'Intergovernmental Relations' By Richard Wright

“The Logic of American Politics,” written by Samuel Kernell, Gary C. Jacobson, Thad Kousser, and Lynn Vavreck brings together the sequence of events that occur throughout our history in chapters six through nine. Chapter six, Congress, focuses on the development of Congress and how they came to hold so much power within the United States; with the creation of Congress came the Presidency. The Presidency, chapter 7, explain how the framework for President of the United States was given only enough power to control/respond to national emergencies, and under the President were bureaus that worked with him. Chapter 8, The Bureaucracy, was created by the frameworkers, but was never given a clear definition on how to organize this branch of government, just like the bureau's work alongside the President the Judiciary system works alongside Congress.

In, Eric Li's Ted Talk "A Tale of Two Political Systems”, he discussed the two stories he was told, which I feel exemplifies the differences in the two political systems. The first , believed by the Chinese, was that all societies develop in a linear process and will be engaged by the struggle of good vs bad or as Li stated socialism vs. capitalism and socialism will triumph. However, while in U.S. he was taught that all human societies progress in a linear process and end in a singular end. All societies must progress from singular groups that are reduced to singular individuals who are all rational. Therefore, electoral democracy will be for all and all other govern concepts are bad.

In this course we have discussed several topics involving the American government. In this paper I will discuss the American domestic policy and give some details about the goals of the domestic policy. I will explain how domestic policy affects relationships between the United States and the other nations. In addition, I will discuss how domestic policy affects the United States strategy on internationalism and how the media influences such decision. Finally, I will discuss why the shared power of the three branches of the government is sometimes referred to as an invitation to struggle about policy making for foreign affairs.

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

Donald Kettl presents many controversial ideas in his book The Next Government of the United States. While some of the ideas Kettl provides many be disagreed upon by some he gives excellent validation for reasoning. Two ideas that I believe are well worth discussing are the Mildred Paradox that correlates with the Mildred Corollary and the irresponsible governance provided by the federal government. Each of these ideas brings about aspects that should be considered by citizens when thinking of the U.S. government. Kettl’s ideas are important in considering what the government does and does not do for citizens: consequently, some may or may not trust the United States government, and Kettl is providing reasoning behind the distrust. Kettl uses the negligence and disconnection of the government to the citizens to provide reasoning for why our government is failing us.

Government, all the way from Capitol Hill down to the small cities across the nation, is filled with the elected officials who represent the citizens of that city and state. When people think about who represents them, who comes to mind first? The Senator? The Representative? The mayor? Despite being categorized at different levels of the government, state and federal, each of these officials are tasked with representing their state and hometowns, and each of their jobs is just as important as the other. Their job, in short, is to represent the interests of the people who elected them into office. In this essay, I will identify the individuals who represent me and evaluate the extent to which I feel represented.

Short Essay – Policy-making in the Federal System. 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 responsibility to solve problems often exceed the capacity of state and local authorities to respond effectively. On the other hand, policies developed at the national level may not sufficiently reflect the great diversity of interests across the U.S. to be effective at the local level. Moreover, the search for effective policy is further complicated by theoretical debates about the constitutional framework of federalism, e.g., what limits on national power can be derived from the 10th Amendment?

Since its beginning, the United States of America has gradually and steadily expanded the oversight and power of its own federal government. This expansion has resulted in a plethora of effects on the relationship between local state government and federal government both negative and positive. However, the increased impingement from the federal government onto local and state government constitutional rights, has created an imbalance. A major part of this imbalance has stemmed from unfunded mandates being imposed upon states. This imbalance has caused enough problems between the states and the federal government that the states have not only begun to question if federal mandates should go unfunded, but also whether or not the federal government has the authority to impose these mandates in the first place.

Government structures are imperative to having a manageable state of civilization. However, these structures face several difficulties and conflicts. The complex human activity of resolving these conflicts is called politics. According to Bernard Crick, in his book, “In Defense of Politics” he defends this activity and further defines it as a conflict resolution through the process of deliberation, compromise, and listening for the common welfare of the whole community. It is a unified contribution to government that is not solely based on one interest (21). Also, Crick further defends politics from the practice of technology, nationalism, and democracy. Additionally, although it is often assumed politics is done in all governments from local to foreign, in the contrary, all governments don’t adhere to this activity defined by Crick. In fact, with our current president, Donald Trump, based on the actions he has taken so far, he is anti-political.

“The performance of our federal government could hardly be any worse than it is today” (Douglas). The Land of Liberty’s current government is one of the worst of all its time. How so? According to many professional writers, the United States government has become extremely dysfunctional over the course of the last few years. Those credible writers all agree that polarization and tribalism affect politicians and citizens. Thus, creating a dysfunctional Washington.

Sirianni in his book “Investing in Democracy” has examined how government can serve as a civic enabler of productive engagement and collaborative problem solving among civic associations, ordinary citizens, and stakeholder groups. He also tried to find out how the public policy and administration can be designed to help the involvement of the government. Siriannni has argued on the view that in recent era the government’s role is becoming more important due to the increasing complexity of public problems, diversity among the stakeholders, and continued erosion of civic life by the deep cultural and institutional trends. Sirianni tried to reflect the image of the government, local, state, and federal as civic enabler whose work should be to

Among academics, political leaders, and government representatives differences of opinion and concern abound: differences about the most beneficial structure of self-government, about who controls what, about when self-government should be implemented, about whether or not a true form self-government can ever be achieved.

INTRODUCTION: According to Politics in States and Communities (Dye and MacManus, 2009), government in the constitutional form is primarily about conflict resolution. It exists to find solutions or at least to set parameters for implementing solutions within strict limitations. At the state and local levels (which operate together under state authority), governments have the freedom to address issues and conflicts very directly through the governance policies and restrictions they put in place. For the federal government, however, decisions are tied more directly to what the US Constitution says or what it has been interpreted to mean, and it is very difficult to change.

The next category is the nation public law- which involves the judicial process, civil rights, liberties and the importance of such terms as equal opportunity and due process in the United States. The following category is Comparative government which raises the same questions of politics, administration and law about other countries. Moreover, it also moves towards conclusion based on comparison between them. Finally, International politics deals with relations between the states and other international actors, such as multinational corporations, the United Nations and with the fundamental realities of power based on resources, wealth, military care and national security. All these may directly and indirectly affect our lives as citizens.

Introducing Chapter 4, the author explains how federalism is a fundamental part of U.S government and how it gives equal power to both national and state governments. “History indicates clearly that the principal factor in the formation of federal systems of government has been a common external threat.” The authors’ quote informs the reader that people have always been weary of a strong, national government and that there is always a constant