The challenges with economic and political development are no longer issues of the developing nations as wealthy countries are beginning to experience a decline in growth. In The Great Degeneration, Niall Ferguson attempts to address the concern with the economic stagnation in western democracies. He examines the problems within the four fundamental pillars of these societies: democracy, capitalism, the rule of law, and civil society. He proposes that these ongoing crisis is further perpetuated by people’s lack of political participation which allow the state to accumulate public debt, implement complicated regulations and grant power to the elites to exploit the law. The reversal of the “Great Denegation” demands the once vibrant civil society …show more content…
The public play a significant part in exacerbating this problem. Ferguson argues that older population vote for “policies of “inter-generational inequity” (45), while young voters vote similarly as they are unable to understand their long term economic interest. Politicians acting for public support respond by spending more allowing “current generation of voters to live at the expense of those as yet too young to vote or as yet unborn” (41). His solutions include creating an amendment that provide banks with the power to reduce lawmaker’s deficit spending. The idea is rather simplistic and does not take into account potential consequences of a limited budget. It also relies on the power of the elites to guide the public’s opinion on fiscal policy, contradicting his idea that citizens should act more independently from the elites. However, the voters’ irresponsible policies choices suggest that even when the public is an active participant in the political sphere, they can behave in self-interest. It would be difficult for citizens to be driving force for change, unless they have collective altruistic goal to build a better nation for the future
By using the points listed previously, it is evident that a small portion of the population control what policies are implement in America and hold most of the nation’s wealth. I believe this two factors, the wealth one possesses and the amount of control an individual has, are interconnected. America has become a nation where money can get you anyway because it significantly increases the amount of opportunities available to the individual. Many people can attest to the presence of this class, including individuals from Kansas City who participated in a cross-section study with detailed interviews. The citizens of Kansas City referred to these people as “big rich” or “blue bloods” (pg
" Complaints are everywhere heard from our most considerate and virtuous citizens, equally the friends of public and private faith, and of public and personal liberty, that our governments are too unstable, that the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority."
However, seldom is this the case with American politics. There are far fewer politicians then there are low class workers or unemployed, and yet these politicians decide upon most all of the important decisions the country is faced with. The only time the rest of the people are involved is when these politicians spew out money and promises in an attempt to gain the p...
Wealth and Democracy clearly illustrates and emphasizes the importance of Democracy being endangered. The author Kevin Phillips, America’s leading political analyst since 1968 and a graduate of Harvard Law School appears very informed and credible. Wealth and Democracy outlines and explains the politics of the second half of the 20th century. In this book Phillips primarily explores how the rich and politically powerful often work together to create and continue to take advantages at the expense of the national interest, the middle class, and the lower class. The book contains several interesting chapters on history and an analysis of present-day America that reveals the dangerous politics that go with the concentration of wealth. Finally, Phillips gives warnings of new radicalism and argues that the corruptions of wealth and power are destructing the United States. Wealth and Democracy examines the history of Britain and other leading world economic powers to point out the symptoms that signaled their declines such as speculative finance, increasing international debt, record wealth, income and unsatisfying politics. Many of the signs that led to the decline of Britain were noticeable signs in America as it entered the twenty-first century. One might be surprised at the way Phillips emphasizes the despiteful practices of the rich considering his republican background. However, due to Phillips increased knowledge of the GOP (Grand Old Party; the first Republicans) He has concluded Republicans economic polices and biases of the 1990s and early 2000s betray the legacy of who He considers the two greatest Republican presidents, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt.
The issue of low voter turnout is not an unfamiliar topic for most of us. We already know of this issue, but certainly we must not have cast a glance on the issue in the same perspective as Charles M Blow has written. He attracts the readers’ attention to the problem at the center at once, which is nothing but the voters’ ignorance. He deeply explores the question that why the same voter who knows that to solve most of his problems he would need the government of his choice does not show any enthusiasm when it comes to casting his valuable ballot. The same problems remain there year after year and election after e...
Both Charles Murray’s 1997 book “What it Means to be a Libertarian” and Robert Reich’s “Aftershock” are based on the premise that America has fallen short of its potential. For Murray, America has become mired in regulation and social welfare programs, robbing citizens of the opportunity to take responsibility for themselves and society. Reich writes that rising income inequality between the richest one percent and the rest of the country has led to economic stagnation. This essay will explore the authors’ views of the role of government in social policies, including how these views would bear on popular topics such as the Affordable Care Act and school vouchers, and evaluate the potential for their policy proposals to be successfully adopted.
