...Economic Inequality in the United States According to the Gross Domestic Product, also known as GDP, United States was measured the “largest” economy in the world (Mahoney 10/27/2015). However, all Americans do not share the high standard of living in the U.S. Levels of income and wealth inequality have always been high in the United States. While it is ideal for a democratic country like the United States to have political equality, the reality shows that this is not the case; as economic inequality ultimately causes political inequality under the current system of government. Income inequality has not only been prevalent, but has been polarizing further since the 1970s. Currently, twenty-percent of the population takes home 50% of the total income and the top 1% takes home 25% of the income and owns 40% of total wealth (Mahoney, 2015 October 27). While CEOs of the Fortune 100 makes over $14 million a year, an average worker makes $45,230 a year; this is a clear illustration of the income disparity in the United States. Further, it is worth mentioning that such trends are not necessary common; the United States has always had higher levels of income and wealth inequality when compared to other rich democracies (Mahoney, 2015 October 27). The average household income is currently stagnant, which suggest that the average household cannot easily grow economically in the U.S and cannot help close the income inequality gap. In the movie Inequality for All, the manager of Circuit...
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...Racial inequality a topic completely relevant today. The African American people have experienced all sorts of inequality for centuries. From being forced into a different country to becoming slaves for hundreds of years. It is proven that if you are born African American you will live a much harder life than somebody who is white. From police brutality, financial inequality, and social injustices. For years, African Americans have been fighting for their equal rights. The movie SELMA (2014) shows how the Civil Rights Act legally desegregated the South. Even with the ending of slavery blacks struggled to live a civilized life in the United States. The movie shows us the 3-month campaign that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led. King, believed that a second bill was necessary in all places buts mostly places like Alabama where only a short percentage of blacks were registered to vote. With such low amounts of registered black voters King as well as other SCLC members began protesting. On February 1st, Martin Luther King and Ralph Abernathy started a march of approximately 250 people. They all protested to the Selma courthouse for slow voter registration. At that point both King and Abernathy were arrested and had to spend five days in jail. Another activist Malcom X visited Selma and wished the best for King. It is after that visit...
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...It is often said that we learn from our past, but is that really true? Inequalities have existed in our society for thousands of years; from the kings verses the surfs in medieval times, to the treatment of slaves, to the inequalities of women. Today we still have people who face prejudice and inequality every day. If we really learn from our past, why does inequality still exist? Why can’t we live to the belief that “all men are created equal?” Our society today is, however, a lot better than it was when the United States first became a nation. The examples of past inequalities have shaped today’s society because we now have an increased minority participation in the government, equal education is promised to everybody, and most people have the chance at any job they want. In today’s government, there are 61 women in congress, and 13 in the senate. 36 blacks and 24 other minorities were also elected into congress. (congressional, 2001) When the first members of the United States congress were elected into office, there were no minorities or women included. Back then, it would be unheard of for a woman or a freed slave to help run the country. Blacks first started to be elected into congress after the civil war. This was made possible by the passage of Reconstruction Acts by congress, which enabled free male slaves to vote. Because blacks were the majority in some areas of the southern United States, it became possible for them to be elected and to hold office. Women still, however...
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...In the 1787 Constitutional Convention, the members debated on methods on how to pick the President of the United States. Finally the Committee of Eleven proposed an indirect election, which is the Electoral College. The voters elect the electoral college which then elects the President. However there is much room for mistakes through this process. Therefore, due to the corruption and inequality, the Electoral College is not a fair and equitable way to elect the President of the United States. Over the years, there have been times when the Electoral College elects a candidate that did not win the popular vote. For example in the election of 1824, Andrew Jackson won the popular vote with 152,933 votes but John Quincy Adams became president...
