U.S. GOVERNMENT SYSTEM

Political Science

Introduction:

The peace and welfare of this and coming generations of Americans will be secure only as we cling to the watchword of true patriotism: “Our country — when right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right.”

In the book, America the Unusual, notes that “the American emphasis on individualism and limited government has obvious direct consequences for the shape of our public policies” (1999:43). ’s argument is one of “path dependence.” The people who settled in North America and created what became the United States were more suspicious of authority and hierarchy than the people elsewhere. Those beliefs dictated the type of political institutions they established. Power was fragmented – not only within the federal government but between the federal government and the states (. 2001). However, According to., rejects a cultural explanation of American public policy in favor of the “path dependence” hypothesis of and other economists and political scientists, who see early political decisions gathering force and making it more difficult to change policies as time goes by. Nevertheless, unlike cultural beliefs and values, political ideas are more open to challenge and reform (2001). Using the example of air pollution control as a case study, argues that rather than doing what most countries do to discourage the burning of fossil fuels, i.e., raise gasoline taxes, Congress resorted to legislation, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Act, to require automobile manufacturers to produce cares that achieve a prescribed fuel economy. “Americans do not liked to be taxed, even when those taxes are used to strengthen our nation (138)”. When Americans were polled in 1988 it showed back then that 61% of Americans preferred a health system like Canada’s over the U.S. and 95% of Canadians polled preferred their health system then the US’s (138). This complex and ultimately ineffective approach stems from American’s belief that taxes are a confiscation of property. The major contributor of public policy funds is taxes that are paid by every individual in a particular nation. This makes America Different – their indifference towards the scope of public policy that has been stable over time. They are resistant to change though Americans would seek for better transportation, health care, welfare and housing and yet they are unwilling to pay for taxes. Ultimately, Kingdon believes, necessity will overcome ideology, as an aging population demands better environmental protection.

Nonetheless, this was further explained that the main ideology of the Americans was due to the fact that the beliefs of the American stand courageously behind individualism and equality that limits public policy in America for less government, a more limited government. American government schemas or agendas are much less pushy than those of other developed democratic nations. ‘Programs in health, welfare, housing, transportation, and many other areas are much smaller and less ambitious (: 44). Compare to other industrialized countries wherein, the government has influenced the everyday life of its people by providing more public sector than of the private sector such as, social welfare, housing, means of transportation and health care. The one exclusion for other countries is public education. In other countries there are not as many universities, colleges and trade school as in the U.S.

Conclusion:

There are numerous probable explanations for the grounds or basis that Americans think this way, including the character or the persona of the immigrants who fled here, our physical isolation from other countries, and the diversity of the American population.

In particular this paper concludes that though America is a firm believer of a small government with limited power due to the fact that is fragmented that it might never work as a whole again; it is still the same America that our fore grandfathers had fought with their lives for the sake of the Nation. True, that there are numerous reasons as to how and why America should not resist change in regards to the governments system and most importantly the stern beliefs that had existed before time. One must know that to resist change would not resolve any problems nor the act of complaining won’t get anyone to anywhere. It would be better to change together with the flow of the tides and the continual change of the season. even believes that globalization holds the most promise in this respect. “Globalization… could be making the distinctiveness somewhat less possible and may increase the similarities among countries as the years go along,” writes. “as we continue the process of increasing global interdependence, we may find that we will not necessarily be forced to make the stark choice between American – style relatively unfettered capitalism with limited government and European – style social programs and economic interventions.” In short, it gives us a bleak idea that we have the freedom to do choices on what suitable interventions on whatever situation we have failed to see. This is not just a one man approach, what is needed is the cooperation of like minded minds that would ensure the best of both worlds. Though, quite ambitious, it must survive all those challenges that the present society has imposed. 

Reference:

 

Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com