Values of American political thought - Essay Example

? Topic: Lecturer: Presentation: Source of Political ity The American government derives its power from the people in form of a constitution which ensures checks and balances. America was a British colony and therefore subjected to the English law and constitution and is a monarchy form of a government ruled by hereditary kings. In such form of government, the will of the king is the law of the land hence the people are subject to oppression (Paine). The pilgrims from Britain thus found a colony in America and settled in the northern parts of Virginia and signed the mayflower compact on 11 November, 1620 to “preserve order and further their aims” (Mount). They thus created laws and constitutions and all individuals were to be bound by these laws. The laws ensured equality and fairness and determined the authority of the governors and were the foundation of the U.S constitution. According to Paine, men are born free and equal and live together as a society but as the population increases, the resources become scarce thus the need for designing regulations to govern the sharing which eventually become laws. The societies also enlarge and it becomes difficult to address all of their concerns hence the need to elect representatives who have the same interests as the majority thus forming a government. The American government is based on this idea of equality and fairness; it is a republican government which derives its power from the people through their representatives in the House of Representatives. The declaration of independence in 1776 also indicates that the government derives its power or authority from the governed. The Great Britain exercised tyranny over the American states and refused to assent to laws which were necessary for the public good among other oppressions hence the united states declared independence to separate themselves from Britain and form a government which would ensure equality of all men based on the biblical doctrine that all men are created equal (Armitage, 165). The preamble to the constitution also indicates that government power originates from the people as it refers to “we the people” in its opening remarks (United States Senate). The constitution thus stipulates the powers of different branches of the government such as the legislature, the judiciary and executive. The congress is made up of House of Representatives and the senate whereby the members of the House of Representatives are elected by the people. Madison James asserts that people have diverse interests hence the society is divided into parties consisting people of common interests. The federal government is able to break and control the violence brought about by factions through the use of the constitution. According to him, state governments are not able to do this as they have majority people with same interests hence fewer parties and may not represent the interest of all people. However, federal government is vast and few people represent the interests of the majority thus it is difficult to have biased interests. The constitution thus checks and balances the authority and power of government by controlling the effects of factions (Federalist, 10). The democratic form of government is a major competitor of the republican form of government. This type of government derives power and authority from the people the only difference from the republican government being that in the former, the people exercise their power directly whereas in the latter people exercise their power through representation in the government. The people in the democratic government meet often since they are situated at short distances but the number of individuals is limited to a certain number. The states that form the federal government are sovereign and have been against control by the federal government. The federal government makes and administers laws which are limited and the state governments make laws that concern only the state (Federalist, 14). They are smaller in size and hence may institute a democratic form of government so as to bring the government closer to the people. Some state laws conflict with federal laws hence it becomes difficult to partition between authority of the federal and state governments (Federalist, 37). The republican form of government is the dominant in that it entails governing a large region and is administered by the people representatives thereby not liable to biased interests of majority people and oppression. The federal government of America is a republican form of government whose powers lies in the congress which is a representative of the people and the laws formed are abiding to the states. The state governments only exercise power over a smaller area within the jurisdiction of state and its rules can be overruled by the federal government. Someone might argue that men are free hence at liberty to govern them guided by the moral law and the constitution should not be used to check the people by controlling factions. Role of Government The role of the government is to protect the rights of its citizens. According to the declaration of independence, all men are born equal and with unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (Armitage, 165). Governments are therefore made with the sole aim of ensuring justice and fairness and general welfare of the society. The government is therefore entrusted with the role of making just and equal laws for the general good of all its citizens. The constitution ensures the relevant government bodies are performing their tasks while ensuring equality and fairness and as a result, each state is represented equally in the congress. The government also is supposed to protect religious rights hence no clauses on religion were entailed on the constitution; each individual can follow any sect without there being a state religion. Through the constitution