Economic and Political Systems of the US, Japan, and South Africa - Case Study Example

College: ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL SYSTEMS OF UNITED S, JAPAN AND SOTH AFRICA IN THE 20TH CENTURY Introduction A transition from the 19th century to the 20th century saw many changes in the most parts of the world. This period is commonly referred to as the reminiscence as it is dominated by political and economic revolutions of many countries and technologies. Various states were involved in fights towards their liberalization from colonialism and economies were highly growing due to the advancement in technologies. World War I, World War II, the cold war, nationalism, post-cold war and decolonization are the most famous events that marked the 20th century. There was increased awareness on independence that saw an increased political activism that led to the independence of most countries. As countries gained independence, they began developing and growing their economy in an attempt to gain superiority over other nations. This paper will therefore exhibit an insightful analysis of political and economic systems of the United States, Japan and South Africa in an attempt to analyze how these political, economic and other ideologies affect the society of the named countries. Keywords: political, economy UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Political system during the 20th century The United States is a federal republic constituting 50 states united together under one president who is the head of the government and state. It is made up of a bicameral legislature with legislative power resting with both the Senate and the House of Representatives making up the congress. The two chambers of the legislature and the judiciary share reserved power where the Congress makes laws while the judiciary interprets the laws, the constitution, and regulations. The president, who was elected through the electorate college was the head of the executive arm of the government. The 20th century demarcates a time of enormous changes in the political life of the United States. The era began with the election of Theodore Roosevelt as the vice president in 1900 and later becoming the president in 1901 when McKinley was assonated. (I September - Leon Czolgosz, 1-94). However, a larger part of the political system of United States is largely influenced by the decisions of the founding fathers who were seeking a different system from their colonial master, the British. The changes in the system, have so far been as a result of the power given to the Congress to redraft the constitution and to make new laws. Just like any country, the fundamental principles upon which United States is governed is enshrined in the constitution which is considered the shortest with only seven article and 27 amendments. The constitution provides for a separation of power between the three arms of the government i.e. judiciary, executive and legislation, with checks and balances so that no arm of the government can misuse its power. (R Bellamy - Political Studies, 436-456). The constitution further provides the terms of office holders with the president having a four-year term serving a maximum of two terms (The 22 Amendment of 1951), members of the Senate have a six-year term and House of Representatives members serving for only two years. Although there are quite a number of parties, United States was majorly dominated by two parties – the Democratic Party and the Republic Party representing the two divergent ideologies of liberalism and conservatism. Both the presidential and the congressional elections are held at the same time in November. The Electoral College, who are the representatives of each state, are vested with the powers of voting for the president. (DR Shaw - The Journal of Politics, 387-422). The presidential candidates presented by the two parties are however selected delegates from each state in the parties’ primaries. The congressional election involves voting for the senators who are the representatives of each state, two per state, who comprises the upper chamber of the Congress and the House of Representatives members who are representative of congressional districts. Economic system during the 20th century The United States had an intensive economic system that worked together towards achieving economic growth. The systems include market economy, where demand and supply dictate what to be produced, when and in what quantity, a mixed economy where both the private sector and the U.S government has a direct control over the economy, a planned economy where the Congress made policies that are directed towards guiding the economic activities of the whole nation and a participatory economy where all the affected persons were involved in the whole process of decision making regarding policies of the economy Effects of changes in political systems on the society and individuals There are enormous effects as a result of changes from these systems that are as a result of time to time review of the constitution. The methods used in the past was highly biased to womens and blacks participation in politics in the United States. Unlike the past days, women and the black society in America can freely participate and vie for the elective positions. JAPAN Political system during the 20th century Despite being dominated by one party –Liberal Democratic Party - for over five decades, Japan is a democratic state (H Fukui 1-28). Japan practices constitutional monarchy with an emperor with very limited power and acts as “a symbol of the state and unity of people."