Final of American Urban Society - Essay Example

Instruction: Task: American Urban Society The sequential arrangement of some of the most significant incidents in the history of the African-American civil rights movements is as follows; the Missouri Compromise (1820), the Dred Scott position (1857), Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the killing of Emmett Till (1955) and the affirmative action executive order (1965). Each of the occurrences played a vital role in combating racism and prejudice (Noll 118). The Missouri Compromise, an agreement between the supporters and enemies of the slave trade, aimed at curbing the predicaments surrounding the extension of slavery. The Dred Scott decision, on the other hand, was a verdict by the U.S. Supreme Court against an African-American slave, who fought for fairness in defending his freedom. However, the court dismissed his request claiming that the Africans were not U.S. citizens. In 1954, the court, through the Brown v. Board of Education, ruled against racism in public schools (Noll 59). Furthermore, the brutal murder of the 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955 and the introduction of the Executive Order by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 pioneered social and economical advancements among the African-Americans. 2) Making unjustified decisions in courts is an unforgivable act. It is, therefore, a critical measure to appoint exceptionally competitive judges and justices. Consequently, the U.S embraces a rigorous justice selection system. Legislators or members of the president’s political party are usually presented with a preselected list of nominees for approval. Afterwards, the president is expected to select a potential justice whose background is to be investigated by FBI. The FBI presents a report based on its investigation to the Senate Judiciary Committee which then carries out hearings on the contender to gauge his qualifications. The committee can either reject or accept the nominee after the hearing by voting for or against him. In order to become a Justice, the candidate must obtain an absolute majority votes (Noll 60). The constitutional architects had substantial reasons for introducing the legal tradition of life tenure for U.S Supreme Court judges. However, the main reason was to control political sway on court decrees. Suppose the judges were subjected to firing by the government bureaucrats, then their verdicts could be partial and dependent on government positions. 3) The US Presidential election course is an intricate independent process that commences almost a year before the practical election incident. Through primary elections, the various political party members appoint national delegates who determine which presidential aspirants clinch each of the parties’ nominations. The number of delegates taking part in the process varies depending on the population. At the national party conventions, party delegates assemble to rally support for respective parties and appoint presidential candidates (Noll 26). After the national convention, presidential nominees from various political parties initiate their national campaigns. After rigorous campaigns, ordinary citizens take part in the electoral process by selecting members of the electorate in the Electoral College. The Electoral College was introduced as a concession between presidential elections through popular and congress vote. Out of the 538 electors, a simple majority is a prerequisite for presidential elections. However, most of the challengers of the Electoral College have various reasons to support direct popular voting system. Some of the problems linked to the system are the likelihood of electing a marginal president and the failure to precisely echo the national popular force. 4) The compromise of 1877 was an unrecorded agreement between the Democrats and Republicans of the U.S. as a remedy for the dubious 1876 presidential election. In accordance with the election’s results, Tilden, the Democrat’s presidential contender and his republican counterpart, Hayes, had a margin of 20 votes from the southern states. To solve the problem, a bipartisan unit was established. However, against the Democrats’ expectation, the unit offered all the disputed electoral votes to the Republican candidate. Under the provisions of the compromise, the Democrats consented to recognize Hayes as the president (Noll 105). In the agreement, the Republicans promised to withdraw the remaining federal soldiers from the south, support the south’s industrialization projects and to appoint the democrats to different leadership positions. To the African descents, however, the compromise was a complete betrayal since the Republican struggle to restore their civil rights was discarded. The 14th and 15th amendments were passed. 5) Voter turnout is the proportion of entitled voters who cast their votes during an election process. There are various sociopolitical, cultural and economic factors that influence voter turnout. On my opinion, the turnout for the 6th November 2012 election will be relatively higher than in most of the past elections. However, it might be slightly lower than the 2008 elections based on the following arguments. The availability of contemporary crucial national decision making processes that the voter may want to take part in is a significant determinant of voter turnout. In the November 6 elections, various issues that have come up will influence the turn out. Economic factors such as debt limits and federal deficits are some of the forces (Noll 74). Many citizens will wish to take part in choosing electors who will represent the public views in the ballot. Moreover, voter mobilization is another vital factor. The 2012 presidential election is characterized by high level competition between the incumbent president, Barrack Obama and the Republican candidate Mitt Romney. This automatically draws mobilization and education hence high voter turnout. 