as a whole is not only impossible, but would be too easily seen by the public and thus might attract attention to an already questionable facet of our political process. Metaphorically speaking, Congress’s armor is strong and impenetrable when they are united as one. Lobbyists stand no chance against this fortified body of legislators. Instead they go after individual legislators, utilizing a strategy that if successful, creates

Wayne, Lasser, Miller and others tend to agree that lobbyists and PACs have a great amount of influence over congress members because they may have direct connections and give campaign contributions. Recently, the airlines industry convinced congress to pass a $15 billion aid package it needs in order to survive. “The airlines had plenty of resources to draw on: 27 in-houses lobbyists, augmented by lobbyists from 42 Washington firms, including former White House aides and transportation secretaries, as well as the airlines own chief executives and corporate board members, whom all are well known in the halls of congress”(Wayne, NYT, 10/01/01. Lasser, American Politics, 1999. Miller, The American Prospect, 10/23/00. Geiger, Washington Post, 11/4-10/91.)

Lobbying is an issue that has recently found itself at the forefront of the American politics. Many feel that lobbying is essentially a legalized form of bribery and has lead to the government catering to the needs of special interests instead of the interests of America at large. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 74% of Americans believe that elected officials place their own interests ahead of the country's. So it seems many Americans wonder who their representatives are actually representing. Lee Drutman, a political scientist, compares the current situation of

Here is an example, “…, GOP representative Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham of California was found guilty of accepting $2.4 million in bribes from a defense contractor. Cunningham allegedly used his position on a defense appropriations subcommittee to funnel millions of dollars in contracts to the firm” (Champagne 450). Although for the most decision makers do not accept bribes or other illegal activities, they can find a mutual benefit for each party. The government puts stricter guidelines to regulate the actions of lobbyists. An example of the regulated guidelines follows that businesses no longer remove lobbying costs as a business expense. Another problem occasionally interest groups can turn to litigation when they lack access or dissatisfied with the government decision by proceeding to court. There are three ways interest groups can exploit the court to affect public policy. They can use the court by bringing the suit on behalf of the interest group, or by financing suits that brought by individuals, or by filing a companion brief as a friend of the court. These tactics could be a problem with the topic for an interest group could use them for their advantages. Also, when lobbyists go speak their cause to the public the problem is when the protests become a riot, many people have gotten serious hurt from these protest.

In a pluralist democracy like in the United States, interest groups have played a major role throughout the history through highly organized factions and are aimed at different levels of government. Lobbying is one of the tactics of the interest groups to aid their agenda through implementing new laws and regulations. "If you want to have your face in the light, you should have your back in the dark". Similarly, the influences of the interests groups and lobbyists have good and bad effects on the people and the society.

Why is government necessary? In the words of Alexander Hamilton, “Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint” (Federalist No. 15 137). Men have a sin nature and must have an authority set in place to keep them from falling into anarchy. America has federal and state governments with a system of checks and balances for exactly this reason, but one sector of the government has overstepped the bounds that were set for it in this country’s infancy. In order to answer the question of whether more power should be put into the hands of the federal or state government, three things must be considered: the history of state’s rights in America, the differing types of government, and the constitution itself.