(N Masanori, HP Bix, M Nakamura 1-224). There is the separation of power where the government is composed of three branches, executive, judiciary, and legislature. The prime minister, which is voted in by the Diet, is the head of the government and the executive. The prime minister in turn chooses his/her cabinet from the member of the Diet, who make the larger composition of the cabinet. Kokkai or Diet is the legislative arm of the government is bicameral in nature comprising the House of Representatives or Shungi-in and the house of councilors or Shangi-in (ES Krauss, B Nyblade 357-368). The Shungi-in members are elected from the constituencies through proportional representation and serves a four-year term. The Shangi-in members are elected from the districts and nationwide through proportional representation. The house of representative has supremacy over the house of councilors and can override their decisions. The judiciary has the Supreme Court as the highest court, and the chief justice is selected by the cabinet for appointment by the Emperor Economic system the 20th century Apart from the dictatorial states, economic systems are almost the same in the developed countries as they include but not limited to the market economy, participatory economy, planned economy and a mixed economy. The systems just like any other economic system in developed countries have the aspect of free trade, market forces of demand and supply, participation of affected persons in policy making and regulations taken into consideration Effects of change in political system on the society and individuals The Constitution of Japan is highly rigid, and thus there has been any substantiated change in the system. The freedom bestowed on the Diet has however seen the replacements of most of the prime ministers before even their terms elapse. The change in political system has however seen the country develop into one of the biggest industrial producers in the world. SOUTH AFRICA Political system of South Africa during the 20th century South Africa gained its independence in the final quarter of the 20th century and thus for the better part of the 20th century, she has been under the colonial government rule (DL Horowitz 239-279). However, after gaining its independence in 1994, it established a democratic system of government and like Japan, it is dominated by one party – the African National Congress winning its all elections in the 21stcentury (T Lodge 1-27). Just like the United States and Japan, South Africa too practices separation of powers with the government comprising of the judiciary, the executive, and the legislature. South Africa participates in direct democracy where the president is elected by the parliament from its elected members. The president is the head of the executive, the head of the state, and the head of the government. He appoints ministers from the elected members of parliament to head the departments of the national government. Economic system of South Africa during the 20th century Being a third world country that was for a long time under the colonial system, South Africa developed its system in the last quarter of the 20th century. The systems used during this period included the market economy where goods and services are produced depending on the market forces of demand and supply, traditional economy where customs, cultural beliefs and traditions determined the kind of goods and services to be produced, barter economy where goods and services produced were directly exchanged for other goods and services and a planned economy where the government through Ministry of Agriculture designed policies upon which economic activities are regulated. Effects of changes in political systems on society and individuals There have been several changes in the political system of South Africa as they country was in transition from the colonial system of government to a liberated government under Nelson Mandela (P Limb 33-109). For the first time, the blacks wrote their constitution and were able to hold elective positions and rule themselves. In as much as the country is still dominated by one party, the democracy is nowadays practiced in South Africa without the fights that marked the better parts of the 20th century. Women are nowadays treated with respect in the society and are allowed to form themselves into sensitization groups to ensure that their rights are taken into consideration whenever policies are formulated. Works Cited Bellamy, Richard. "The political form of the constitution: the separation of powers, rights and representative democracy." Political Studies 44.3 (1996): 436-456. Fukui, Haruhiro. Party in power: The Japanese Liberal-Democrats and policy-making.Univ of California Press, 1970: 1-28. Horowitz, Donald L. A democratic South Africa?: constitutional engineering in a divided society. Vol. 46.Univ of California Press, 1991: 239-279. Krauss, Ellis S., and Benjamin Nyblade. "‘Presidentialization’in Japan? The Prime Minister, Media and Elections in Japan." British Journal of Political Science 35.02 (2005): 357-368. Limb, Peter. Nelson Mandela: A Biography. ABC-CLIO, 2008: 33-109. Lodge, Tom. "State of exile: The African national congress of South Africa, 1976–86." Third World Quarterly 9.1 (1987): 1-27. Masanori, Nakamura, Herbert P. Box, and Masanori Nakamura. "The Japanese Monarchy: Ambassador Joseph Grew and the Making of The ‘Symbol Emperor System,1931-1991 (Asia and the Paci." (1992): 224. Parker, LeRoy. "The Trial of the Anarchist Murderer Czolgosz." The Yale Law Journal 11.2 (1901): 1-94. Shaw, Daron R. "A study of presidential campaign event effects from 1952 to 1992." The Journal of Politics 61.02 (1999): 387-422. Read More