6) Liberalism is a political ideology based on liberty and equality principles as well as advocating change and new initiative. Conservatism, on the other hand, is the sociopolitical philosophy that upholds the preservation of cultural social institutions (Noll 200). Despite the reactive efforts by the Obama Administration to curb the contemporary violations in the mining industry, the bureaucrat’s initial position could be considered conservative. The state should have been proactive in identifying and preventing potential ills in the industry. Instead, it tends to stick with the cultural approach to mine issues where the state, for 34 years, failed to embrace the legal statements that advocated for mine shutdowns. Moreover, the congress could not even make things better after the Upper Big Branch explosion, and as a reactive measure, the Admin is suggesting harsher mine safety laws. On the other hand, the views on the NYTimes article perfectly reflect liberalism. According to the editorial, the changes would have implemented earlier bearing in mind that the laws were passed about 34 years ago. 7) The term “Executive branch entity” refers to any government-controlled corporation responsible for the habitual establishment and enforcement of federal laws. Some of its duties include ecological safeguard, communal security administration and defense among others. Some of the executive branch entities pointed out in the NYTimes editorial include the Congress and the justice department. The US Congress is a legislature of the central government responsible for the administration of laws. The Justice department, on the other hand, operates civil inquiries. Conversely, interest or pressure groups are organizations that seek to overtly support and advocate advantages for its basis. The interest groups are trusted with two significant roles of representation and civil edification. Mine safety agency is one of the interest groups cited in the NYTimes article. The agency is an imperative instrument through which mine operators in the United States can make their thoughts, wishes and needs known to the government (Noll 199). 8) The CFPB is an executive branch agency responsible for the control of the consumer protection practices considering the financial commodities and services (Noll 158). The incumbent U.S. President Barrack Obama is directly involved in determining the operations of the Bureau. On the 4th day of January, 2012, Obama appointed Richard Corday as the potential CFPB’s new director. The CFPB was established by the executive branch of the US government despite massive resistance from the Republicans and Wall Street. The opponents also obstructed the nomination process for CFPB’s initial director. The U.S. President is renowned for his commitment to a respected, powerful, independent CFPB. President Obama’s selection was an apt approach, taking into consideration that Mr. Cordray’s track record as Ohio Attorney General was extremely remarkable. He was, therefore, the most ideal nominee to serve as the Bureau’s first director. Obama indeed played a vital role in establishing independent management affairs for CFPB. 9) The senate did not take any action on former Ohio’s attorney general’s nomination. The legislators never reached the senate floors till December, 2011, and when they reached, there were no clear agreements. The Republican legislators overtly declared that they would not let the nomination proceed to the senate voting level. They argued that taking such measures would grant Richard Cordray a leeway to be approved by a simple majority of the senate votes. Their main concern was to let CFPB remain without a director in order to protect their opposition against the Bureau’s authority as stated in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. All the senate republicans, except Scott Brown, had voted against the same law basing their claims on the Bureau’s structure (Noll 57). They opposed the idea of a controller focused exclusively on shielding consumers from Wall Street surfeit. Political analysts link Brown’s support to the agency with the fact that he is facing a tough challenge from Mandel, a republican and state treasurer. 10) The federal and state regulatory agency is one of the executive branch agencies mentioned in the article by Ben Protess. The agency is an official interagency unit authorized to stipulate standardized values and principles for the federal assessment of fiscal systems by the respective Board of Governors. Another executive branch entity pointed out in the editorial is the senate banking committee. This is an exceptional body established to regulate bills and proposals pertaining to financial and economic systems. The committee, through a system of the simple majority voting, brings forward, various fiscal concerns (Noll 23). In this exacting situation, the senate banking committee voted on the legitimacy of Richard Cordray’s nomination. Majority of the republican committee members opposed the move. On the other hand, the financial firms unit comprising mortgage firms, debt collectors, and payday lenders among others, is an interest or advocacy group. The body holds the responsibility of protecting its legitimate members from exploitation by governmental agencies. Works Cited Noll, Mark. God and Race in American Politics: A Short History. West Sussex, NQ: Princeton University Press, 2010. Print. Read More