American Governance System - Essay Example

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT Part I A 2. D 3. B 4. B 5. A 6. C 7. D 8. C 9. B 10. B 11. C 12. E 13. A 14. A 15. A 16. D 17. C 18. D 19. A 20. E 21. C 22. E 23. B 24. A 25. A 26. B 27. C 28. B 29. D 30. E 31. E 32. C 33. A 34. E 35. A 36. C 37. B 38. A 39. D 40. C Part II Question 1 Organization of the United States Government The federal system of governance that operates in the United States is a combination of both the national and the state governments The national government is charged with the role of coming up with policies that affect international relations and general national issues while the state governments are concerned with policies that affect the individual states as well as effecting national policies that have been passed over by the national government. The United States of America operates under a form of democratic system in which the president is the head of the both the state and the government (Wilson, 2008). The three arms of government include the Executive which is headed by the president, the Legislature which is divided into the two Congress chambers of the Senate and the House of Representatives and finally the Judiciary which is made up of the Supreme Court and other courts at a much lower level. The Executive wing of the government is made up of the President, Vice-President and the Cabinet. The president of the is responsible for conducting the federal laws, coming up with new strategies, offering direction on foreign policies and directing the operations of the national defense since he is the chief of staff. He has such powers as offering direction to the government, issuing command to the armed forces and playing the role of enforcing the laws as well as vetoing them. The Vice-presidents main duty is to offer any form of assistance to the president as stipulated by the law and he/she is chosen by the president. The 15 member cabinet which is appointed by the president upon approval of the senate plays the role of formulating and ensuring the implementation of policies that affects their various dockets. The Judiciary is concerned with the interpretation, application and the determination of any contravention to the laws of the land. Powers that belong to various levels of the government The federal government The federal government has some exclusive powers that cannot be shared by other levels of the government. The declaration of war is strictly the role of the federal government. It decides on the process of money printing and the number of denominations to be made by the central bank. The decision on the formation and establishment of the various army branches such as the navy lies squarely with the federal government. Signing of international treaties and decision to join any international body is conducted by the federal government. It also plays the role of regulating business activities between the states and other countries as well as formation of laws that assist in the enforcement of the constitution. State government The state government has exclusive powers to ratify the amendments in the United States constitution. It also has the duty over the provision of health services and the promotion of better health lessons all over the country. It further exercises powers on that are not delegated to the national government and not prohibited by the United States. The issuing of licenses and certificates necessary for operating businesses and establishment of legally binding contracts as well as covenants such as marriages is the role of state governments. Finally, the state has exclusive powers on the establishment and ratification of their constitution on matters that affect the specific states. Local government The local government which includes the municipalities is concerned with offering of specific services in the counties such as construction and maintenance of all assets that are under their jurisdiction. The powers available to the local government are given by the state. Economic development in the counties is conducted by the local government through rules and regulations that are enacted them. They also ensure provision of better services such as roads, local infrastructures, firefighting services and leisure and recreation services in-terms of parks and recreation centers. Shared powers The federal and the state government must share some powers so as to ensure smooth operations between the levels and to ensure proper service delivery to the people of the Unite States. They both take part in the establishment of the courts as well creation and collection of taxes throughout the country. Other shared roles include making and implementation of laws, borrowing of funds in case of deficit in the budget, building of highways and other major roads that cuts across several states or linking them with other countries. Question 2 The relationship between the executive legislature and the judicial branches of the government Trias politica is a term that is used to describe the separation of powers among the three levels of government. All the three government levels are independent of each other and are protected by the constitution so that they can adequately perform their roles as stipulated by the constitution. The doctrine of separation pf powers ensures that there is division of duties and responsibilities of the government so that no arm of the government interferes with the operations of another arm. The executive is charged with the role implementation and administration of policies enacted to ensure public views are well addressed. The judicial wing is responsible for interpretation of the constitution and other laws so that it can be able to effectively handle controversies that are presented before it for clarification. The legislative wing enacts the laws that are to be applied throughout the nation as well as allocating funds to the various levels of government in order to ensure smooth operations of the those levels. The legislative roles are vested on the Congress and it has the power to delegate the roles to other government agencies in certain circumstances. The congress has in certain circumstances delegated the part of their roles to the courts as was witnessed when it gave the courts the power to prescribe judicial procedures. The act was however viewed by many as a way by which the legislature was failing to do what is expected of them by the constitution. (Wilson, 2013). The roles of the executive are vested in the presidency who is the commander in chief of the armed forces. The constitution allows the president to delegate some of the roles to other subordinate staffs who are able to implement the laws under the directive of the president. The president is further empowered by the constitution to ensure that the laws made by the Congress are fully implemented in the required manner. The executive branch plays the dominant role in foreign affairs matters of the nation. The doctrine of separation of powers ensures that the Congress does not override the decisions made by the Executive vetos unless they receive a support of two-thirds majority. The judiciary has the power to decide on the cases as well handling of serious constitutional issues. The president has the role to appoint the judges of the Supreme Court upon approval by the senate the Congress has the role of establishing legislative courts that are not meant to take the form of commissions and judicial agencies and the judges in those courts do not have any form of compensation as those established directly by the constitution. However complete separation of powers of cannot be attained in any form of a democratic form of governance and the same applies to the United States. Some of the powers and roles of the government tend to overlap owing to their complex nature that requires the involvement of