Donald Kettl

The author wrote the book to teach important lessons about the strength and failures of the American government and to display the long term consequences that take place across the political landscape after major disasters and how it has a long term effect on every individuals lives. Overall the author accomplishes his main goal, to show the general audience that the political system is fragmented and political bureaucracy is very difficult to change. In a democracy, situations like hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 attacks have short term policies that might have a positive impact at that particular moment, but a negative long term effect. This is due to the fact that congress representatives depend on those short term solutions and not the long term effects. In order to get reelected the official individual must remain in good grace with his or her constituency. Even if that means allowing policies that might have a negative effect in the future. It’s the democratic process, and this book does a great job exemplifying those weaknesses of the

Many politicians argue that there is a need for institutional reform in the United States—the sole purpose of such reform should be to develop a more efficient system for the state as a whole. However, others argue that there are existing institutions in the United States that are structured efficiently. In order to help determine where an individual will stand on the debate about institutional reform, one must compare the effects of different forms of political institutions with the existing form in the United States. There are three new proposals of reform to discuss for the United States: 1) change in the electoral system for the House of Representatives, 2) change in the executive structure

The U.S. government’s expansive role in public policy is caught in a swirl of conflicting cross-currents. On the one hand, popular expectations about government’s

Changing how large governmental structures function is neither an easy task nor a quick one; it will require the undoing and unlearning of a very tightly held political and economic system by all parties involved. At the center of Spade’s call for

Paul C. Light’s (2006) article, “The Tides of Reform Revisited: Patterns in Making Government Work, 1945-2002”, has revealed to the readers how the current landscape of administrative reorganization is and how the sphere is gradually being dominated by four major competing ideas, viz. scientific management, the war on waste, the watchful eye, and liberation management. Light (2006), has explained how at the very heart of the American reform policies lays the four tides of reform ingrained with four philosophies. Light (2006) has stated that “the Constitution contains harbingers of all four “tides,” or philosophies, of administrative reform that populate the federal statute books today. It spoke to the logical of scientific management by creating a single executive with tight day-to-day control over the officers and departments of government. It laid basis for future wars on waste by requiring an annual accounting of expenditures and revenue while reserving the appropriation power for Congress.” Light (2006) has also stated that, the Constitution also “emphasized the need for a watchful eye on government excess through an elegant system of checks and balances. And it invented future efforts to liberate government from excessive regulation by vesting all executive powers in the president.” It is noteworthy that, Light (2006) has tried to make the readers understand how in the recent decades, all the four tides have accelerated in pace and intensity and how such acceleration

Another of these monumental changes would be the surrender of the control of power from the legislative branch to the executive branch. Over the twentieth century, this became an increasing reality as the focus shifted from Congress to the president (Cooper 2009, 388). While this development has many different advantages in the American government system, there are disadvantages as well, such as a decrease in stability (Cooper 2009, 379). The role of the president has become more important because of the changes that have led to the modern world (Cooper 2009, 388). This has occurred because of a number of reasons, such as “substantial increases in the responsibilities of the federal government, the stakes of politics, and the ease of communication and travel” (Cooper 2009, 388). Furthermore, in recent years, Congress has not worked hard in certain circumstances to protect their rights but have surrendered to the executive branch (Davidson, Oleszek, and Lee 2010, 498). It is

The United states of America has successfully staked its claim as a leader among the nations of the world in the fields of government and justice. When America gained its independence, there was a system of governing put into place that included well thought out rules which were deemed best for all involved. The textbook American Government and Politics Today, lets the reader know of the dire necessity for the men, women, and children who had gained their freedom from Great Britain, to have a guideline they could follow and base their decisions on (Schmidt, 2017). Throughout

​The United States Constitution was carefully crafted by a group of deliberate and thoughtful individuals; each having their own unique and particular ideas about government, and the people it may govern. As this supreme foundation for government was molded, each founding father put forth their learned beliefs and philosophies to be integrated into this modern document. All of the crafting members were both well-read and thoroughly educated, allowing for deep and extended discussions on past governments, their efficiencies, and their deficiencies. Through their readings and philosophical discussions, it became apparent that two previously governing bodies stood, in their opinions, above the rest: The Greek and Roman empires. Their governmental practices and virtues were key in the development of the Constitution, as they were dissected, and eventually, emulated by this country’s founding members.

Wilson Q. James. American Government, Brief Version. 11th ed. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. 2009, 2012, 2014.

The Mildred Paradox pertains to the United States government paying for services provided to citizens, but is not the provider of the actual service. The services that the government is paying for are outsourced to other companies. The government is not properly controlling or even involving themselves in these services, therefore, things can slip through the cracks without being noticed; correspondingly, things may be overlooked for the sake of the company providing the service. Kettl argues that the exposure to such issues is growing in our system. Medicare and Medicaid provide money to people who need it,

The time for a new government came about in times of fear, many men such as William Livingston wondered “if the republic could even survive another decade” for Henry Knox made an excellent point in declaring “Our present federal government is a name, a shadow,

The purpose of this paper is intended to summarize my views on what has influenced my understanding of politics and government prior to taking this class, and how my understanding is now since completing this course.

Even in matters of national security the president has secured new and immense power by way of the USA PATRIOT act, which, remains unfettered to this day. It would be appropriate to compare the process our leaders undertake to the ancient tale of Icarus. We find that often, our presidents simply fly to close to the sun in their quest for power. This is most apparent in their abilities to harness the power of the media, build a co-operative relationship with congressional law makers, or to implement domestic policy. In these areas, one president or another has enjoyed some level of power and success for a time; that success however, would not be absolute. Often, the power they wield, which they have empower to help them lead, would be threatened by a plethora of oppositional actors and stimuli in the political field, some of the oppositional forces would

Over the length of the book the diaries ideas that would improve governments and ways to stop them from failing. One key thought they mentioned over and over was the economy is the most influential aspect of a governments success. Their goal was to enhance a person understanding of a very complex subject and give ideas of ways to improve. Even if the economy does improve there are many thing that will still limit governments ability to achieve its goal, things like the market, expectations, and peoples evaluations. Overall this is a book that should be reviewed and understood to better understand government and to increase its success.

Public policy has a tremendous impact on all of society’s constituents; accordingly, it is vital for the same to understand and contribute to the policy making process. In spite of this, present day data shows an underwhelming amount of personage contributing, or even voting in any part of the process. Such trends point to a future that is a reflection of a past in which justice, equality, and liberty are not a natural right. The United States of America was founded upon such principles of democracy as per an ethical social contract in which the government served the people’s best interests for a common good, yet how can an entity adequately serve a master that lacks the knowledge necessary to achieve aforementioned. As per Newton’s laws of physics “any action has an equal and opposite reaction”; public policy creates ripples in society that affect individual lives both consciously and as a byproduct. Consequently, it is of outmost importance to understand public policy, and the effects they have on all aspects of society. To achieve such a task, I believe that one must first understand its background, purpose, effects, and most importantly, intricacy.