Chapter 1 Combined Essay

Chapter 1 Combined Essay

Politics is no different from a fight among children to see who gets the chocolate bar or whose turn it is to play with the teddy bear. Although politics is mainly the process and means of how a nation solves its issues and satisfies its parties, when simplified, it is simply the process to see who gets what, when they get it, and how they get it. Obviously those who are more able to control the agenda are more able to get the what, when, and how. Those with more political power have a greater ability to influence and lead others. Since politics relates to the needs, values, and attitudes of the people, the people with similar needs, values, and attitudes tend to band together and form political parties.

In the case for how politics are organized, there are two basic forms of governments. One type, Authoritarian government, tends to lean toward one side. Governments directly repress their opponents in order to gain more power. Sometimes Authoritarian governments shift to the extreme of Totalitarianism, where the government has control on the various limits on almost everything, ranging from religion, education, and media. The other form, democracies, is based more on the input of the people. The state is run and governed by majority elected representatives that are elected by the people.  The process of choosing these representatives is highly dependent on the electorate, or body of voters.

Democracy is the current method of American political systems. It is based on three policies: Majoritarianism, Pluralism, and Elite/class theory.

Majoritarianism is also known as direct democracy. In this policy, a majority vote or side on an issue wins the case and determines the outcome. Since voters are allowed to “directly” vote and express their opinion, majoritarianism is also known as the “direct” form of democracy. This has been shown in the past where the majority vote for the 2009 Recovery and

Reinvestment Act passed after the devastating economic downfall.

Pluralism involves most of the activity with interest groups. These interest groups all hold various unique goals and positions. In this policy, the special interest of these groups determines the government's decision. The main conflict with pluralism is that so many interest groups cannot possibly all walk away satisfied and without something to say. Since no single group or idea is formed, the groups have no choice but to negotiate terms with each other and compromise even if the results aren't completely satisfactory.

The Elite, or class, theory deals with the case when one economic layer controls the government agenda. Usually, the elites, or the wealthy, are the ones to do so since they have greater power and are more financially stable. The problem with this method is that it contradicts the idea that all people were created equal and can lead to corruption during the periods of information exchange. In addition, society cannot be equal and uncorrupted if the wealthy prosper with power while the middle class and poor are deprived of such a right.

Today's democracy is a blend of all three policies. No policy is completely ideal over each other; however, some people would agree that a society based mainly on pluralism could have a good chance of succeeding since many different interest groups and elites can influence key lawmakers in our system.

In order to keep the basic order of a democracy functioning, linkage institutions keep the citizens and government connected. Linkage institutions are certain specialized structures or means of allowing citizens to take part and participate in current government issues. Such specialized structures could include the media, elections, political parties, and interest groups. For examples, elections are important for allowing voters to directly participate in the choosing of a new country leader. Media notifies people everyday about the new activities going on in Congress. When political exclusions and oligarchy tendencies occur, the basic rules of a democracy are violated, and “linkage failures” can possibly occur. People’s basic rights are abused, and the government does little to fix it. With the piling of linkage failures in a society, protests and rebellions by the people can occur due to great dissatisfaction with their current government. This has similarily been shown in the case of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, when the President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown by the people of Egypt for being unable to satisfy and respect the basic needs and rights of the people.

The basic function of a government is to protect its individuals through defense and support by raising revenue. Its main goal is to create a more perfect union by promoting justice, individual liberty, general welfare, and domestic tranquility. However, in order to do so, the government itself must organize itself correctly. It is currently amidst in a constant battle between contestants who struggle for greater political power and influence. America's current government is not perfect, and the everyday pressure from the media only worsens and overemphasizes this fact through its means of distorting the truth. This has been shown in the case of the Iraq War during President Bush's term, where the relationships between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein were twisted through the media. However, despite the influence of the media, the government has still done important parts of its job without us even realizing it. From Medicare, to universal health care, to the welfare system, and to Social Security, the government performs its undercover job of providing its people the crucial things they need.