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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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...required by law to vote in Australia? All citizens should be compelled by law to vote in Australia. In Australia today it is mandatory to be on the electoral roll and to vote at federal and state elections for all citizens over eighteen years of age. However, it has not always been the case. At the beginning of the 20th century most men and women were eligible to vote except for indigenous people who were excluded. Following poor voter turnout in a previous election, compulsory voting was introduced in 1924. In 1962 Indigenous people gained the right to vote and it was made compulsory for them in 1984. In 1973 the voting age was changed from twenty-one to eighteen (Skwirk , 2014). The following discussion will argue that the benefits of compulsory voting far outweigh the disadvantages. In our society we have certain obligations like paying taxes, compulsory education and jury duty. Compulsory voting is just another civic duty much less onerous than any of the above. Australia is one of only eleven countries to enforce participation in elections. A 94% voter turnout for the last federal election compared favourably to 65% in the 2010 United Kingdom election and 57% in the 2012 United States presidential election (Padmanabhan, 2015). The argument that compulsory voting is incompatible with democratic government obviously does not apply to Australia that is considered one of the most transparent, representative and least corrupt nations of the world (White, 2013). The...
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...● 01. 6 generalizations about institutions 1. People use institutions to serve specific ends. 2. They divide labor .3. Institutions save everyone's time and energy; in technical language, they reduce transaction costs. 4. Institutions exist independently of the particular people participating in them. 5. Institutions distribute authority. More power inheres in some roles than in others. 6. Participants will attempt to adapt it to their own purposes; but they are difficult to change. ● 02.How do institutions check tyranny? - checks and balances:Social pluralism, we divide government up between three institutions with all the same amount of power, ● 03.Why are institutions difficult to change? Path dependency: reliance on experience, constrained by status quo; solutions based on familiar institutions. Some participants are content with current arrangements and not willing to change. ● 04.Framers consciously designed a set of institutions for making it possible to do politics of this kind. The point is to design a set of institutions that control the effects of factions--by setting them against one another, but dividing authority among institutions ● Problems with the Articles of confederation No ability to tax , No central currency, No way to negotiate treaties ,No executive capacity, difficult to maintain public order, nation security. ● 06.Deals addressed by the constitution Path dependency: reliance on experience, constrained by status quo; solutions based on familiar...
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...Speech Analysis Rough Draft: “We Shall Overcome” In early March of 1965, civil rights voting marches in Selma, Alabama went from a silent protests to violent assaults and beating by police officials. The goal of the march was to focus on allowing voting registration for blacks in the South because whites were preventing the rights of the American people by creating impossible tests for minorities to take in order to vote. After a week passed on March 15, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson spoke out in response to the Selma-to-Alabama March. His purpose was to unite the American people in the task to get equal voting rights for all races-- according to the Constitution. He is addressing his ideas to Congress, but he intends to convince the citizens...
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...the United States, slavery was formed from using people whom were forced to serve as slaves by capturing and sold at auctions. They were then forced to work on plantations as a slave labor which existed as a legal institution in North America. Slavery existed more than a century before the founding of the United States in 1776. In 1865, following the American Civil War, slavery was outlawed in the United States and slaves became emancipated or freeman. The first English colony in North America, Jamestown, acquired its first African slaves in 1619 by the Dutch. Slavery was a one of the key factors which contributed to the American Civil War which lasted from 1861 to 1865. Once slaves became freeman, many states developed laws which were created to disenfranchise African-American’s from voting. A group of African-American women decided to establish the first national black organization in the United States. From the time of slavery, children were bought and sold into slavery. Many times, white masters and owners would beat and force their enslaved women into having intimate, sexual relationships. Almost all slaves were of African descent and from the 16th to the 19th centuries; an estimated 12 million Africans were shipped as slaves to the Americans. The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: “Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States...
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...Many Americans across the United States are faced with income inequality. These income inequalities have many negative effects on communities and neighborhoods. These income inequalities also have a couple positives changes as well. Only time will tell how the economic state of the middle class and lower classes will improve or continue to fall into harder times. Johnson and Rhodes state “where you live clearly affects how you grow up”, which is absolutely true (p. 387)! Those that live in poverty may also deal with school systems and other institutions such as clinics that don’t have enough funding to go around. The wealth distribution has been a continuous problem that has no simple answer, what once may have seemed like a private trouble...