other arms of the government. At certain times, conflicts and competition are bound to arise. The electoral process The election process in the United States offers a chance for the citizens to elect their leaders so as to fill the various elective positions in the country. The presidential elections are usually held after every four years in the month of November. The election of the president and the vice-president are elected indirectly by the people. It the rest of the process is completed by the Electoral College. The Electoral College is process that was developed to create harmony between the election of the president by the congress and the popular votes. The process is made up of the 538 selected electors whose votes are counted by the Congress. In order to select a president it requires 270 majority votes. Each state has an allotment in the panel of electors which is equivalent to the number of those in its congressional delegation. Each presidential candidate is expected to have their own group of electors who are selected by their political parties. The election of the senators takes place after a period of two years and each sate has a maximum of two senators. Some states have to hold their primaries in order to decide on those to vie for senatorial race in the month of November unless in some situations where the candidates are unopposed. The election to the House of Representatives requires that those contesting for the position are at least age 25 and above. The main difference between the Senate and House of Representative elections is that not all voters take part in both the elections. The roles of political parties, media, public opinion, and interest groups The public opinion relates to the collective views of that are held by the larger population on matters of public concern and interest. It assists in formulating policies on matters that affect the entire population. It can be shaped by the media through their reporting as well as through opinion polls. It can be expressed through various mediums such as the internet through blogs, journal and public websites. Other forms of expression include mass demonstrations, marches and public hearings. The voting process provides a direct means and equal opportunity for people to express their opinion thus the election results usually convey the opinion of the masses. It is realized that people are triggered to vote for various individuals because they advocate similar views, they seem friendly and familiar with the systems and the fact that they agree on some issues. The media plays the role of monitoring the agenda of the public as well as shaping and determining them. It plays a key role in the election process by ex[posing the various leaders to the members of public and creating a general awareness of their policies and agenda for the nation. Public debates organized by the media offers potential leaders an opportunity to come face to face with the real issues facing the members of the public and how they would wish to have them tackled. The media exposes all sides of the potential leaders as well reminding the public of their past actions which might have been forgotten yet they are likely to have great impact on their leadership. Therefore media shapes the public opinion and expands the general view of the people. The media is likely to focus on issues and not laying emphasis on individuals which allows people to make rational and informed decisions on the voting day. The interest groups are defined by people who share similar opinions and goals and are in a better position to shape the public opinion. The y are mainly private organizations that aim at influencing the opinion of the public on national matters and on specific issues that affect them. They then strive to convince key leaders of various dockets to act in manner that fulfils their goals and visions. They can easily influence the voting patterns and the outcome of an election process. They begin by bringing together people who share similar opinion and then they form political action committees which raise funds needed to finance their actions as well as using then to advance political campaigns during the election process. Some consist of experts who are able to offer adequate analysis on real issues to the members so that they can make proper decision on leaders to elect in various positions. They further participate in the electoral process through endorsement of leaders who advocate for their agenda as well as taking part in nationwide campaign for such leaders. The political parties relates to people who come together so that they can have one of their own in elective posts. The United States has two main political parties namely Republican and Democratic parties. They take part in the selection of candidates as well as educating the masses on the need to take part in elections. Each political party has got is own ideologies that defines its operations. They take a keen consideration at how public offices are being managed and offer criticism in situations where they feel the government of the day is not conducting itself well. The members of the majority party ensure control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Question 3 How do scholars and statesmen-leaders define the different notions of freedom? Synthesize into the basic political theories of American politics and evaluate competing political arguments. The concept of political theory relates to the view of political philosophy which strives to explain the evolution of various key political ideologies in America. The first political theory of freedom was put forward by Thomas Hobbes in which he argued that war has always be a natural thing owing to the fact that people are in stiff competition with resources. He believed that each government as well as society is created out of personal interest. The second theory was established by John Locke who was an English philosopher and he termed his theory as social contract theory. The theory argued that governments and social order are as a result of agreements among the people who are being governed and their leaders (Heineman, 1995). According to Locke application of the nature theory should be promoted since it it is based on contractual obligation. Jean-Jacques Rousseau argued that man is born free but he ends up in chains everywhere he goes. The chains emanates from the society in which man lives. He dispelled the general believe that some people are appointed by the gods to rule over others and further reasoned that man is sovereign in his own making. He rooted for direct form of democracy in which people elect their top leaders directly through secret voting and not the representative form inn which they elect leaders who then go ahead to select the top leader in closed set up. Freedom has been defined as lack of any form of oppression, duress and lack of any form of misrepresentation. Political freedom is the positive application of rights as well as possibilities for given actions. It encompasses all the elements listed in the bill of rights such as the freedom of speech, expression among others. The concept is closely tied to civil liberty and human rights. Political freedom is what allows groups and individuals to demand for changes in the government and expect them to be effected. The courts assist in the protection of political freedom through the Bill of Rights as well as individual liberties. Lack of political freedom is an indication of lack of democracy in a given governance system. References Heineman, R. A., Peterson, S. A., & Rasmussen, T. H. (1995). American government. New York: McGraw-Hill. Wilson, J. Q., & DiIulio, J. J. (2008). American government: The essentials. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. Wilson, J. Q., DiIulio, J. J., & Bose, M. (2013). American government: Institutions & policies. Read More