...Changing the Voting System in America In the United States of America, the Electoral College system is used to elect the President. This system was created to make voting a quicker and easier process when the country was established. Horseback was the quickest way to transport votes at the time and to speed up the process of voting, the founders created the electoral college system. To eliminate the delay of travel, the electors who represent each state could be updated more quickly. Today we now have the internet and information can be easily transmitted instantly with no time delay when votes are counted and coming in from all states on the day of the election. The United States is a technologically advanced country so why do we keep using this process to elect our next president? This citizen criticizes the Electoral College system in the U.S. It must be replaced because it is outdated and unfair. The main issue that citizens have with the Electoral College is how it decreases the voting power. According to William Kimberlin, “States are given three voted regardless of their population but based on the state's population, the citizens votes are given to the states”. (uselectionatlas) This system is giving votes to citizens who are not in the states boundaries. In smaller states, a vote has more influence than a vote in a larger state because votes from larger states are distributed among the smaller states. For example, eight votes are taken away from California and redistributed...
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...promises and disenchanted with the whole process of voting and politics in general. Assuming that low turnout is a reflection of disenchantment or indifference low turnouts can lead to unequal representation among various parts of the population. During presidential elections what really counts is the Electoral College. I know where I live the winner of the Presidential election is announced before the polls...
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...a country decides to holds elections is important because it will forever influence crucial dynamics of the government. The electoral system consist of rules that determine not only how elections and referendums are conducted, but how their results are determined and carried out. Electoral systems lay out exactly how the voting process is planned to pan out. This includes everything from when elections occur, who is allowed to vote, how ballots are marked and cast, who can stand as a candidate, how the ballots are counted, and any other factors that can possibly affect the outcome. These political electoral systems are defined and protected by both electoral laws and constitutions. Elections are crucial to a functioning democracy since It is the most efficient procedure to place someone in power that is wanted by the people....
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...members have a common cause for which they seek to influence public policy, without seeking political control. Their primary activities are lobbying the members of legislative bodies through contribution to political parties, working to elect sympathetic or pliable politicians, and conducting covert or open propaganda campaigns. At this juncture, My emphasis is on The Anti-Abortion Right Group in My State of Maryland,which is of particular interest to me. Because my Delegate is a Republican. In the late 1960s, a number of organizations were formed to mobilize opinion against the legalization of abortion. In the United States, the National Right to Life Committee was formed in 1968, while in Australia, the National Right to Life formed in 1970. The United States pro-life movement (also known as the United States anti-abortion movement or the United States right-to-life movement) as a social and political movement in the united state opposing on moral or sectarian grounds elective Abortion and usually supporting its legal prohibition or restriction. Advocates generally argue that human life begins at conception and that the human fetus (and in most cases the human embryo) is a and therefore has a right to life. The pro-life movement includes a variety of organizations, with no single centralized decision-making body. The description "pro-life" was adopted by the right-to-life (anti-abortion) movement in the United States following the...
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...beginning with the Tillman Act in 1907, undercuts dramatic proclamations that Citizens United indicates a privileged where corporate interests trump the public interest and politicians do the will of the highest bidder. Corporations in the early twentieth century not only faced scattered and weak enforcement of the Tillman Act's contribution ban and thus no great deterrent to violating the ban, but also exploited glaring legal loopholes that allowed them to bankroll their favored campaigns with relative ease. Even after the enactment of independent corporate expenditure restrictions, corporations faced minimal barriers to political spending on television or in other national media. Until the FEC's creation in 1974, the ban on independent corporate spending on elections was not rigorously enforced. The relevant time frame for evaluating the decision's practical consequences is, at the very longest, the period after Congress substantially amended FECA in 1974. Campaign contributions as emphasized here discusses the ways in which contributions are made to influence new or incumbent candidates to support a particular agenda based on factors that impact the candidate personally, such as the raising of significant funds to help a candidate be re-elected, or environmental issues to even social issues are of concern. Since the last decade, millions upon millions of dollars have been spent in state judicial elections, primarily by contributors with an interest in the outcome of litigation...
