Government 1 - Dissertation Example

Topic: Government 1. The concept of compulsory, or mandatory, voting is one of the most problematic in the political debates on the substance of liberal democracy. While the level of voting itself is by no means and indicator of maturity of a democratic political system, it is generally assumed that the more voters participate in the polls, the more clearly the popular will expresses itself through elections. However, the proponents of compulsory voting overlook the fact that the introduction of this system would lead to the growth of alienation of the voters from the political system, as they would now regard the procedure of voting as an onerous duty to be performed under the threat of fine, rather than the exercise of their political will.

In addition, the institution of compulsory voting might lead to the further growth of bureaucratic state machine, as the new governmental organs to supervise the voting behavior of the citizens would be necessary. In my opinion, the absentee voters in the USA seem to believe that the existing political system is fundamentally divorced from the real needs of the people, and the introduction of compulsory voting, far from changing this attitude per se, would merely reinforce it. 2. The cultural assimilation of the immigrant population is the major theme in modern political discourse in the developed countries.

The institutional arrangements for the immigrant assimilation in many of these nations include the provisions for the study of official language by newly arrived immigrants, the establishment of citizenship tests for the applicants for the national citizenship, and the various methods of passive assimilation through the lack of support for minority cultural practices. In Australia, for instance, the citizenship test, which requires an applicant to prove his or her knowledge of English and the awareness of Australia’s cultural values, history, political system and national symbols, serves as a partial deterrent to the assimilation of recent migrants, at the same time reinforcing the loyalty of the naturalized migrants to the national state (Joppke, 2010, p. 126). In France, the recent policies of the state aimed at restricting the exercise of various aspects of traditional Muslim culture by Maghrebian (North African) immigrants in France, and therefore inducing the latter to adapt to the French cultural values, on the contrary, lead to the backlash in ethnicist sentiments among the community. 3. In modern American political discourse, the necessity of devolution of Federal authority to the state and local self-government is often emphasized.

It is asserted that the Federal government’s bureaucracy acts as impediment toward economic growth, stifling local initiatives, and therefore the devolution would result in more balanced and intensive development for the benefit of all Americans. However, when one looks at the historical record of this “states’ rights” movement, it becomes evident that its political action is often self-contradictory. The historic “states rights’’ movement has often had particularly far right political overtones, combining its opposition to the strong Federal authority with even greater animosity to the struggle against racial and sexual discrimination, as it was Federal grants and their conditions of aid that often compelled state government to do away with their segregationist policies (Wilson & Dilulio, 2008, p. 67). In addition, without the support of the Federal government, the states cannot cope with their socio-economic and fiscal obligations, as current looming threat of bankruptcies of many U.S. states testifies.

Given this facts, I don’t thin that the radical devolution of Federal power is either necessary or feasible in the moment. 4. The controversy over same-sex marriages was sparked by the desire of the Religious Right to reverse the cultural transformations of the last decades of the 20th century and to revive the previous conventions of sexual and marital life. The passage of Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 signified the gross limitation of the states’ rights to define marriage that runs counter to the spirit of American constitutionalism (Schmidt, Shelley, & Bardes, 2009, p. 100). Given the political sensitivity of this issue, it is unlikely that the national recognition of civil unions is even feasible nowadays.

Besides, the legal recognition of same-sex marriages would not in itself end the institutional and extra-institutional discrimination of the LGBT people in conservative states. References Joppke, C. (2010). Citizenship and immigration. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Schmidt, S.W., Shelley, M.C., & Bardes, B.A. (2009). American government & politics today. Boston, MA: Wadsworth. Wilson, J.Q., & Dilulio, J. J. (2008). American government: Institutions and policies. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.