The 5 most important ideas of politics and US government - Essay Example

Essay, History and Political Science Topic: The 5 most important ideas of politics and US government. Liberty Liberty and freedom are alternative beats of the same heart. Every individual is born free in this world. An individual has the innate tendency to resist all that obstruct one’s liberty. The connotation of liberty is so vast that it defies definition. Each one sees a new horizon of liberty. For the American people the concept of liberty is supreme as it stands to protect the essential dignity of an individual. Dr. Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel Prize winning poet, describes the concept of liberty in his beautiful poem “Where the Mind is Without Fear.” He writes, “ Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, where knowledge is free, where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls, where words come out from the depth of truth, where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection, where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way, into the dreary desert sand of dead habit, where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action, into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.” (Tagore, n. p.) This is fantastic explanation about the concept of liberty. In the context of American history, the concept of liberty has undergone many changes as per the demands of time. Each advocate of liberty takes a different line of argument as to its potency and desires to outsmart the previous definitions. Ernest Hemingway in his Autobiography writes “[….] the loss of liberty anywhere in the world is a threat to liberty everywhere” (Hemingway…).But the essence of liberty is in its practical application as it is a twice-blessed concept. Your liberty is sacrosanct to you at the same time its practical application should not affect the liberty of others. Liberty is intimately connected to the culture of the time and the geographical area. With the passage of time, it is bound to change as many external factors cast their influence on it. Liberty, equality and freedom sail in the same boat. Amongst them equality is a relative thing. Whereas the rich class has more or less clear conception about the concept of equality certain poor sections remain so oppressed and continue to live in Plato’s cave, they just do not know what equality is! They are born in poverty. Live in poverty and just walk up to the grave in poverty. The African-Americans(slaves) survived only because they had a chance to work(just one aspect of liberty) though on a meager or no salary. Schumacher, E.F in his book “Small is Beautiful” writes“[…]the chances to work is the greatest of all needs, and even poorly paid and relatively unproductive work is better than idleness”( 161).This was the position when the practice of slavery was legal in America. After the abolition of slavery, when African-Americans took to education, they began to comprehend the meaning of liberty. Prior to that, in the land of tyranny how could the African American think of equality? Isaiah Berlin in his book “Liberty: Incorporating Four Essays on Liberty” writes “It is interesting, but perhaps irrelevant, historical question at what date, and in what circumstances, the notion of individual liberty in this sense first became explicit in the West”(p.32, 33).Liberty does not mean people should do what they want to do, but they should do what they are expected to do. Liberty is an individual prerogative subject to the liberty (rights) of others. It is a carefully balanced walk and not a carefree race. It is to act with caution, always minding the fact that rights go with duties and responsibilities. Limited Governance The source of the power for the government is the willingness of the people to make and unmake it. The people cannot dethrone the government in power at will, and yet the people of America are supreme and the government itself is limited to the power given to it by them. The Government of America has no authority to derive its power from itself. Propel can build it and people can break it as per the prescribed procedures. It needs to follow its own laws and it can act legally by using the powers given to it by the people. The wise saying goes, ‘that which governs the least, is the best government.’ Martin Kelly writes, “The two major parties in America are the Democratic and Republican parties. They act as coalitions and attempt to win elections. We currently have a two-party system because of not only historical precedent and tradition but also the electoral system itself.” (Kelly)There are some third parties and they act as pressure groups, and in the actual governance of the country they are of no consequence. The Constitution, a document of just above 7000 words that is read in less than thirty minutes can make and unmake the destiny of the people of America. The concept of limited government is the most feared principle, by the politicians and the bureaucrats as it enunciates the principle the nobody is above the law, and top dignitaries including some of the past-Presidents have suffered serious consequences for disobeying/transgressing the law of the land. Limited governance is a noble concept, and its latent meaning is the willingness of the governing authorities is to give power to the people and not usurp it. Checks and Balances Checks and Balances is an integral part of the American system of governance and I think this is the backbone for the successful and healthy functioning of the democratic system. For the healthy growth of democracy each authority in the system of governance must have the freedom to act as well as the freedom to react. Functioning of a good government goes by the process of chain reaction. If one link in the chain is weak or faulty, it affects the entire system. Each one in the unit of governance must work with the feeling that ‘I am under nobody and nobody is under me.’ Political administration is like the horse race. To gallop is fine but there is the horse rider sitting on the horse to assist in the race, to check and to show the directions. The political authority is responsible to the entire citizenry that voted for a particular political party and for those who did not vote for that party, meaning the party in power is responsible for the entire nation, not for their exclusive voters. The system of checks and balances is designed with this perspective. No branch of the government should become powerful, no branch should become powerless! The provisions of the Constitution are guarded by political and judicial authorities. The President has the powers to veto legislation, The Supreme Court will judge whether or not the acts are constitutional, and the Senate need to approve treaties and Presidential appointments. Thus the three branches of the American government legislative, executive and judiciary keep a hawk’s eye on the functioning of each other and each branch is subject to the checks of the other two branches. The systems of checks and balances cements the relationship between the three branches, and when there is a controversy they are at war with each other and each Branch keeps in mind the security and welfare of the Nation. The paramount issue is that the Nation must gain from their exercises of checks and balances. Law and Order: Functioning of the Police Department Turn the pages of a newspaper; switch on any of the numerous TV channels. The crime situation is worsening day by day and the life of the common citizen is filled with anxieties with law and order situation going from bad to worse. Life and property of the citizens is no longer safe. ‘Politics is the last resort for the scoundrels’ opined George Bernard Shaw. There are several other professions vying for this ‘honor’, but police department comes a close second. In a given administrative area when the police department works in tandem with politicians, disaster awaits the common man. Both these departments are like two edges of the same sword. The concept “The Blue Wall of Silence” is first coined in New York, USA to describe the friendly and protective disposition of the police personnel in defense of their colleagues and that is done for a wrong cause. Their misconduct is not only tolerated but accepted and defended. Whistle in an important little instrument in the life of policemen but when he does not blow it against a fellow policeman who deserves to be reprimanded and punished, the ultimate sufferer is the citizen of America. The difference between the politician and the policeman is--the job of the former is for a fixed term, and the latter will render disservice to the people till the age of retirement! The saving grace for this harsh observation is the statement is not applicable to all. A corrupt President can be impeached. A corrupt government may be voted out of power in the elections. As such the code of silence in the Police Department can never be accepted and stern measures should be taken to demolish the Blue Wall of Silence. More reliance needs to be placed on community oriented policing. Any police official accused of and prima-facie found guilty of moral turpitude and corruption should be summarily dismissed and the onus of proving not-guilty should be on the accused. So also, excessive use of force and racially discriminatory practices should demand instant arrest of the concerned official. The prime duty of the law enforcement agency is to instill public trust and the police officers are expected to perform their duties and implement strategies for the good of the society. Every Police Station must have a civilian review board and other mechanisms to monitor its functioning. Cop is a public servant and the public is not subservient to cops. No cop should be allowed to take advantage of his position and uniform and make profits out of his post. Divorce rates in America and broken/single parent families: American people attach lots of importance to the secular aspect of life and spirituality has been relegated to the background. The technological advances and internet revolution have impacted the materialistic society and have a telling effect on humankind on the wrong side of life. Human values and morality are sacrificed for aggrandizement of wealth. Increased material prosperity has resulted in social disaster. For example, in America the divorce rates are more than 50% now. What does this mean? The family values like love, affection and respect to the elders have been relegated to the background and self-interest has become the domineering aspect of life. The concept of service has disappeared from the lifestyles of individuals. Some decades ago, helping others has been one of the domineering features of the family life. Now the family life is in doldrums. Women attach more importance to their careers, than taking care of their children, and equality of genders has taken the extreme stance. I am not the one to argue that women should stay at home to take care of the children. But children also have the right to live in the way how the children should live. The problems of the children belonging to poor families are somewhat different as compared to the rich but both suffer from the neglect of their parents and they are denied love of the parents. The physical and economic exploitation of the poor children goes on in unprecedented scale, and it is futile to expect that such children will turn out to be the law-abiding citizens of America. Majority of the children in America, whether rich or poor, are without their real childhood. In single-parent homes, they are denied the love and guardianship of their father and family members. The increasing divorce rates and single parent homes are the cause of societal maladjustments and the social life of American families is in disarray. Loss of moral values has added a new dimension to the problem of divorce. Tom Morris argues, “Morality is connected to the deepest possibilities of personal fulfillment, individual happiness, and human flourishing to this life” (p111). To escape the parental responsibility women take to abortion which is ethically wrong, besides being the social evil. Abortion is enemy number one of social and familial harmony and even in allowing this procedure there is social injustice in America. Mark Graber in his book “Rethinking Abortion,” argues, “Statutory bans on abortion have been a particularly poor means for protecting the unborn because such measures are consistently administered in ways that intentionally discriminate against poor persons and persons of color” (158).If the administrators of America succeed in bringing back the lost joy in the family life, they will be rendering the greatest service to humankind in this part of the world. Without that all material prosperity, all power and all other embellishments, will not be of much consequence. If the parents are denied the pleasure of enjoying the smiles on the face of their children, and if the children are denied the affection of their mom and dad, nothing in the world can compensate for that loss. Works Cited Berlin, Isaiah (Author) Hardy, Henry (Ed.) Liberty: Incorporating Four Essays on Liberty. Oxford University Press; 2002, Print. Graber, Mark. Rethinking Abortion: Equal Choice, the Constitution, and Reproductive Politics. Princeton University Press, March 23, 1999, Print. Morris, Tom. Philosophy For Dummies; IDG Books; Foster City, USA; 1999, Print. Schumacher, E.F: Small is Beautiful. Radha Krishna, New Delhi 110 002; 1977 Hemingway, Ernest. MSN EncartaErnest Hemingway… Accessed on December 10,2013 Kelly, Martin. Overview of United States Government and Politics - American History Accessed on December 10, 2013 Tagore, Rabindranath. Where the Mind is Without Fear; n. d. Accessed on December 10, 2013 Read More