American Government

674 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The importance of democracy

American Government

Each type of government holds different views as to the role the leaders and citizens should perform in their country .Different types of government include, oligarchy where the government is run by the best leaders, Tyranny, where they believe those in power should have complete control over its people. In the United States of America, we believe in democracy, rule by the majority. The main problem with our type of government is maintaining it. Our government and its citizens have lost sight of their roles and responsibilities, in government.

The role of the government in our country is defined in our Constitution as to, "establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity" (the United States Constitution). In essences this is still true today although I feel our government has gotten out of hand. It is not as harsh as Machiavelli's ideas of government where he believes in striking fear in the people and never wavering from thoughts of war. Our government does protect us in many ways. Just as Machiavelli's government, we have a military that is ready to protect and serve us. We are always ready for war. So this is not to say that I believe that our government has completely forgotten its role.

Although we proclaim ourselves as a free country, our government constantly tries to increase the power and authority it holds over us. Our government tries to control almost every aspect of our lives by telling people whom they can or cannot marry, why or even if you can divorce your spouse. The government tries to tell us that it is against the law to do things that we enjoy or things ...

... middle of paper ...

...he government have become "a sorry lot" we have become more concerned for the individual self and forgot that we have obligations to one another .Our country would run a lot smoother if our government and its citizens would remember what their responsibilities are. As Abraham Lincoln put it "government of the people by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth."

Works Sited

Lao-tzu, "Thoughts from the Tao-te Ching" A World Of Ideas, 6th edition

Lee A. Jacobus Boston: Bedford/St. Martins New York,2002. 19-33

Machiavelli, Niccolo. "The Qualities of the prince" A World Of Ideas, 6th edition

Lee A. Jacobus Boston: Bedford/St. Martins New York,2002. 37-51

"The United States Constitution"

http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Constitution.html

American Government

Show More
Related

  • The Government Does Have The Constitutional Power To Suspend The Constitution During A Time Of Crisis

    1412 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the past, the U.S. Congress has passed acts in a time of crisis for the safety of our nation. With this information being acknowledged many ask, "If the government had previous powers to do so?" One act that was passed was the Sedition Act of 1798. This law was passed due to a threat of war with the French. This act basically stated that no person should conspire or scheme any plans against the government. This includes conspiracy by mouth, actions, or any other way possible. Even though the Bill of Rights state that the people have the right to freely express themselves through speech, the government revised or revoked that amendment during that particular time. This act became null and void on March 3, 1801 which was stated in Section 4 of the Sedition Act. Another act that was passed through Congress was the Espionage Act of 1918 during World War I. This act says that no one should slander the name of the U.S. government nor the naval forces and the military. It also states that no one should speak, print, or publish anything disloyal or scurrilous concerning the U.S. as a whole during the time of war. These rules are located in Section 3 of the Espionage Act. This goes against the 1st Amendment which allows the freedom of expression through speech and press, but as you can the government still passed the act. The act wasn't repealed until the year of 1921. Two more important cases where the government exemplified their power is in the Supreme Court: Hirabayashi v.

    Read More

  • Tyranny in the United States

    560 Words  | 2 Pages

    The government uses many forms of psychological control to trick citizens into giving away their rights, ‘for their own good’. They play on our emotions to make it seem like they are always just trying to help us, or make things easier, safer, better, etc. etc. They distort things to make them seem sad or scary so that we will have a stronger reaction to them and demand results from the government. The main emotion that the government plays on is fear. When you put fear into people they are more eager to ask for ...

    Read More

  • U.s. Democracy Thriving : A Look Inside American Democracy

    2525 Words  | 6 Pages

    The United States is governed by a democracy. According to Dictoinary.com, democracy is “government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system” (Dictoinary.com). This means that instead of having a supreme ruler, the citizens of a country have the right to vote for and choose their elected officials who will ultimately make the decisions for them. The benefit of a democracy is that depending on the public’s opinion, they can influence the government to run the way they want. This form of government provided the public with a great amount of freedom, yet is can potentially slow down the efficiency of governmental decisions. In order for a democracy to function well, public opinions must be somewhat similar to avoid gridlock. A democracy is good for public freedom, but must possess certain characteristics to provide effective results.

