Highschool and American Government - Essay Example

Question 1: In an essay of at least four well-developed paragraphs, discuss the four principle factors that influence how members of Congress vote. Include the following points: * Briefly explain each factor and its importance. * Explain how that influence can have positive or negative effects on the public good. In general, legislators take several factors into account, before casting their vote in Congress. There are an array of issues and policies that influence the decision making of legislators. In addition to this, they are influenced by the conventional practices of Congress. Despite serving on several committees, legislators generally, gain experience only in some specific area. Bills introduced in Congress require the support of the Representatives and Senators (Hamilton). Individuals and corporations can also lobby for bringing in new legislation. In certain situations, individuals or corporate giants may require new laws that would safeguard their interests. For this purpose they employ lobbyists and professionals who urge the legislators to design appropriate bills. This is common in any democracy. As such, Representatives and Senators are under an obligation to such persons and corporations, because they provide significant contributions towards election expenditure. In most instances, these individuals and agencies, render direct help to the candidates in their election campaigns. The President may decide whether to ratify or reject a bill and the legislators do not override the decision of the president. They have to respect the call given by the president and act accordingly (Hamilton). The voters in the constituencies of the legislators can also influence the ratification of a bill. It is not possible for legislators to routinely reject the appeals of the voters in their constituencies. Moreover, any representative or senator who persistently goes against the wishes of the voters is at risk of losing in the next election. The personal beliefs of legislators play a major role, while voting for a bill. This is demonstrated by the fact that when Congress members make strong demands regarding some issue, they will not change their stance even if enormous pressure is brought to bear upon them by party members, lobbyists or even the president. If a member takes up a strong stand on some issue, then the voters of his constituency cannot compel him to withdraw from his stand. That is the power of personal belief, which plays a decisive role in the voting process. While casting their vote regarding some issue, legislators on occasion, consult experts in that field and this promotes the public good. Nevertheless, corporations and individuals at times, compel legislators to cast their vote in favor of causes that only benefit the former. This could prove to be detrimental to the general public. Question 2: In recent years, there have been two major criticisms of Congress and how it promotes the public good. In an essay of at least two well-developed paragraphs, describe these two criticisms. Include the following: * State your personal opinion about the validity of these criticisms explaining whether you think they are valid or not. * Offer logical reasons to support your opinions. The government of the United States is encouraging private participation for the supply of water and the disposal of sewage. As such, the government is gradually privatizing water management services, because the construction of water system plants and their maintenance requires a lot of funds. This expenditure had been estimated at twenty billion dollars per annum for the coming twenty years. This is the situation, anywhere in the world; accordingly, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have extended their support to the process of privatizing water management systems. These systems include both the supply of potable water and waste water treatment systems. However, many authorities are of the opinion that privatization is not a wise step because private corporations are more concerned about their profits. Moreover, private companies would not maintain prescribed standards for cleaning the water and maintaining the infrastructure. Moreover, they would offer water at high cost to the public who could find it difficult to afford. The United Nation’s General Comment states that people have a right to safe water. In addition, the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals deem water to be a fundamental human right. Therefore, the Congress should take all possible initiatives to ensure that safe water is provided to the people of the US (Hauter). The United States’ extraordinary scientific research resulted in various inventions and vast scientific knowledge. These developments have been successfully utilized by the US to implement new ways and means to enhance the prosperity of the nation. As a result of this economic growth, the US emerged as the most powerful nation in the world. At the same time US citizens have became very affluent and healthy. In order to maintain its supremacy and prosperity, the US has to strive hard to maintain its traditional entrepreneurship; otherwise it cannot overcome its powerful adversaries and challenges of the twenty – first century. Accordingly, the US government must design favorable policies to that end. If it fails to do so, then the public welfare will be severely affected, and the US will be compelled to forego its supreme status in the world. Therefore, the government should maintain its scientific excellence and it should properly apply its policies. This