The American Government Politics - Essay Example

The American Government Politics United s of America embraces the bicameral system of governance that constitutes the congress. The congress is the amalgamation of the senate and the House of Representatives from the various Federal States of America (Sidlow and Henschen 234). The congress is bestowed with the responsibility of being an oversight body on the government, in pursuant of this, the congress faces shortcomings in effectively discharging their duties. This is because in many cases they use ad hoc way of responding to issues. The congress tends to be ambushed in discharging their duties and this has cost them in many occasions. Apparently, this is caused by the poor coordination with the executive (Sidlow and Henschen 254). Budgeting is one of the most important roles of the congress in the US, for budgeting to take place. It involves a procedural process. The president’s proposed budget is taken to the congress, the congress then discusses and their resolutions integrated into the proposed budget plan by the president (Sidlow and Henschen 262). Following is the discussion on the expected annual appropriation bill and are reconciled and actions on the appropriation are affected. During this period, committee reports are integrated and voting takes place as well as the president veto powers. With the culmination of all this, the fiscal year begins and any other pending discussions are scheduled later (Sidlow and Henschen 266). In the United States, the vice president is eligible to occupy the presidency in accordance with the law, this is in the event that the incumbent president is impeached, incapacitated, resigns or is convicted of violation of office acts. The cases of such successions are indeed rare in the US as they can be singled out (Sidlow and Henschen 271). E.g. Harry S. Truman succeeding Franklin D. Roosevelt, following the death of William Henry Harrison, John Tyler succeeded him. The death of Garfield was followed by Hendricks succession and George W. Bush succeeded the death of Reagan Ronald. Those are among the few cases that can be cited on presidential succession that has occurred between 1841 to 1978. With regard to this, nine successions have been realized (Sidlow and Henschen 278). The US president is charged with several responsibilities, he is the chief of state-in this category, the president is mandated to award with medals individuals who have made positive contributions to the nation. The president also plays the executive roles in which she/he constitutes the government by making appointments and enforces law as well as pardon individuals (Sidlow and Henschen 291). The president is also the commander in chief of the armed forces and performs the roles of giving directive to the military in very crucial matters pertaining to the security (Sidlow and Henschen 293). As a chief diplomat, the president appoint ambassadors and high commissioners to countries in creating ties around the world, he also tour countries and create ties. Also as a legislative leader, the president assents on all bills before they are enacted into law (Sidlow and Henschen 295). Finally, the president is a leader of a political party, for one to become the president one must be elected a leader of apolitical party to which they use to run for the elections (Sidlow and Henschen 297). In the US, there are several regulatory agencies that have been instituted to specifically monitor and ensure that the stipulated codes are adhered to in managing the resources and products that are of interest to the public (Sidlow and Henschen 304). Some of the notable regulatory agencies include Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Federal Aviation Administration, and the Federal Communication Commission. All these agencies have one thing in common; they protect the public from any harm, injury, or exploitation that may be intended by the service providers (Sidlow and Henschen 311). Majorly in the US, the civil servants do get their jobs through resume application in line with ones profession. On the matters of the civil servants welfare, the agency that is responsible for the recruitment, compensation, and even removal of a civil servant is the civil service commission of America. It follows the written statutes to resolve matters affecting the employees. It is an independent body though just like all the other agencies it falls under regulatory agencies (Sidlow and Henschen 314). Jurisdiction is the eligibility to preside over cases and controversies between two or more parties. This authority and right has to be granted by the constitution and be impartially discharged for the interest of dispensing justice (Sidlow and Henschen 317). In administering the cases, the law demands that the plaintiff has to have a personal loss be it physical or economic to the matter at stake and shows that the issue is ad judicable. In the event of solving the controversy, there can be a sharp difference between the plaintiff and the defendant on the legality of a case and that forms the basis of judiciary’s role (Sidlow and Henschen 321). The public opinion towards the national courts and the supreme courts is that there should be very little influence of the courts by the executive as this is deemed to allow for impartial arbitration of cases including those that involves senior government officials. The public perceive that the courts still need to be liberated (Sidlow and Henschen 324). Domestic policies involve those policies that are enacted to cushion the citizens on particular issues that might affect them uniquely as a country. Policies on healthcare, education, and housing amongst others are some of salient ones that are closely monitored as they directly influence lives of the people. In making these policies, the proposal comes from the Domestic Policy Council (DPC) that advice the president on the issue and upon the presidential assent the policy becomes implemented and supervised by the Council (Sidlow and Henschen 329). In the national social welfare policy, the pillars are to ensure that well being of the citizens is paramount. They ensure that the employees are given wages that are commensurate to their work, they live in areas with proper sanitation, and provisions of health services are not compromised and are made affordable to everybody, education included (Sidlow and Henschen 333). Work Cited Sidlow, Edward and Beth Henschen. GOVT3. Carlifonia: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print. Read More