    Read More

  • America's Democracy

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    The United States of America is a republic, or representative democracy. Democracy, a word that comes to us from Greek, literally means the people rule (Romance, July 8). This broad definition leaves unanswered a few important details such as who are the people, how shall they rule, and what should they rule on (July 8). Defining the answers to those questions means defining a model for a democratic system. William E. Hudson defines four such models in his book American Democracy in Peril: the Protective, Developmental, Pluralist, and Participatory models of democracy (Hudson, 8-19). Of these models, perhaps Participatory comes closest to an ideal, pure democracy of rule by the people (16-19). In practice, however, establishing a stable ideal democracy is not entirely feasible. In a country the size of the United States, it quickly becomes unwieldy if not impossible to have direct rule by the people. To overcome this, the compromise of the representative system allows the people to choose who will rule on a regular basis. The political culture that defines American politics shows that despite this compromise, America is still very much a democratic society.

    Read More

  • assignment 1

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    A growing problem in America is its politics. Throughout history, with the formation of political parties the nation has become more divided, and has resulted in many gridlocks. How can a nation be successful when it is not even in accordance with each other? It can’t, hence, the reason why America is slowly losing its power and is starting to crumble. Recently, there was a gridlock on how the government should spend the nation’s budget. While the government shutdown was in session, many people could not work and did not get paid. Yet, Congress still got paid even though, they weren’t working. The injustices that lie in politics relate to an aristocracy. Less people trust the government because of all the disagreements and deceptions they are fed by politicians. Candidates running for political office positions always feed its citizens lies, and never accomplish the promises they make. This leads cynicism and a lower voter turnout. With less people going to vote, the wealthy and corrupt are taking the office positions and making the nation benefit themselves, rather than its citizens. If America’s own citizens don’t even trust the government, how do they expect...

    Read More

  • The United States' System of Government

    399 Words  | 1 Pages

    In theory, the United States became a democracy when we signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. This theory is not true. The textbook defines a democracy as a system of government in which ultimate political authority is vested in the people, of course you know that this is just not so. Our system of representation, often times, fails us. Quite often, the people who represent us in our state, local, and federal governments make decisions without much regard for the desires of the American citizenry.

    Read More

  • The United States Government

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    The United States government consists of three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. These branches were created to be coequal with overlapping powers that keep each other branch in check. The branches of government were designed to work well together and be being coequal would result in making decisions that are in the best interests of the people. Each branch is crucial to making sure the federal government works properly. In many ways, the legislative branch seems to have more power than the executive and judicial branches. The Framers of the Constitution wanted the legislative branch to have more power, which is sustained today in the United States government. The Framers also granted the legislative branch certain powers to give them more authority. The three main powers that enable the legislative branch to have this authority are the abilities to appropriate funds, declare war, and create laws.

    Read More

  • Fourth Amendment And Privacy

    377 Words  | 1 Pages

    Although government watches, and protects citizens it often creates conflict because it violates the Fourth Amendment, Liberty, and Security.

    Read More

  • Why Our Nation's Founding Fathers Choose To Be Ruled Under Rule Of Law

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is a Centuries long debate as to why our Nation’s Founding Fathers chose for us to be ruled under rule of law instead of rule of man. Our Founding Fathers founded this nation on a promotion “We the People”. They ruled that we should be led under the rule of law rather than the rule of man for multiple reasons. Our government now though is stipulating whether or not the old American government made the right choice, when compared to other foreign countries. At the beginning of our country the Constitution was not meant to be read as a collection a suggestions rather as a way to get men away from their old tendencies. Those were the days where the rights of the average man were the top priority of the government. Today however we need to remember that the rule of the law is supposed to focus on the rights of the citizens and not on who is wearing what in Hollywood. Over the years we have ruined our government, even Woodrow Wilson said, “I have unwillingly ruined my government.” The factors now included in Rule of Law are a little different from they were 250 years ago. To find out why the Founding Fathers Chose Rule of Law we need to look at several reasons why our nations’ officials like or don’t like the rule of law. We must also look at whether the factors are too much at this point for our nations to change and go another way with our leadership and the way we run our country.