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...of the United States. President Kennedy was instrumental in improving relations with the USSR and improving civil rights in the US. He is seen as one of the greatest presidents America has ever had. The speaker of the second speech is Martin Luther King, and he is probably the most famous person associated with the civil rights movement. The speaker of the last speech is Malcolm X, who was another prominent figure during the Civil Rights era. Malcolm X gave an alternative view to the movement, where he advocated for the establishment of a separate black community (instead of integration) and for the use of violence in self defense. 2. Compare the main ideas of each of the three speeches. What do they have in common and where do they differ? JFK's Civil Rights Address was the first time that a president called on Americans to recognize civil rights as a moral cause to which all people should contribute. The main idea of the speech was that Americans should work together to finally end discrimination against and provide equal treatment to African Americans. Martin Luther King's speech, "I have a dream" was not only about equality for blacks and whites, but for equality in general. He wanted not only tolerance, but acceptance. The main idea of the speech was for equality for everyone, no matter their skin color. Lastly, Malcolm X's speech, "The ballot or the bullet," was more focused on the voting right's for blacks. He emphasized the importance of voting as a...
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...Give Me Liberty! Give Us Suffrage! “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!” This famous quote used by Patrick Henry during his Virginia Convention speech was the declaration of the many persons who faced injustice and inequality in America. The United States of America was said to be the land of opportunity and prosperity, but opportunity and prosperity for whom? Terms and conditions were not stipulated upon living in or relocating to America that liberty would only be available to those that qualified. Prior to the 1900’s most of America’s population did not enjoy the full blessings of American Liberty. There were many factors during the 19th century that contributed to being afforded and denied American Liberty. While it was easier for white men with wealth and property to exercise full liberty, the color of ones skin, race, or sex was a hindrance to others wanting to enjoy the benefits of full liberty. During the 19th century, the United States was a “white man’s government.” Whites mainly associated liberty with ownership of property. Therefore, if one owned property, they were entitled to enjoy the benefits of liberty. However, the only persons that owned property prior to reconstruction were white wealthy men. White men in America during reconstruction wanted to keep the “privilege” of liberty to themselves. White men during reconstruction also wanted to keep the right to vote to themselves. According to J. Morgan Kousser “A man with a ballot in his hand is the master...
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...formed by Lucy Stone, a women’s suffrage activist, called the American Women’s Suffrage Association or the AWSA. The members of the AWSA denied the NWSA for being racially discordant. The focus of the AWSA was at a state level. In the 1880s the women’s rights movement was not as prominent in most areas of the United States “During the 1880s, the two wings of the women’s rights movement struggled to maintain momentum. The AWSA was better funded and the larger of the two groups, but it had only a regional reach. The NWSA, which was based in New York, relied on its statewide network but also drew recruits from around the nation, largely on the basis of the extensive speaking circuit of Stanton and Anthony. Neither group...
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...Today, African Americans and other minorities are over-represented in the criminal justice system, but under-represented politically in the United States of America. Since well before its inception in 1776, the United States of America has been a nation characterized by white supremacy. In fact, modern day America may not exist if not for the taking of land from the Indigenous Peoples on this very premise. Today, many Americans believe they reside in a post-racial nation, citing the abolition of slavery in the 1860s. While racism has certainly been reduced in modern America, it is still ever-present in society, and more alarmingly, the criminal justice system. Today, the American criminal justice system is used as a front for state racism,...
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...Suffragists should have been supported more. This reform movement began to head in a more positive direction as the new generation of women had endless determination. They rallied and picketed and showed people what women are made of. This new tide of feminine willpower received attention from the states and cause several states to give women a vote. The first state to give women a vote was Wyoming, and Colorado, Idaho, Utah, California, Kansas, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon followed suit. President Wilson urged Congress to pass a voting rights amendment and finally, in 1919, it did. The next step was to have the states ratify the amendment, which occurred on August 18, 1920, when Tennessee tipped the scale in favor of a women’s vote. Although it took 60 more years for the rest of the states to ratify the 19th amendment, women’s suffrage was no longer a national issue. It took 72 years in total to get a vote for women, from the Seneca Falls Convention to the day Tennesse ratified the 19th Amendment, but it was more than worth it. Women had pride in their new voice and were closer to equal with men. Their view mattered and it allowed the nation to have more balanced votes, with people voting who had different ideas. The 19th amendment did not make men and women equal, it was still pretty far from that, but it made them a whole lot...
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