will help the government to fulfill its obligation of furthering the public interest (Scientific Freedom and the Public Good ). Question 3: In an essay of at least two well-developed paragraphs, evaluate the power of the Presidency. Be sure to include the following points in your essay: * Describe three specific powers that the President holds. * Explain how the power of the Presidents of the 20th century changed as compared to the power held by Presidents who were elected in the 19th century. The President as the supreme authority in the US holds the highest positions, like that of the Commander in Chief of the US Army, Navy, and the Militia of the States of the Union. The Chief officials of the executives Departments are under a duty to submit their reports with regard to the duties and responsibilities of their offices to the President, whenever required in the course of the Presidential Service of the United States. The President can defer punishments and grant pardons for perpetrators of offenses against the state. However, the President cannot grant reprieves and pardons for offenders in cases of impeachment. The Senate empowers the President to make Treaties and to enter international agreements, and the President has a wide range of powers such as appointing Ambassadors to other nations, Ministers and Consuls, Supreme Court Judges, and all other heads of departments and Officers of the US, which are established by the Federal law. Moreover, he is empowered to fill up the vacancies that arise by the Recess of the Senate and he appoints Commissions to carry out this job (The President ). The most successful presidents of the US were Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. The secret of their success was their adaptability to situations and their ability to balance the opinion of the public and subsequent political reforms. During the period of Roosevelt, the US was isolated from other parts of the world. In addition, European integration posed a threat to American supremacy. However, Roosevelt successfully balanced these two domains and mediated between American isolationism and European imperialism. Kennedy was successful in balancing the civil rights activism with conservatism, during his tenure. Previously, in the year 1861, Abraham Lincoln had justified the Civil War, as being essential for maintaining the Union’s integrity and sovereignty. Kennedy aspired to realize his dream of the New Frontier. Hence, he established the Peace Corps and encouraged space expeditions. It was during his term at the Oval Office that American scientists successfully carried out the moon – landing project. JFK was of the opinion that the Cold War period could be transformed into an era of peace and prosperity. The Proclamation of Emancipation declared by President Lincoln had shifted the attention of the people from the civil war to moral issues. However, the efforts of President Kennedy compelled the people to face present dilemmas instead of futuristic ideals. However, the people of the US still have dilemmas and confusions, in the wake of international terrorism, which has targeted the US and its allies (Identifying American presidents of the 20th century ). Question 4: In an essay of at least four well-developed paragraphs, discuss U.S. economic policy. Be sure to include the following information in your essay: * Compare and contrast the economic theories of Keynesianism and monetarism. * Explain how a budget deficit is created, how the national debt influences the U.S. economy, and how the federal government attempts to balance the federal budget. The US has to implement more stringent, foolproof measures to strengthen and defend its global economic status. To this end, it has to rectify its current account deficit, by reducing its budgetary deficit, and restore revenue surplus in the coming years. These measures would reduce its foreign funds requirement. Another initiative to be adopted is to enhance the dollar’s value (Bergsten). At the end of the fourth quarter of 2006, the United States registered a 3.5 percent economic growth. However, the actual growth was much less than the projected growth. Since 2001, there was positive economic growth, due to the increase in real estate prices, other assets and the expansion of consumer debt. This growth is a non – sustainable and debt driven growth. It is essential to recognize the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities of the economy and the threats to it. Therefore, policy makers have to first recognize these priorities, which will be of great in addressing socio – economic problems. Furthermore, the US government has to establish prudent and direct communication with its citizens (Yones). In 2000, the US, for the first time, registered a surplus of $237 billion. However, in 2006, it had a budgetary deficit of $390 billion, which was 3% of the total GDP. The government had incurred continuous losses over several years, and these accumulated losses compelled it to depend on debts to provide for the budgetary deficit. The cumulative national debt for six years reached $8.3 trillion by 2006. This was the largest ever debt in the history of the US. This debt resulted from the government’s payments towards tax breaks, Medicare scheme, the Iraqi war and other developmental schemes. The government paid $406 billion towards interest on this debt in 2006. It spent just $61 billion for Education and $56 towards payments for the Department of Transportation, in that year. Thus, the US pays huge amounts towards interest, rather than spending it on socio – economic projects and social