    Read More

  • The On The American Government

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American government prides itself on the foundational principle of democracy which allows individual voices to be heard. Afterall, the roots of power in our nation stem from the people. The Constitution was established to ensure the balance of powers among the federal government, state legislature, and the common people. Time, however, has worked against the American people in the battle towards democracy. The idea of a governing body drawing its power directly from its constituents has been undermined by the corrupt nature of modern politics where politicians act out of self-interest. While the Constitution and later amendments had every intention of securing basic liberties, certain limitations later undermined the original intentions of the founding fathers to give power back to the people by placing the larger majority of power in the hands of the state.

    Read More

  • Government

    1535 Words  | 4 Pages

    A filibuster procedure that allows a senator to speak against a bill for as long as he or she can stand and talk. It can become a formidable obstacle or threat against controversial bills near the end of a legislative session. (Gibson, Robinson pg.243) Some of the reasons why the filibuster is regarded an obstacle to legislation starts off with the two-thirds rule which basically requires the approval of at least two-thirds of senators before a bill can be debated on the Senate floor. This type of rule allows minority of senators to block controversial legislation. This rule also gives the senators the opportunity to vote on both sides of an issue. (Gibson, Robinson pg. 243 para 2) A filibuster can become a potent and ever-present threat against controversial legislation near the end of a session. An example of this is when a lieutenant governor may refuse to recognize the sponsor of a controversial bill because of the fear of a filibuster will delay the process for the legislative proposals. Something really interesting about filibuster that happened in the past is when State Senator Bill Meir of Euless was able to speak for forty-three hours in 1977 against a bill with the public reporting of on the job accidents. By doing this he was able to capture the world’s record for the longest filibuster, which he held for years. (Gibson, Robinson, pg. 243, para 5.) In my own aspect of the view of filibustering, I think its abusive power is a threat to legislation because it can become even deadlier when senators decide to use a tag team approach taking turns against a bill. (Gibson, Robinson, pg. 243 para 5) Another great example is recently Texas State Senator ...

    Read More

  • Government

    650 Words  | 2 Pages

    Conservatives, liberals, and radicals have different perspectives in important areas such as attitudes toward change, views of human nature, individual behavior, family, the social system, and the government and the economic system.

    Read More

  • Greed Essay

    1721 Words  | 4 Pages

    Too many times in history has the government thrown aside the rights of the individual in the pursuit of their own agenda. This subsequently often led to their downfall as well. This happens far too often, even in our modern world. You would think that by now, despite all of the horrible things that came about as a result of these instances, we would have learned our lesson. But we still haven’t been able to get the message. Why? Because the power of greed is far more powerful than that of humanity. This has been visible since the dawn of man. Even though humans have a natural desire to care for one another, greed still conquers all, and that’s the sad truth of the matter. Unfortunately, governments take the greedy road far too often than they should. They get caught up in the moment and forget about what it’s all really about, which is fulfilling their side of the mutualistic relationship between them and the people. The one thing that we have in common is also the most overlooked.

    Read More

  • Defining Freedom In George Orwell's 1984 And Ishmael Beah

    1482 Words  | 3 Pages

    George Orwell stated, “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”() The government is able to control how each and every

    Read More

  • Government Dictation

    1751 Words  | 4 Pages

    Our Government dictates who we can marry, what we can smoke, what we can put in our body, drugs, food, etc. They dictate what we can make at home; for example, alcohol or drugs. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is even trying to ban fireplaces and certain wood stoves because of the smoke created by it. Dictating our lives started with the busing of children in the name of racial equality. Then came mandatory seat belt usage followed by the prohibition of Trans fats. Now we are dictated to purchase health insurance with features we may not need or want. Slowly but surely the Government is taking away our personal liberties. It is sad to say that the biggest threat to freedom and the American way of life comes from our own government. They listen to our phone calls, read our email, read everything we do online, and place cameras in public areas.. They dictate which guns we can have, what kind of ammo we can use, and how much ammo we are allowed to buy. I believe they should enforce the laws that are already on record for guns instead of continuing to add new ones.

    Read More

More about American Government

Open Document