Government 2 - Dissertation Example

What would be the costs to the nation if executive privilege were eliminated? Executive privilege is exercised in every government by reasons of national security and executive branch communication. The presidents exercise this privilege to protect sensitive military and diplomatic information. If this privilege is eliminated, our state could be at risk. A lot of information not supposed to be made public can be demanded if this privilege is eliminated. Our national security will become unsafe.

The second reason why executive privilege is exercised is to make sure that the communication between the president and his advisers from the executive branch will be safeguarded. There are times that legislative branch will require the executive branch to be witness against a certain issue. This executive privilege prevents the executive branch to share information. The executive privilege will make sure that the discussions between the president and his advisers regarding their decision can be protected.

If this privilege is eliminated, there will be issues and questions why the executive branch reached to certain decision. It might be that there will be clash in the power in the branches of government. 2. What specific items out to be listed on a report card that is used to evaluate a federal bureaucracy? Bureaucracy is considered a process of organizing people and work based on the principles of hierarchical authority and formalized rule. This is considered the most efficient means to organize people to work in unity on great tasks.

American government is in practicing federal bureaucracy. There is fragmentation of power in the American political system. In order to check the federal bureaucracy, there are specific items used to evaluate this policy or process. The first is to check if the whether the power is disseminated properly. We should make sure that since bureaucracy is based under the principles of hierarchical authority, it should be checked if the powers were distributed properly so that programs of the bureaucracy are effectively administered.

The next to check is the management. It should be checked if there is a good management in the bureaucracy and if the programs are well implemented. The organizational structure should also be included in the checklist. It is important to make sure that there is good organizational structure in the bureaucracy. The operations should be included in the checklist too. It is also essential to check if the operations, performance and outcomes are those expected in the program. The next to check is the evaluation of the people.

For me, it is very important to make sure that the government will have a feedback from the people. The government exists for the people thus they should be also be judged by the people. The programs exist for the people, thus the people’s evaluation is very important. 3. Do you think private contractors should replace government employees? I think that the private contractors should not replace government employees. The most important factor to consider when answering this question is accountability.

If the government will opt to replace the government employees with private contractors, there will a great controversy on accountability. There is a great dilemma when it comes to who will become accountable for the mistakes. Another reason why sometimes government choose to rely on private contractors is to cut cost. But there are also reports that stated that private contractors cost more. In Forbes (2006) newsletter, they enumerated disadvantages hiring private contractors. One of the disadvantages of hiring private contractors is having less control over the workers.

Your autonomy over the workers is limited. You cannot supervise or manage your workers like they are your employees. Second disadvantage of going for the private contractors is having dynamic workers. Workers will just come and be replaced anytime. Private contractors usually hire for short-term or project-based workers. Thus quality of workers is unstable and uneven. Another disadvantage of hiring private contractors to replace government employees is you will be held liable for the injuries and damages of the workers.

Unlike being a government employee, those in the private contractors are not covered by worker’s compensation insurance. Thus a person injured during the work can sue you for the damage. 4. Do you think that a nation can have two different systems of law at the same time? A nation can have two different systems of law at the same time. In an article written by Hazelbaker (2007), he said that U.S. has a hybrid system. It can be seen that common law system is incorporated in its civil law and the criminal and administrative law systems are incorporated on a civil law model (Hazelbaker, 2007).

Common law is the body of law that developed from the decision of judges over time (Hazelbaker, 2007). These decisions rely on a case to case basis rather than from the statutes. But in the case of U.S., it is very confusing because this Common Law is what develops the civil law of each state. Civil law or Roman law is derived from the Roman Empire and is considered the second prominent legal system in the Western World (Hazelbaker, 2007). Hazelbaker (2007) described this kind of law wherein the law of the land is derived from the civil authority or the state.

In the case above, we can definitely say that a nation can have two different systems of law at the same time. Civil law can co-exist with common law or “judge-made” law. United States is using this hybrid law system. Another example of a country using hybrid legal system is India which follows a mixture of common law, civil law and customary or religious law. There are still a lot of countries using mixture of legal systems. thus, the answer to the question above is affirmative.