amendments I-X, the government is obliged to ensure the rights of individuals are protected (United States Senate). Through these amendments, the right to religion, assembly, due process of the law to be followed to ensure right to life, liberty and property, speedy and fair trial, not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment among others. For Madison, the federal government or the union has a duty to safeguard against domestic faction and insurrection (Federalist, 10). This ensures that the majority do not oppress the minority by ensuring equal representation of the states in the congress. He observes that a wider variety of parties and interests makes it less liable to invasion of citizen rights. The government also ensures that peace prevails by guarding the states against danger from foreign intrusion. This enables the society to live happily without fear of danger (Federalist, 14). The federal government also ensures that states live harmoniously and for the good of citizens, the sovereignty of states is sacrificed (Federalist 45). According to Hamilton and Madison, the government structures should ensure that checks and balances are in place to ensure justice, equality and fairness (Federalist, 51). A competitor view to the role of government is a reflection of a monarchy government. This type of government ensures the nation is preserved from civil wars (Paine). This concept originated from biblical times when the Jews requested for a king so as to judge them and lead them in war. However, this can be disputed since most monarchy governments are prone to civil wars as people fight to attain kingship especially as it is hereditary. The role of keeping peace is dominant as it is the duty performed by all states and all derive their values from biblical values. Role of the people in Politics The American thought on the role of the people is to keep the government in check as the governed have the ability to change laws. The congress is the legislative branch of government which makes the laws and comprises representatives of the society through elections. These representatives represent the interests of the majority members of the society or states from where they are elected or interests of electors. They therefore make laws bearing in mind the interests of the larger society hence for the good of all citizens. The electors have a duty to elect the right people to the House of Representatives; people who will put personal interests aside for the good of all and in case those elected do not represent the majority views, they can be replaced in another election. The representatives also check the power of the president by overturning vetoes by 2/3 majority. They can also change the form of government by changing the laws especially if the government is oppressive (United States Senate). As per amendment 1 of the constitution, the people have a right to free speech, assembly and to petition the government. They therefore are able to check the powers of government or make it change its offensive or unsatisfactory laws by airing their views. A competitor view is that the government checks the people hence people are supposed to obey the laws. Those who signed the mayflower compact vowed to abide by the laws which they created. Laws are created through representatives but the role of the people is to abide by those laws or be punished by imprisonment. The government sometimes may have more power than the people hence make rules for them such as in monarchy governments where the people are supposed to check the king but the king has power to refuse to assent to bills hence has power over the people (Paine). The role of checking the government is the most dominant as it ensures the rights of citizens are not infringed by tyrannical leaders. It also ensures those selected in the government are performing their duties to the satisfaction of the electors in pursuit of happiness, liberty and justice as stipulated in the declaration of independence. However, someone may argue that people have very diverse interests therefore it is difficult for a few people to represent their interests hence they may not be able to perform the role of checking the government excesses; ruling majories are restrained because their power is derived from opinions and diverse interests. Dominant strands may combine to support a coherent line of thought. The government derives its political authority from the people hence the role of the people is to ensure that the government performs its functions for the good of the citizens. The role of government also is derived from the need to ensure equality and fairness for the good of the people. A republican government in this case is essential as it allows people to exercise their rights and keep the government in check and performs the role of ensuring equality, justice and fairness. The competitor views can also combine to support a coherent line of argument. The source of political authority in a monarchy form of government is from the people through the House of Commons but the people are restrained from interfering with government functions. Their role is to obey the laws and the government makes the laws for the people. People become subjects hence the reason why America wanted separation from Britain. References Armitage, David. The Declaration of Independence: A Global History. USA: Harvard University Press, 2008. Mount, Steve. “Constitutional topic: The Mayflower Compact.” USConstitution.net. 3 Mar. 2010. 4 October, 2011. http://www.usconstitution.net/mayflower.html Paine, Thomas. “Common Sense.”Ushistory.org. 4 October, 2011. http://www.ushistory.org/commonsense.html United States Senate. “Constitution of the United States.” 5 October, 2011. http;//www.senate.gov/civics/constitution-item/constitution.htm Federalist. “Federalist Papers.” 5 October, 2011. http://www.garyrutledge.com/Documents/federalists-main.html Read More