The citizens of the United States of America, under a constitutional democracy, are being ruled by a government with the key political values of liberty, equality, and democracy. While the American government is limited in what it can control and how it uses that control, struggles have risen and there have been conflicts that have continued throughout time and into our present stem from the inconsistencies surrounding leadership, structure, and the policies of government and the way, at times, one or more of these values are sustained, leaving the remaining of these values nullified. Under our constitutional democracy, American citizens can, in many states and localities, vote directly upon their local laws, and are afforded the opportunity to vote at all levels of government, for the top officials, to effect change to contend with political conflict(s). While unity and harmony are the ideal goals, they are not often achieved for various reasons, one being the lack of voter turn-out and participation, as the level of confidence in our government and our elected officials varies with each political issue. One aspect related to voter confidence can be drawn from the perspective of the historical conundrum faced by citizens, lawmakers, and politicians alike, under a federal system in which cooperation and the allocation of responsibilities across our varied levels of government seems to remain in constant debate. While power is shared with the lower levels of government by
On July 4, 1776, the United States of America declared independence from England because England’s king, King George III, was a tyrant who was abusing his power. Tyranny is brutal and repressive power by one person or few people in charge such as a king or queen. The Articles of Confederation represented the first written constitution for the United States of America. A new constitution was needed because with the Articles of Confederation, each state was independent and not united. The states ruled like individual countries instead of one united country. In Philadelphia 1787, a gathering called the Constitutional Convention was held where 55 delegates from 12 out of the 13 states (Rhode Island was not there) met discussed and wrote our constitution that we know and love today. The constitution guarded against tyranny through federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and The Great Compromise.
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
Throughout the history of the American government, there have been changes that have ultimately influenced the way our society runs. From the rapid growth of the thirteen colonies to today’s 21 century political and legal systems, the development of the American government has grown substantially from the creation of the Continental Congress to the what is now known as the United States Supreme Court. The origins of the American government traces all the way back to the struggle between the developing colonies and England. During the development of the United States of America, there arose many issues that resulted in violent outbreaks caused by the overrated demands from the government against their people. The hatred toward the government took the form of the Revolutionary War, and its success against England gave the American people the opportunity to provide a legal way to their ideas as expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address defined the American government as an institution “of the people, by the people, [and] for the people”. Lincoln had an idealistic view of the government as an instrument for societal change. He, as well as the founding fathers, intended for the government to act in support of the people’s will or the majority rule. This democratic definition of the government has remained true throughout the course of American history. By placing all of its power on its citizens, the government itself did not decide the course of history but rather followed it. This follower mindset is seen through the government’s positive interactions with marginalized groups’ who in their attempts to overcome exclusion gained
In our system of government we are privileged with the option to take part in the political process that runs the country. It is our right to vote that lets the people influence change in policy and set the guidelines that politicians must follow to be elected representatives. This precious ability, which is most coveted in most non-democratic countries, is taken for granted in our own.
Over the course of the first century and a quarter of the history of the United States of America, what it means to be an American has been defined by a number of different documents. The authors of those documents have come from varied backgrounds all searching to find their place in the growth and development of this country. At the beginning of the nation, those authors came from the English tradition of what government should look like and what those who were looking to change that government should do. When the country experienced some early growing pains, many of those same people came together again to try and develop a new system of laws for the country. As the nation grew up, it also grew apart and faced arguably the most
Throughout the course of history, Americans have changed the ways in which they derived the powers of the government from the consent of the governed, have changed their understanding of social and political practices concerning “rights”, changed “forms” of government, which have all led to a change in Americans’ “safety and happiness”.
For centuries, the United States government has created a notorious name for itself while becoming more inexpedient for the people’s rights. The government should apply their focus towards preventing what has occurred in the past. Some of those events included forcing petrified men into war, creating laws that emphasized racial segregation, and harming the ecosystem with devastating devices. There are moments of favorable actions casted by the government occur in rare occasions; however, these responses do not cast a shadow over the depth of the crime against their people. From the aspects of the citizens, a vote against the government could not only help more than just clear up faulty mistakes, but make the government rest on a strong foundation settled by the people with a caring heart.
Since the ratification of the Constitution, more than 11,000 amendments have been proposed. The Constitution of the United States of America was Officially ratified in 1789. This makes the document over two-hundred years old. Since the time of its writing and eventual ratification, the document has been amended and interpreted in many ways. Whether it be prohibition to the abolition of slavery. The Constitution has been constantly updated over time. It has not laid stagnant with the time. The Constitution has remained the document off of which we have based our country for many years. A major question that has been posed is, why do we as a country still feel bound to this document written so many years ago? The reasons are fairly simple. The Constitution of the United States can and has been over many years amended, the laws and thoughts of a people can be expressed through the Constitution, and the constitution has functioned, with a few bumps in the road, fairly well over the last two-hundred years. The people of the United States should still stand behind this Constitution because it infact still serves us well today in many ways. A few being that it can be amended and “Fixed”, and another being that it does still protect our rights as citizens.
Since the United States of America established itself as its own self-governing country, one of the things that caused it to be salient and stand out from other countries is its relentless insistence on functioning as a democracy. Wars and protests have occurred so that every type of people, whether it was women or African Americans, may be granted the right to vote. Having a say in the American government is an honor and a privilege bestowed upon American citizens when they reach the age of eighteen. However, in recent years, statistics have shown that voter turnout and participation in recent elections has been rapidly and steadily declining, causing the United States to have the lowest voter participation in the world (“Is the System
Since the establishment of our great country, Americans utilized the ballot box as a freedom of expression. Voting is a basic right that many of us take for granted, some even viewing it as a “God given right.” As citizens, we expect the right to vote. Many oblivious to the fact that voting is a privilege that can be revoked. The process, commonly referred to as disenfranchisement, is the principle reason for my summary. Today more than ever, one of America's post-election concerns is voter turnout. Usually, the numbers are bleak, especially during local elections. As a society, we cannot afford to turn our back on one of the pillars of a democracy. If elected officials are to represent segments of voters, then people from all
Do we elect officials to do what is right for ourselves, or to do whatever is better for the country as a whole? On the other hand, do they act in the most popular manner in order to secure their own re-election hopes? The two-party system is in continuous lockout. One party wants reform but another will try to block it just to show the public how incompetent they are without showing the truth. This paper will outline cases why the American Public should trust or distrust the Federal Government.
The behavior of voters has great importance to politics as the people decide mainly who wins. The study of the behavior of the electorate has increased as politicians seek to appeal to the voters and find ways to gain followers and most importantly votes. The two articles Democratic Practice and Democratic Theory and The Responsible Electorate discuss the behavior of voters in the United States, and the importance of the electorate.
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.
In today’s world, people think that all women and men workers around the world are being payed equally, but as some people know that is not a case. Most of the time when people think about work they think about paid work. All around the world some mothers or women choose their job as a domestic worker, which is categorized as salary workers. Salary workers are people who works as an employee in companies, stores or another people’s house and get paid for a specific period of time. The reason women take this domestic work as a job because they have to take care of the family during earning money such as take care of their child and make meal for family.