Krugman points out how despite the obvious and ever growing gap between the rich and middle class in terms of wealth increase, Republicans tend to vote for tax cuts for the rich and for decreases in funding for programs that benefit the middle and lower classes of society, such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Cutting funds for these services puts the middle and lower classes at even more of a disadvantage than they already were. Meanwhile, the rich receiving more tax cuts means they receive more money, furthering the economic wealth gap and increasing the money they can spend to influence politics. Krugman suggests the solution to the problem is increasing taxes on the
For Americans, the word “democracy” itself is strong enough to conjure up notions of a nation unhindered by an oppressive government where citizens are able to engage in the freedom of speech, press, and religious choice and practice. So powerful are American pro-Democratic sentiments that it is a common thought that any other country that does not prescribe to a liberal democracy is somehow inferior. Yet as time marches on, the feelings of superiority by American citizens become more and more unfounded. For, right before our eyes, the very notion of democracy, that Americans become braggarts about, is disappearing. While the U.S. government boasts of the freedoms it affords its citizens, it corrupts such an image through repeated non-democratic actions. While citizens cherish the affordances of a liberal democracy, many do not make the effort to support such a system; taking it for granted that no matter what, a democracy is a self perpetuating entity. In this paper I will argue that the liberal democracy that supposedly defines American government is a declining entity due to overt acts against the principles of democracy by the United States government and also due to the decline of civic engagement by United States citizens. The fact is, no system of government can be perpetuated if the government and its citizens do not work to keep their ideals alive and in practice.
The assumption of citizens having power in the political process is correct to a certain extent. Citizens do gain power in the political process by participating, but it must be done in the masses to be successful in getting what they want. Individually, the people have very little say on what goes on, however, every person 's vote counts and will make some difference in the outcome. If every person participated in the political process, they would have more power towards electing political officials, choosing what laws are passed, and they also have the ability to get public issues noticed when they feel they are being neglected. On the other hand, even if every person in the country voted, there is still that possibility that the people could be ignored due to a bigger and louder voice known as the wealthy. The people who have most of the power to affect the political process are the few people in the world that hold most of the wealth. These people have the ability to convince congressional representatives to vote against a certain law that is not in favor of the wealthy. They do this by supporting the political officials financially by donating money for their campaigns. Overall, citizens do have some power in the political process and have the ability to force the politicians to hear their opinions, but there is always the chance that the wealthy can overrule the people 's vote with the power of their
In deciphering what constitutes the brilliance of democracy then, we find that it is not citizens’ ability to make informed decisions or an unflawed and subtly manipulated election process, but the unapparent way in which democracy persuades citizens – informed or not - and leaders – corrupt or not – toward working to build better, more prosperous societies.
It is a sort of wooden gun to the people themselves. But it is not the least necessary for this; for the people must have some complicated machinery or other, and hear its din, to satisfy that idea of government which they have. Governments show thus how successfully men can be imposed upon, even imposed upon themselves, for their own advantage. It is excellent, we must all agree. Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way.
Democracy can be defined as 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. Arguably in this respect, the Great Reform Act of 1832 did not move Britain towards democracy, as the electoral system was not made free, nor was the power fully vested in the people. The Great Reform Act did however instigate an introduction of other crucial reforms which gradually made Britain a more democratic country, such as the 1918 Representation of the People Act, which introduced women into the electorate for the first time in British history. Therefore, it is justified to argue that the Great Reform Act was indeed the key turning point as although it didn’t expand the franchise as much as some of the other Acts did, it provided the foundation on which a more democratic and representative government was established.
In Renee Wilson’s article, “In Defence of the iGeneration” (2013), she explores her belief of the iGeneration being the smartest generation yet. Through the use of many anecdotes, Wilson reflects on her experiences of teaching the iGeneration and their ability to ignore negative criticism and still show their full potential. In her article, Wilson discusses the iGeneration’s reliance on technology and social media; however, she does not engage the disadvantages of technology, in particular laptops in the classroom, which, as I argue here, is in need of more study. In this essay, I argue that the use of laptops by students in a university classroom is distracting not only to the student, but also to surrounding students. Inevitably, multitasking and distractions in the classroom will result in a decline in academic performance.
..., Robert D. Putnam’s theory that civic culture is enough to sustain democracy is not accurate because situations like the backsliding of Weimar Germany away from democracy can happen even with the presence of a high civic culture. Instead of focusing on improving the numbers of people that a part of associational memberships, read newspapers and other media outlets, the number of people that turnout for national elections and the amount of informed voters there needs to be a focus on improving the quality of Civic Participation. There needs to focus on eliminating polarized cleavages within society and eliminating media bias in favor of bipartisan coverage in order to achieve the ‘right’ civic participation. There also needs to be a stable economy where people are not worried about not
This paper will begin by highlighting aspects of citizen participation showing the advantages and disadvantages it has on the policy process and discuss how citizen participation in the policy making pro...