policies. This is unhealthy for its economy (Yones). Monetarism accords greater importance to policy rules, social costs of inflation, monetary policy and defective governmental policies instead of discretion, unemployment, fiscal policy and variable private investment as the causes of instability. This is just the opposite of what Keynesianism propounds as the causes of economic instability (Snowdon and Vane). Question 5: In an essay of at least three well-developed paragraphs, evaluate the influence of key events that led to the increase of U.S. involvement in foreign affairs. Be sure your essay addresses the following points: * Name and describe at least three key events that led to the increase of U.S. involvement in foreign affairs. * Discuss how each event caused the U.S. to become involved in affairs outside of its own soil. * Describe how each event shaped future U.S. foreign policy. The United States should not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and its super power status does not empower it to do so. Most, if not all, the countries of the world do not require US assistance or support to resolve their domestic problems. The current US policies are the consequence of the economic setbacks it suffered in the Second World War. Instead of providing relief to its uneducated and homeless citizens, it is wasting its resources by attempting to sort out problems in other countries. Moreover, innumerable Americans were killed in wars that were not directly related to the US, and even though those wars have ended, the conflict persists. The motive of the US is to establish and maintain political and economic domination on the rest of the world. To this end it does not preclude, even military action against countries that oppose its objectives. World domination is the principal obsession of the US and it resorts to all sorts of iniquitous means to achieve its ends. For instance, it will stir up communal and religious discord in a country and then interfere in its internal affairs, in the name of restoring peace, and thereby gain control over that country. It publishes various reports that describe human rights violations, and then use these reports as a basis for interfering in the electoral process of that country. Although the US is a democracy, it has a long and notorious record of establishing and supporting autocratic governments. It would not be farfetched to accuse the US of destabilizing peace and sovereignty in several countries of the world (Global Security ). During the Cold War, the US based its foreign policy on the principle of inclusiveness, which brought together the countries that detested communism. In addition, the US exercised control over several nations, irrespective of the type of the government in those nations. It maintained a consistent strategy throughout this period and challenged the erstwhile Soviet Union with its strong military line up. This comprehensive tactical approach brought about the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which ended the Cold War. Consequently, the US emerged as the sole superpower of the world. Subsequently, it launched a war against terrorism. The Islamic terrorists made frequent attempts to destroy the US economy and its superpower status. Some instances of these attempts were the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, and the 1998 bomb attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. In addition, highly damaging terrorist attacks were launched on September 11 against New York City and the Pentagon in 2001. The United States retaliated against these attacks and invaded Afghanistan. It conquered the Taliban militia forces and established a new government. The saga of American invasions continued and in 2003 it invaded Iraq and executed Saddam Hussein in order to establish a democratic government in Iraq (Yew). Question 6: In an essay of at least two well-developed paragraphs, explain and evaluate the changing role of the Supreme Court from its beginning to the present. According to the US Constitution, judicial power is to be vested with the Supreme Court, and subordinate Courts that Congress may establish (Article III, §1 US Constitution). The Judiciary Act of 1789 established the US Supreme Court which met for the first time on the 2nd of February 1790. It plays an important role and it can rescind statutes it deems to be unconstitutional. This Court can invalidate the acts of the government and officials if they violate the US Constitution. In addition, it has the power of judicial review, whereby it can scrutinize their actions. It assures the rights of individuals and protects them from being infringed or limited by government authorities, and is referred to as the living Constitution and it interprets statutory provisions. The Supreme Court can deal with new and complex situations through its provisions that have wide applicability. Its decisions are final and binding in cases of constitutional claims. Moreover, the Court can set aside its previous ruling in a fresh case. In addition, its rulings can be invalidated by suitably amending the constitution (The Supreme Court in the American System of Government). The Supreme Court’s is empowered to invalidate the actions of executive and legislative officials, if they are unconstitutional. This acts as a barrier to oppressive governmental decisions. In order to assure individual rights and social justice, the general public has to support the Court and its responsibilities. Individuals are required to be ever vigilant regarding the enforcement of statutes, and their rights (Drake). Question 7: In an