Functions of Two of the Three Branches of the US Government - Essay Example

History and Political Science American Politics Section A Functions of two of the Three Branches of the U.S Government ExecutiveBranch: Executive is one the three branches of U.S government, which entails presidency, taking responsibility for economy and dealing with issues that relate to social problems. Furthermore, the President is expected to oversee functions of executive branch, implementation of foreign policy nomination of federal judges, reflection and shaping public perceptions; in fact, the President offers directives and leadership for the congress (Bond 458). Through executive branch, the President takes a role of chief partisan for a political party, and the representative of the rest of Americans citizens. Founders of the executive focused on realities involved in managing anticipations of modern presidency, which is becoming more significant and bureaucratic compared to the past. The executive branch has a vital role of monitoring the American political system. Moreover, the executive has undergone an evolution through a focus on core policymaking, thereby experiencing crucial bureaucratic extension; for instance, approximately one thousand seven hundred people constituted the institution of the presidency. On the other hand, the executive branch of the government specializes in making policies, through the help of political advisors. Therefore, the President acquires the ability to satisfy the needs of the citizens through the executive branch, thereby meeting public expectations. In addition, there are experts in the executives focusing on national security, agriculture and mass communication. Various developments in the executive branch of the government have led to an increased power of the President in order to keep pace with increased public expectations. The executive has been functioning through basic Constitutional framework, which is developed by the government through share powers. Nonetheless, there are situations when the President fails to meet these expectations and this calls for efforts to be made through the executive to convince other political actors in other branches of the government; in this case, this nature of the executive has led to dependency of the President on action of other branches of the government. The President who is a significant element of the executive has sought assistance from numerous advisors and organization in the process of managing their duties. For instance, the vice President takes the significant role of offering advice to the President; in fact, this is stipulated in the Constitution. There are other parties playing the advisory role through closing personal ties with the President; for example, the former U.S President had a tendency of relying on his brother Robert, while George Bush relied on his father for advice (Bond 461). In the executive branch of the government, the presidency has taken a significant role as an organization which comprises numerous individuals. However, the significant element of presidency as an office entails vice President, cabinet and EOP; apparently, there are other people serving as executive branch, who strive in process of accessing President, though some are more frequent compared to others. Judicial Branch: Judiciary as a branch focuses on serving as an adjudicator in democratic political process; in fact, it is a more applicable way of political conflicts resolution. It focuses on ensuring that the government makes decisions that are dependable on core democratic ideology of political liberty, equity and majority rule. Therefore, a magistrate as a division of the government emphasizes dealing with conflict resolutions, though this is not easy (Bond 550). There are situations where the judges focus on making the necessary effort to embrace and acknowledge legitimate desires of majority based on expression in the law. Moreover, the judiciary branch focuses on dealing with freedom and equity by fostering protection of liberties of minorities from being subjected to infringement. Judicial branch of the government focuses on delicate balancing; in fact, it has the mandate to oversee functions and authority of the courts, in application and interpretation of laws in given cases. On the other hand, judicial power is considered tantamount to political power, though there are limitations concerning the situation that the judicial power is exercised in the court. Furthermore, this depends on the controversies and cases considered for jurisdiction. In this case, the jurisdiction of federal courts is established through the Constitution through passing of the law by congress and courts; for instance, general jurisdiction of federal courts is stipulated in the Constitution (Bond 551). Judicial branch of the government focuses on cases and controversies that are perceived in terms of litigation, thereby making federal courts get involved in actual disputes that result in people suffering from mischief. Nonetheless, this branch, through the courts lacks the authority to make decisions regarding hypothetical cases concerning interpretation of various statues. However, the federal judges are not offered the role of advising on the need to enforce a given law. Furthermore, the judicial branch has become a significant contributor, though a passive political actor (Bond 552). This power is exercised in situations when people or parties have been harmed through provisions of law or government, thereby establishing the Constitutional issues through a lawsuit. Section B Reason for Decreasing Voter Turnout in US Participation in voting exercise is a significant activity for the U.S citizens, though the cost of participation is rising, leading to reduced rates of participation. Nonetheless, cost does not imply the monetary cost; in fact, it refers to the cost that offers an indication of ease of difficulty in participation (Bond 377); for instance, the cost of voting is relatively insignificant, since it is a common type of political participation. On the other hand, another form of participation involves writing letters to address public officials, facilitating involvement in civic organizations and participating in rallies. However, there is a decrease in the rate of participation and the