references

Shahi 1

Freedom

During the two weeks period, I learned more about positive freedom programs, Hobbes’ theory of freedom, principles including freedoms, order, and equality, and social security systems. This knowledge is personally important to me, and I communicated this knowledge with fellow students in which we discussed the importance of positive freedom programs as they promote the capacity of one to act on free will. I also communicated on Hobbes’ theory of freedom that notes that we are all free to the extent the external obstacles unconstrain us. We also discussed the importance of freedom, order, and equality in society. Further, I went ahead to note on the importance of social security systems, and therefore one would mind paying more for such system. This information is important to me as a student to widen my knowledge regarding these topics

During the two week period, my political thinking has evolved in the manner in which the government enacts and implements policies geared towards protecting freedom of individuals, bring order, and promote equality in society. Also, positive freedom programs are important in society to ensure that people can act of free will. The government through laws raises the amount people pay for the social security programs not to benefit the government but to benefit the citizens, and they do so reflecting the economic changes in the country. I communicated these ideas and concepts with my fellow students and majority agreed with my ideologies noting that the principles of freedom, order, and equality are important in the proper functioning of a society and paying more for social security programs is worth considering the benefits one gets. However, others disagreed in the concept of Hobbes’ theory of freedom noting that people act on free will.

During the two week period, I participated in a group discussion on matters regarding freedom, order, and equality and the increasing contribution amount to the social security system. The group consisted of fellow students. The information is vital in enlightening the society on the importance of positive freedom programs in promoting one’s free will. Also, the information is essential in raising awareness on the impotence of freedom, order, and equality in society. Additionally, people need to be equipped on the benefits of Social security system therefore the worth of paying more to this system.

Shahi 1

Voting right

During the two weeks period, I learned more about the right to vote. Voting right is a democratic right requiring protection, promotion, and practice. However, the government has not fully protected the right to vote since the constitution of the United States does not provide explicit right to vote leaving the voting rights susceptible to the politician and state whims. As a result, the political culture of the U.S is moving away from the democratic value of liberty in which other people such as ex-felons are limited to participate in the political process, voting, as they face difficulties in registering as voters. This knowledge is personally important to me as voting right is everyone’ democratic right, and I communicate this knowledge with the students. I communicated this knowledge with my fellow students and discussed this knowledge by examining the evolvement of the right to vote in American politics.

During the two weeks period, my political thinking has evolved as I view that the government is oppressing the democratic value of liberty by limiting others like ex-felons and American residing overseas to exercise their right to vote in their home states. I communicated these ideas and concepts with my fellow students and agreed with my ideology that the failure of the U.S constitution to provide explicit right to vote undermines the democratic voting right it leaves the states and politicians to determine who to vote and who not to. They noted that the U.S is a democratic nation and therefore it should clearly protect the voting right in the one to Constitution and allow everyone to exercise his/her democratic right irrespective of being an overseas resident or ex-felon.

During the two week period, I took part in a discussion of political matters in which the discussion focused on the explicit inclusion of the right to vote in the U.S constitution. I engaged in discussion with a group of students in which everyone contributed to the topic by noting view regarding the topic. The discussion arrived at the importance of including the voting right in the constitution as it enforces the democratic value of liberty. This information is important on creating awareness on the issues surrounding voting right.

Shahi 1

Principles of the Constitution

During the two weeks period, I learned more about the principles of the constitution including federalism, imbalance of power, separation of power, and also I learned about the importance of regulations. Federalism is a system of political organizations which separates states within an overarching system of politics in a way that each state maintains its separate fundamental political integrity. The governing power is shared between the state and national government. Imbalance of power is linked to the separation of power in which the three branches of government Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary hold different powers. Separation of powers entails split of the government powers between various branches to avoid concentration of powers in one branch. For example, the Congress has only legislative powers and the Supreme Court the judicial powers. Also, I learned that regulations are essential to bring social change in society. I communicated and discussed this knowledge through holding a group discussion. This information is important in broadening my understanding of constitutional principles

During the two week period, my political thinking has evolved whereby I have understood the reasons why the U.S has a federal system of government and the various principles of the constitution as well as the enactment and implementation of various regulations. I communicated these ideas and concepts with my fellow students including elaborating on the principles of the constitution and the reasons behind those principles. They agreed with my developing ideologies that federalism is important to delegate and share the governing powers, separation of powers ensures no single body has too much power and imbalance of power is due to different functions each governmental branch performs. Also, they agreed that regulations are essential for social change in society.

During the two week period, I took part in group discussions geared towards understanding the principles of the constitution. The group consisted of students trying to deepen their understanding of these principles. During this discussions, members present various understanding of the principles and the reasons behind these principles highlighted. This information is important for educating and enlightening members of the society on the constitutional principles.