essay of at least two well-developed paragraphs, compare the beliefs of those who support judicial restraint and those who support judicial activism. Judicial activism is an innovative interpretation of legislation or the constitution. This concept was first employed in the year 1804 in the case of Marbury v. Madison. In that case it was established that the Supreme Court had the power to review the actions of the Executive and Congress (Marbury v. Madison). Chief Justice Marshall had clearly displayed the judicial statesmanship of the Court in that case. On the basis of the provisions laid down in Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789, Marshall declined the relief sought for in that case, and held that the relief was in conflict with the Constitution; because it bestowed upon the Supreme Court original jurisdiction to issue a writ of mandamus. Marshall further stated that legislation enacted by Congress should be in accordance with the Constitution. If a statute is found to be in conflict with the provisions of the Constitution, then such statute becomes void, prima facie. Government departments and courts are automatically bound by such statute once enacted by the parliament. Therefore, if a conflict arises between the law made by the Congress and the Constitution, the Supreme Court intervenes and annuls such contradictory law, in order to enforce the provisions of the Constitution. This constitutes the fundamental duty of the Court under the principle of judicial review (Rao). On the other hand, judicial restraint enjoins upon the judges to adhere to the democratic assembly’s conclusion. First and foremost, judges have to enforce political rights that maintain the nature of the assembly and safeguard the members from laws that are discriminatory. Any rights that fall beyond the purview of this description are not to be enforced in the absence of endorsement emanating from a democratic decision (Nelson). Question 8: In an essay of at least two well-developed paragraphs, explain the controversy over capital punishment and present the arguments of those who support it and those who are against it The United States had recommenced imposition of capital punishment, which was legalized in thirty – eight states. Since, 1977, nearly one thousand and one hundred convicts were executed. Moreover, around three thousand, three hundred and fifty convicts are awaiting death since 2007. Opponents to capital punishment contend that it does not deter crime. It is held to be immoral and unjustified as a means of deterring crime. Moreover, prisoners who were wrongfully convicted on grave charges could be executed. As such, the death penalty is not supported by the traditional moral values and principles, inherent in the Constitution. Capital punishment is the preserve of nations that inflict barbaric punishments on criminals. In some countries, adulterers are whipped, a thief’s hand amputated, a murderer beheaded, and a rapist crucified. These are barbaric and heinous punishments that are unsuitable for American society, which is morally mature and civilized. Thus, the death penalty, which is a barbaric act, should be prohibited in the US (Ballaro). A crime should be awarded appropriate punishment, if justice is to be rendered. This is demonstrated by capital punishment, which ensures that murderers cannot kill again. Capital punishment ensures that justice is provided to the victims and their family members. The opponents to the death penalty argue that it does not deter crime. However, capital punishment certainly deters criminals who commit murders. The alternative to capital punishment is life imprisonment. However, in life sentences, there are chances for the criminals to be released and once again commit murders. A death penalty assures that they do not commit such crimes in the future (Pearce). Works Cited "Article III, §1 US Constitution." Ballaro, Beverly. "Capital Punishment Should Be Abolished." Points of View: Death Penalty (2007, p2-2): 1p; Reading Level (Lexile): 1550; (AN 26612501). Bergsten, Fred. A New Foreign Economic Policy for the United States. 09 February 2005. 19 July 2008 . Drake, Sarah E. Teaching About the United States Supreme Court . 2001. 19 July 2008 . Global Security . Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Global Action for Putting End to U.S. Interference in Internal Affairs of Other Countries Called for. 20 August 2006. 21 July 2008 . Hamilton, Lee. How Congress Works and why You Should Care. Indiana University Press. ISBN: 0253216958, 2004. Pp. 68 – 70. Hauter, Wenonah. Public Citizen Urges Congress to Adopt ‘Water for the World’ Resolution. 25 June 2004. 19 July 2008 . Identifying American presidents of the 20th century . 19 July 2008 . Marbury v. Madison. No. 5 U.S. 137 . U.S. Supreme Court. 23 February 1803. Nelson, John S. What should political theory be now?: essays from the Shambaugh Conference . SUNY Press. ISBN: 08739594X, 1983. P. 98. Pearce, Matt. "Counterpoint: Defending the Death Penalty." Points of View: Death Penalty (2007, p6-6): 1p; Reading Level (Lexile): 1180; (AN 12437718). Rao, M. N. Judicial Activism. 19 July 2008 . Scientific Freedom and the Public Good . 14 February 2008. 19 July 2008 . Snowdon, Brian and Howard R Vane. "An Encyclopedia of Macroeconomics ." Edward Elgar Publishing Macroeconomics/ Encyclopedias ISBN:1840643870, 2002. The President . 19 July 2008 . The Supreme Court in the American System of Government. 19 July 2008 . Yew, Lee Kuan. The United States, Iraq, and the War on Terror. January 2007. 19 July 2008 . Yones, Med. US Economy . 15 March 2007. 19 July 2008 . Read More