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...The African American civil rights movement of the mid-20th century garnered widespread attention and support from both within and outside the United States, catalyzing significant legislative changes and societal shifts. In contrast, the American Indian civil rights movement faced relatively muted public perception and support, often overshadowed by other social movements, despite addressing equally pressing issues of injustice and discrimination. While Jackie Robinson is rightly celebrated for breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball, his impact extends far beyond the diamond. His courageous stand against racial segregation made him an iconic figure in the African American civil rights movement. In contrast, despite their remarkable...
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...Democracy in the United States: A comprehensive look at the Pros and Cons of a Federalist Society and Individual Freedoms. What is democracy, do we really understand the concept and the implications of the freedoms that our society enjoys. Democracy by definition is a “government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections”.(1) The United States democracy in current times can be a difficult situation to grasp, due to the fact that we are operating off of the Constitution written over 200 years ago, and individuals modern interpretations of what the founding fathers of this country would have considered appropriate doctrine and methodology. Through the aforementioned definition and the perspective of current lawmakers are the tools with which we will define whether the United States has become more or less democratic throughout its history. So what then are the advantages of a democracy? The first point would be that it is better for the population, everyone having an equal part or say in the laws which govern them is advantageous for any group of people. Democracy is often seen as a fairer and less arbitrary form of government as it allows the "will of the people" to become the law. To some degree, this prevents scenarios like a small, powerful minority exploiting...
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...Representatives is the lower house of the US Congress and other legislatures, including most US state governments and the Senate is the smaller upper assembly in the US together they make up the United States Congress. | In the Senate there are 100 members whereas there are about 435 in the House making it more difficult to gain a position of leadership in the House e.g. in January 2003, Senator Bill became majority party leader after 8 years in senate while Ms. Pelosi became minority leader after being in the house since 1987. In the House each state has a certain number of members proportional to the population of the state. Each member represents a district. By the time of 2002 elections, California had 53 representatives, while Wyoming had just one. Members of the House are elected for 2 year terms and the constitution states that to be a member of the House you must: be at least 25, have been a US citizen for at least 7 years and are a resident of the state in which your district is situated. whereby the in the Senate the constitution states that to be a senator you must be at least 30, they have been a US citizen for at least 9 years and they have be a resident of the State you represent. Each state has 2 senators, each senator represents the entire state; they are elected for 6 year terms. One-third of the senate is up for re-election every 2 years. Senators are also more recognized – known state wide and nationwide whilst house members are not. The senate is seen as a launching...
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...Introduction: “Partisan gerrymandering is almost as old as the nation, and both parties have used it. In the 1980s, when Democrats had more political power in state legislatures, they were enthusiastic proponents of partisan gerrymandering. In recent years, the two major political parties, leveraging the technologies of the modern age, have intentionally and systematically excluded each other from state legislatures like never before.”1 Gerrymandering is collective and bi-partisan in nature. Considering, the span of citizens across the United States and levels of government it impacts. Background: Gerrymandering has had a background with both political parties. Maryland’s 3rd district in Democratic Representative John Sarbanes is currently...
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...UNIT 3C: REPRESENTATIVE PROCESS IN THE USA SECTION 1: ELECTIONS & VOTING Primaries: * Election to select a parties candidacy for president * Open primary: A primary for any registered voter, democrat or republican. E.G. Texas * Closed: A primary for democrats and a primary for Republicans. (Separate one’s) * Invisible primary: candidates try to gain support and finance in the year before the primary * Proportional primary: awarded delegates in proportion to votes they get * Winner-takes-all: Win the most votes and you take all the states delegates Advantages: * Increased level of participation from ordinary votes (30% in 2008) * Increased interest from people * Increased choice of candidates (14 in 2008) * Removing power from party bosses Disadvantages: * Turnout is usually low * Voters are usually unrepresentative of normal voters (tend to be wealthier, old and better educated) * Process is far too long and expensive (Obama in 2008 announced his running 332 before the first primary * Fails to test presidential qualities Increased importance of primaries: * Really the only route to become a parties President Caucuses: * A meeting for the selection of a candidate * Usually held in states that are geographically large but thinly populated (Iowa, North Dakota, Nevada) * Turnout is usually pretty low, and usual favour ideological candidates National party conventions: Formal functions: ...