Shahi 1

Judicial Review and Majoritarian Democracy

During the two weeks period, I learned more about the federal court’s power of judicial review and the majoritarian democracy. The definition of judicial review and its importance came out clear, and focus was on the majoritarian democracy concept. This knowledge is personally important to me, and I communicated this knowledge with fellow students in which we discussed more about the judicial review as one of the powers of the federal courts and why is important and the ideals of majoritarian democracy. I communicated about the judicial review being the federal courts’ power to declare that other government branches’ acts are unconstitutional and hence unenforceable. Also, we discussed on majoritarian democracy as being democracy founded o the majority rule of the citizens of a society and we found out that it is better than the United States did not start as a majoritarian democracy. As a student, this information is important to broaden my knowledge, and as an aspiring member of the political community, it would be helpful in the future to understand why some laws are never enforced.

During the two week period, my political thinking has evolved in which I have understood that all the acts of the legislature and the executive must be constitutional for them to be enforced otherwise they would not become into effect. The U.S constitution is the supreme law of the land, and no action or law can contradict it. This power of the federal court is significant as it allows expunging or revision of laws inconsistent with the constitution. Also, starting as a democracy whereby the population’s numerical majority has the final say to determine the decision’s final saw as not a good idea as this would result in oppression. I communicated these ideas and concepts with my fellow students and majority agreed with my ideologies noting that without judicial reviews many laws that passed would only benefit a few people in society and also majoritarian democracy would have increased oppression in the U.S.

During the two week period, I participated in a group discussion expounding on judicial review and majoritarian democracy. The group consisted of fellow students. The information is important in informing the members of the political community to contest in court the acts of the legislature and executive that they think are inconsistent with the constitution thereby subjecting them to judicial review to defend against oppressive actions and laws. Also, the information enlightens the society the dangers of majoritarian democracy in which it would lead to the majority in society oppressing or excluding the minority groups, the tyranny of the majority.

Shahi 1

Power Structure

During the one week period, I learned more about centralization of power vs. decentralization, dual vs cooperative federalism, and the effort of the national government expands its power base. This knowledge is personally important to me, and I communicated this knowledge with fellow students in which we discussed the differences between the centralization and decentralization of powers, dual and cooperative feudalism, and as well we looked at the ways the national government is seeking to expand its base of power. We note that centralization of power entails concentration of power only in one body or person while decentralization of power entails dispersal of the powers across the system instead of concentrating on one body or person. Also, we noted that dual federalism entails the distinct separation of the federal and state governments’ roles and powers while cooperative feudalism is where there is no clear line between the roles and powers of the federal and state government, and therefore cooperation is two-way traffic. This information widens my knowledge regarding various types of governments.

During the one week period, my political thinking has evolved in which I have understood the differences between centralization and decentralization of powers, dual and cooperative federalism, and expansions of the power base of the national government. I communicated these ideas and concepts with my fellow students and majority agreed with my ideologies that decentralization of powers is critical in ensuring effective governance and cooperative federalism ensures cooperativeness between the states and the federal government. Additionally, the national government seeks to expand its power base by influencing the decisions of the state governments.

During the one week period, I participated in a group discussion on centralization of power vs decentralization, dual vs cooperative federalism, and the effort of the national government expands its power base on which we noted on the advantages and disadvantages of each. This group consisted of the fellow students, and this discussion widened our understanding of the topics. This information is important to enlighten the political class on the effective structure of government (centralization vs decentralization and dual vs cooperative federalism).

Running head: WRITING 1

WRITING 3

Participation

Basically, in any given country, citizens are generally required to express a certain degree of freedom and participation of any activity undertaken on the country. Participation therefore refers to the act of actively taking part in all the processes and activities in their country. Among these activities and processes are voting to recruit new leaders in the government, who would guide the way the entire country is governed, also the process of disbursing government funds and other activities in the country (Stolle, Hooghe, & Micheletti, 2005). They should therefore be actively involved in ensuring the success of anything taking part in their country in whatever way. Participation in this case therefore should have a model on which it has to adhere to. This model, therefore, has to be put in place before any interaction and socialization is done by the parties so as to ensure that their rights are well taken care of based on all their fields of interaction.

When we talk of conventional participation in any country, we basically refer to any activity that affects shapes and involves the political sphere of the country. It, therefore, ranges from voting to attending rallies as well as committing certain acts of terrorism to sending letters of representation (OPP, BUROW‐AUFFARTH, & Heinrichs, 1981). It is therefore relatively an uncommon behavior that basically aims to challenge of rather defy the government channels as well as the dominant culture of the country in question. In most of the cases, it is usually stressful based on the personal grounds for both the opponents and the participants of the same course of action. On the other hand, unconventional participation refers to the common political behavior and that basically uses the institutional channels related to any representative government, especially when it comes to voting and elections.

References

OPP, BUROW‐AUFFARTH, & Heinrichs, (1981). Conditions for conventional and unconventional political participation: An empirical test of economic and sociological hypotheses. European Journal of Political Research, 9(2), 147-168.