variety of participation, which is directly related to costs. America has been experiencing reducing representative democracies; in fact, lower voter turnout is not necessarily an indication of laziness among Americans compared to citizens in other countries. There are chances that Americans vote less, thereby tending to have increased willingness to communicate with government officials, participate in political meeting or volunteers in communities (Bond 378). Furthermore, decreased participation in voting caused by high-cost of political activity; in fact, the cost of various forms of political participation may vary significantly. In additions, there has been significant increase in the number of barriers to voting compared to other countries; for instance, the difficulties in registering to be able to vote in America compared to other counties. Therefore, Americans have been experiencing increased cost of participating in various forms of political participation. Costs related with the type of participation such as communicating with various government officials and getting involved in community organization is not increased. In fact, it is increasingly reducing in America; hence, the fundamental type of political involvement leads to voting having that has visible relationship with core principle of democracy. Furthermore, the reduced participation can be analyzed in order to unveil the factors that facilitate participation and make decisions regarding participation (Bond 378). On the other hand, decisions regarding benefits of making a decision that offers a direct expression based on the desire for people to participate. In this case, American citizens have the right to participate in election and the right to vote, thereby offering them an excellent point of commencing in their judgment of the degree of political liberty within America, which is a democratic society. In the history of America, there were issues that involved a fight for democracy, which would lead to all adult citizens being allowed to exercise their rights to vote. In fact, this right is referred to as the franchise, though most democracies allowed white male property owners to vote. In this case, there was an extension of these requirements based on gender, race and age, which have been eliminated, though this has left traces of barriers due to perception of threat arising from the promise of democracy (Bond 380). For instance, there are other factors, which are contributing to decrease in the number of voter such as restriction posed to mentally ill and convicted felons. In fact, they are denied the right to vote eve after serving their sentences. Governmental Policies to Meet Challenges Faced By the Nation Government policies are considered translation of the promise of democracy to performance of democracy. These policies entail the demand and anticipation of the citizens, which focus on response by the government; in fact, this focuses on the demands based on expectations of forms based on laws and public programs (Bond 595). Effectiveness of the political systems in practice based on theory focuses on the foundation principles that are upheld in the process that emanates from the public policy. In fact, this process involves demands made on the government, through formulation of initiatives aimed at responding on the demands and substantives as a response. Government policies that meet challenges among members of the public are focused on dealing with conflicts arising between people or groups regarding things that have value, since, there are conflicts arising due to issues regarding tax, cuts and health care benefits (Bond 596). In fact, there are intangibilities and symbolic such as demonstration where the flag is burnt by the members of the public, however, dealing with intangiblility is not an indication that symbolic policies could lead to generation of conflicts and challenges (Bond 596). Government policies are focusing on generation of strife due to involvement with fundamental convictions regarding distinction things that are right or wrong. Therefore, challenges faced by the public due to conflicts regarding tangible benefits are resolved through division of different compromise. Nonetheless, these issues are addressed based on the list of public agenda, which entail problems that the government is expected to pay attention in the process of formulating and implementing public policies. The government has relied on political scientist, who devotes substantial effort in order to offer explanation to the reasons for disparities in implementation of policy issues concerning various public agenda. Moreover, the purpose for this interest regards to the ability to establish a political systems that offer a promise of fostering democracy (Bond 598). However, these promises are highly dependent on the lists of policy issues and options that are considered by the government. On the other hand, the government pays attention of the issues and options that are supported by people and democratic principles such as popular sovereignty and majority rule. In this case, the government solves the challenge faced by the nation through the ability to connect action to the will of people. Dealing with challenges in the nation requires collaboration with various actors, inside and outside the government, which focus on getting particular concentration and issues on the public agenda. Nonetheless, the president is considered a highly renowned agenda setter in the government. Furthermore, the president has unsurpassed ability to focus on public perceptions and attention to the government regarding given sets of issues. On the other hand, the government is reflects on other alternative to resolve challenges and issues faced by the nation and it focuses on approving one of the best alternatives (Bond 600). Therefore, these alternatives are considered concerning institutional agenda, which is also contrasted to public agenda. Nonetheless, there have been debates regarding the effort of the government institutionalizing agendas and considerations made by policymaking institutions seeking to improve the policies implemented to solve these challenges. Works Cited Bond Jon. The Promise and Performance of American Democracy. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print Read More