Governmental Corruption In The United States

When looking how effectively a country represents its citizens, it is important to take into account the manner in which they are represented. The two main types of representation are descriptive and agency representation. Descriptive representation is the concept that those who represent the American people should not only have the same political interest, but should also mirror the demographic makeup of the people. Agency representation, which is what the United States congress looks like, is when the representation does not reflect the demographic, but they speak for their constituents’ interests in congress. The constituents are able to hold the representatives accountable and can choose not to elect them in the next term, so the representatives

The United States Congress is more than likely the most significant representative institution in the United States government. Each member of Congress has a primary obligation to the district, to his or her constituency. Though Congress is divided into two parts, called the House of Representatives and the Senate, they both play different roles in the legislature process. Senate is more deliberative and the House is the more centralized and organized. Congress is supposed to represent the American people but they will not always make the “right” decisions, according to some individuals. Obviously it is impossible to please everybody, but surely the laws that are being passed are because Congress views some sort of usefulness from it. There are two different types of representation that was spoken about in the chapter including sociological and agency representation. Sociological is based off of the idea that if two individuals have similar background, character, interests, and perspectives, then they can correctly represent others’ views. Agency is when a representative is held accountable to a constituency for when that constituency is represented poorly. The constituents have the power to hire and fire their representatives.

In the American form of democracy, representatives are chosen to represent the citizens, and to make decisions for them (USHistory.org, 2016). This is unique to the American democracy. In other democracies, citizens meet to discuss the policy issues and the majority rule decide the issues (USHistory.org, 2016). However, a representative democracy makes the government more manageable whereby only the elected representatives actually vote on the issues (USHistory.org,

Indeed, James Madison observed in The Federalist No. 10 that the true test of a representative is his or her ability to make difficult decisions that promote the long-term best interests of the people back home. “A representative government”, he wrote, “ought to refine and enlarge the public views by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens whose wisdom may best discern the

“Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion”, said the Irish political philosopher, Edmund Burke. Through time, the same question has popped up in the American minds: are representatives actually elected to represent us and our best interests, or on the contrary, to perform according to their concerns? In his “Letter to the Electors of Bristol”, Burke argues several controversial points; as an Irish vying for the American territories to continue with virtual representation, why would he also defend their rights as existing colonies? Members of congress (senators as well as representatives of the house) are chosen through a thoughtful process, by the legislature of the United States, or by the Constituency itself. Finally, if these are to break rules or not comply with their job duties, they may be expelled from Congress.

A representative democracy is where certain groups are represented by a number of people who were elected by the public (that meet the voting requirements) based off of their prospering abilities to help make big decisions for the country. Our constitution proves this fact according to this quote: “The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states, and that the electors shall have the qualifications requisite for the electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislature.” quoted from document five. The definition of Democracy is: A form of government that allows most citizens of a state or a country to influence decisions based off of a popular vote. Another form of democracy is a Direct Democracy. A Direct Democracy is a form of government where all big and small decisions are strictly in the hands of the citizens of the public. Even though that Direct Democracy is different than Representative Democracy, they both have some similarities. For instance, in Document Three it states that “When settling private disputes, everyone is equal before the laws”. In our constitution, it says all men should be treated as

Members of Congress are voted to office by their electorate as their representatives at the congress level of democracy. In their capacity, they may decide to exercise their powers by the will of the people or according to their personal judgment. When the members of Congress opt to be the people’s delegate, their actions in the House and other congressional engagements are a reflection of the will of their district. As such, the delegate representative does not have or exercise the autonomy to represent and decide for their district. Instead, a strenuous consultation process is required to keep the people in control of all relevant decisions.

The balance of function in the United States were very conflicted during the Civil War time period. State governments wouldn’t agree with the national governments and vice versa. The Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches also were corrupted for a while with presidents allowing their friends become officials and also with the corrupt banking going on in the Jackson era.

The 100th year anniversary of The Declaration of Independence is here and the Nation is as united as it is equal. None. Although football games continue like Princeton vs. Rutgers the United states is in shambles. Following the war between the states a plan to reconstruct was put into place. It was proficient, effective, and controversial for many years. However, after the long Civil War and years spent to rebuild the Nation, the North Ultimately killed reconstruction because of government corruption, the focus change in North, and widespread racism throughout the nation.

What is our safeguard against corruption performed by federal officeholders? It is impeachment. Impeachment is the Constitutional power given to the House of Representatives to remove a federal officeholder from office. “Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution says, ‘The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors’." (Longley). The power of impeachment has historical significance as only four times in our history has Congress had serious discussions of impeachment. Due to the requirement of a ruling vote from the House of Representatives and the Senate, there are issues and complications

Democratic theory supposes that there is at least some kind of association between the votes taken by members of Congress and the political preferences of who they are representing. Based on each Congress member’s constituency, elected officials can make decisions by representing their constituency’s political preferences. However, most representatives of a few different types are not as responsive, or are not even responsive at all, to certain groups of people due to reasons such as what income level those groups are. This level of responsiveness is unfair and inappropriate for having an accurate representation of what a constituency really needs. Elected officials need to acknowledge all citizens to gain an accurate idea of certain group’s

Texas is an interesting state when it comes to party affiliation because of the size of the state itself. On one hand, the state of Texas has 4 of the top 20 biggest cities in the United States including Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin. With all of these large and mostly liberal cities, it is quite impressive that Texas has held onto top Republican offices since 1994. According to Will (2016) in his article, “A changing Lone Star State could change the GOP,” Texas is 84.7 percent urban, and, based on the history of urban states, they usually lean towards the Democratic Party affiliation. However, according to Sanhueza (2017) in his article “Why is Texas So Red, And How Did It Get That Way?,” with this urbanization the Republican party

Representation is when elected officials nominally speak for their constituents in the legislature. Equality is defined as the state of being equal. especially in regards to a person’s status, their rights as citizens, and the opportunities given to them. In American society, every citizen is supposed to be given equal rights and opportunities by the politicians they chose to represent them in the country’s government. One issue that I believe to be viewed and discussed by many people in our society is whether the United States government represents its citizens equally or unequally in society. Throughout the semester, we have talked about many different authors’ views and opinions that address this specific issue. Each reading we have read was written in relation to the societies and time periods in which the authors lived, but can all be tied together to address the issue in the United States today. There are also many of examples in our society today, that can show us the lack of equality amongst the citizens in the United States.

2009). According to this view, the representative represents the interests of the state, not the individual, and a discrepancy between the constituency’s preferences and the representative’s actions is not problematic, because the representative does not directly represent the views of the individuals who elected him (Shapiro et al. 2009).

“Corruption is the enemy of development, and of good governance. It must be got rid of,” says Pratibha Patil, India’s 12th president. Corruption within society hinders its ability to properly function and affects mankind. While it is in effect, corruption will continue to tarnish society’s mores. In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses the motifs of disease and decay to exhibit that moral corruption destroys society.