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...Over the last century and a half the United States has seen a major influence from a shift in personal philosophy. The shift in American dates back to the Civil war and the reconstruction Era, where part of America and the idea of Romanticism Transcendentalism were left in rumble. This had an overwhelming affect in the intellectual community of the time; they sought answers to the destruction and even went as far as questioning the existence of God. In the end the result was an abandonment of the supernatural, this left America at a crossroad philosophically speaking. The new absence that was once taken by a supernatural being was filled by one of four ideology, naturalism, materialism, historicism and socialism. (Martin Pg. 146) This had an...
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...is; An Interest Group is an organization of people or a letterhead organization sharing a common interest or goal that seeks to influence the making of public policy. (Wilson J. Q. (2008) American Government) The term 'interest group' describes the nature of association this work is concerned with. According to Truman, interest groups can be defined as groups that based on one or more shared attitudes, engage in influencing political decision-making, in order to successfully implement certain political goals or values (Truman, 33). They usually, but not always, are formally organized. The relation between interest groups and government and society is an affirmative one, although groups may at times employ destructive methods in order to accomplish their goals. The existing social order is accepted by interest groups, and governmental power and its institutions are utilized to attain advantages, protect members, and to fight political opponents. As you see they all relate to political decision making, political goals, and organization of people. In Washington DC there are nearly seven thousand organizations that are represented by politics. These interest groups are also referred to as Lobby’s or Lobbyists. The textbook we use gives the opinion that interest groups are a group of people with shared ideas and attitudes who attempt to influence public policy. The Economic Interest Group is Certainly the largest category, economic interest groups include organizations...
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...marijuana. There are legislators who think that if marijuana is legalized that it will be grown illegally, and medically abused. There are potheads who think it would be cool and that they would get cheaper weed. But what it comes down to are the numbers. Marijuana is a cash crop. How can Wisconsin say no to numbers like fourteen billion, and thirty five billion dollars? Can legalizing marijuana rescue Wisconsin’s economy? Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, DC, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington. In seventeen states, and DC it is legal to have at least an ounce of marijuana. In fourteen of them it is legal to even have plants (ProCon). Should Wisconsin be state number eighteen? NBC News produced an article Marijuana Called US Cash Crop and within that article they state “The study estimates that marijuana production, at a value of $35.8 billion, exceeds the combined value of corn ($23.3 billion) and wheat ($7.5 billion).” Wisconsin is in forty six billion dollars of debt and increasing every second (WisconsinDebtClock). If marijuana can bring in millions of dollars a year, why not legalize it? It would significantly decrease our debt problem. Not only would legalization bring in money for Wisconsin but it would also decrease spending. There would no longer be as much of a need for marijuana based law enforcement. “National statistics show 872,000 arrests last year related...
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...policies, bureaucracies, systems and not surprisingly history. However, the costs of it can be easily identify by looking at the most of the time below-par performance of both public and private sector. This happens when government interfere when they do not need to, therefore undermine implementation of both public policies and free market system. By the standard of irrefutable of a great nation, who can believe that the great nation of United States of America is corrupt? There sure have been couples of financial scandal in the past but there have never been a time where United States senator or other political officers to be involved in side dealing, vote-trading, log rolling and any kind of special favors between the rich and the officer that result in greater monetary or non monetary gains. Therefore, some might be wondering, why political corruption now is threatening the liberalism and capitalism of this great nation? The answer is the destructive system that involve enormous campaign costs, political contributions or donations, influence of lobbying firms or...
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...However, the ACA is still faced with challenges based on grounds of overall quality of the healthcare, cost, coverage, and accountability. There is a concern on whether all individuals in the US have the right to health care and the extent to which they should be covered. In her article, Health Care: Constitutional rights and Legislative Powers, Swendiman (2012) discusses the fact that the constitution of the United States did not address the right to health, asserting there were not terms such health or medical care recorded in the...
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