Stolle, Hooghe, & Micheletti, (2005). Politics in the supermarket: Political consumerism as a form of political participation. International political science review, 26(3), 245-269.

Surname 1

Do you think the fact the lobbyist can work in Congress?

Lobbying is defined as a paid activity whereby the special interest hires well-connected professionals to argue for specific legislation in bodies responsible for making decisions especially the Congress. The lobbyists represent the interest of their interest groups in the Congress. The lobbyists working in the Congress thus can be a bad idea since the main goal of the lobbyists is to influence the policies of the policy-making bodies in favor of the interest groups they represent in the Congress.

All kinds of groups hire the lobbyists including private companies, corporations, unions, nonprofit organizations, and other influential individuals and groups to attempt to persuade the Congress to pass the legislation that are in favor of their interests (Milojevich 115). The lobbyists us various techniques to influence the decision-makers, the Congress, to pass laws and policies that cater for the interests of their interest groups and thus working of the lobbyists in the Congress is detrimental to the general public.

The lobbyists make it impossible for the Congress to refuse to pass legislation that favors the interest groups they represent. For example, the lobbyists funnel billions of dollars into the Congress, and for years the Congress has become more reliant on the millions of dollars from the lobbyists to fund their political careers (Milojevich 119). Thus, Congress is obligated to pass laws that favor and promote the interests of the lobbyist together with their interest groups rather than making laws which benefit the American people. Even, the lobbyists sway some of the Congress members to work for them for undeniable benefits and hence end up making laws and policies that are not for the interest of the American people but the interest of the lobbyists and their interest groups. Thus, it is a bad idea for the lobbyists to work in the Congress.

Work Cited

Milojevich, Allyn Katherine. “Interest Groups, Political Party Control, Lobbying, and Science Funding: A Population Ecology Approach.” (2014).

http://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4367&context=utk_graddiss

Surname 1

Great Centralization in Party Organization

A party organization entails a particular party’s formal structure and leadership. Majority of the parties have a series of organizations rather than having a single party organization. Party organization is a reflection of the intergovernmental relations, and thus centralization of party organization is important to create harmony. Conflicts arising from decentralized party organization makes policy-making infective and unresponsive. Centralization of political party organization eliminates disharmony. A more centralized party organization means that a party controls national government and all the subnational units and thus eliminating partisan loyalties distribution between the central and sub-national government and locally elected politician’s tendency to articulate local interest (Montero 63). Centralization of party organization eliminates the subnational politicians’ tendency to articulate local interest to the detriment of the national politicians. Thus, great centralization of political party organization reduces partisan loyalties across the national and subnational divide and thus limiting conflicts and hence promoting one interest that benefits all the people at the national and subnational levels.

The centralized party organization ensures central policy responsibility, revenue-raising, and expenditure since this resources flow to the center of power which shapes the interest of the national and subnational policymakers. A great centralized party organization limits the tension that comes with decentralization of party organization in which the national partisans tend to suppress the subnational government’s autonomy to optimize their own capacity in distributing resources across the country based on the expected political payoffs (Montero 65). Through centralization of party organizations, national and subnational work in harmony to ensure distribution of resources to benefit all people.

Work cited

Montero, Alfred P. “The politics of decentralization in a centralized party system: The case of democratic Spain.” Comparative Politics (2005): 63-82.

http://people.carleton.edu/~amontero/cp2005

Surname 1

Should we have 1 national primary or regional primaries

The American people deserve a rational system to select their president, but a national primary in which all the state participates in elections is a bad idea. Proponents of national primary puts across that more voters would take part in the process than in regional primaries failing to recognize the significant problems of the national primary and the many benefits of having regional primaries.

The national primary is advantageous to only better-funded and famous candidates since they are the only ones that can finance the expensive and large campaigns that are associated with running a national primary. The infamous and less-funded candidates would not be able to reach out to voters since they cannot run the expensive campaign. Thus, the national primary undermines the value of fairness in an election. Also, since the candidates would concentrate in states with large voters, the mid and small-size states would be ignored. Additionally, national primary limits viable candidates since a majority of the candidates would not afford national campaign and thus reducing the choices for the electorate (Chapman par.2).

Instead of a national primary, regional primaries would allow all the states and citizens to participate in elections. Under the regional primaries, the country would be grouped into four regions which would vote in turns. The voting would run in four months, and this would allow the citizens to evaluate all the candidates before making a choice. Also, the regional primaries eliminate the funding pressure through offering organizational and financial benefits associated with the regional campaigns (Chapman par.4). Thus, having the regional primaries would lead to a more orderly, logic, and fair process giving an opportunity of all the states regardless of the size to take part in selecting their presidential nominees.

Work cited

Chapman, Beth. A national Primary Wouldn’t Work. U.S News, 2012.

https://www.usnews.com/debate-club/is-a-national-primary-a-good-idea/a-national-primary-wouldnt-work

Accessed 26 April 2018