Govern And Politics Essay, Research Paper

Government law and politics

The Government is a political organization comprising individuals and institutions authorized to formulate public policies and conduct affairs of state. Governments are empowered to establish and regulate the interrelationships of the people within their territory and the relations of the people with the community as a whole. Government applies in this sense both to the governments of national states, such as the federal government of the U.S., and to the governments of subdivisions of national states, such as the state, county, and municipal governments of the U.S. The word government may refer to the people who form the supreme administrative body of a country. Governments are classified in many ways and from a wide variety of standpoints. In this essay we will examine U.S laws and politics, various types of laws, and third party political leaders.

One of the fundamental principles of the U.S. government is a commitment to the rule of law. Law, a body of legal rules and obligations, provides an essential tool by which all nations seek order and stability. The United States is committed to a just society in which all citizens are equal under the law. This concept means that society must be governed by laws that are made by elected officials and are enforceable through the courts. Without a court system, the government would be unable to enforce laws. The United States is bound by regulations that govern various interactions among individuals, groups, and governmental bodies. These regulations are ideally applied to all without favoritism. Laws can be changed only through a formal, established system of new legislation or amendments to state or federal constitutions. In contrast to the procedures followed by some undemocratic governments, individuals or groups cannot arbitrarily change accepted laws and ways of dealing with citizens. In the United States, one of the most important types of law is what is called constitutional law. Under constitutional law, the courts review the actions of the state or federal government in relation to specific clauses of the Constitution. In Article VI of the Constitution, the Founders established that the Constitution “and the Laws of the United States…shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby.” Hence state laws as well as federal statutes and executive actions must conform to the Constitution as the courts interpret it. In framing and ratifying the Constitution, Americans adopted the idea that theirs was a government of laws. The rule of law promised predictability in American lives by placing limits on the power that the government exercised. Applying checks and balances prevented one branch of government from gaining too much power. The Founders tried to ensure that laws were fairly created and enforced for everyone.

Research institutions in most of the world classify American politics as a subfield of comparative politics. However, political scientists usually organize the study of their own country into a separate field, so within the United States, American politics is recognized as its own specialty. Given the size of the United States and the number of students who study U.S. politics in colleges and universities, the American politics subfield is very large. Political scientists interested in American politics often study the Congress of the United States, judicial politics, constitutional law, the presidency, state and local politics, voting and elections, and American political history.

Many other types of law exist in the world. Certainly for the writers of the Constitution, the concept of natural law was essential. They agreed with the ideas expressed by 17th-century English philosopher John Locke. He believed that all individuals are equal and independent, and that they create an organized government in order to protect their collective right to a stable, secure society. Individuals retain other rights such as life and liberty. Neither government, nor law, nor elected officials can interfere with these privileges. Some of the rights retained by individuals are described in the Bill of Rights, which limits the powers of Congress.

Other types of law include Common law. This consists of the customary practices created by past judicial decisions. After a court makes a decision, that decision becomes an example of what can be applied to similar cases. Based on previous cases and their application to new cases, judicial reasoning proceeds from one case to another and accumulates to form the basis of common law. Today common law is relevant mostly to areas of family law and disputes over contracts and property. Administrative law is different than Common Law because it involves disputes regarding the authority of administrative agencies that are part of the executive branch. Regulations established by federal agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration regulates the testing of new medicine. This agency is not elected bodies, and yet they have emerged as independent policy-makers. The rise in importance of these administrative agencies challenges the rule of law because officials who are appointed, not elected, exercise a great deal of power. As a result, their rules and procedures have been questioned. An issue is whether the authority of these agencies is abused and whether their actions are within the jurisdictions delegated to them by Congress. Another type of law is statute law which is enacted by a legislative body at the federal, state, or local level. This is the most common law. Statute law pertains to either criminal law or civil law. Civil law, which governs the relations of citizens among themselves, involves disputes between citizens and between government and citizen where no crime has happened. Criminal law deals with public law and public order and mostly covers acts of violence, theft, and fraud. The government at the federal, state or local level prosecutes criminal cases and imposes jail sentences, fines, or other forms of punishment on people who are found guilty. The federal government prosecutes comparatively few criminal cases, but it defines crimes, assists in investigations, and helps determine sentencing guidelines.

Next we will look at Anarchism. Anarchism is another political theory that is opposed to all forms of government. Anarchists believe that the highest attainment of humanity is the freedom of individuals to express themselves unhindered by any form of repression. They hold that the perfection of humanity will not be attained until all government is abolished and each individual is left absolutely free. One limitation on such freedom, however, is the ban against injuring other human beings. If any human being attempts to injure another person, all well-meaning individuals have the right to organize against him or her, and the orderly class may repress the criminal class, although only by voluntary cooperation and not under any governmental organization. Another political system is Communism which involves the elimination of private property. Communism is a concept or system of society in which the major resources and means of production are owned by the community rather than by individuals. In theory, such societies provide for equal sharing of all work. Some conceptions of communist societies assume that forceful government’s would be unnecessary and therefore that such society would be without rulers.

Third parties are political party that appears as an alternative to the two main parties, the groups now known as Democrats and Republicans. Third parties have repeatedly arisen to express powerful currents of political feeling not addressed by the two-party system, but none has endured. Third-party movements were significant in 1968, in 1980, and especially in 1992, when a billionaire businessman, Ross Perot, drew almost 19 percent of the popular vote, the highest for a third-party presidential candidate since Theodore Roosevelt’s run in 1912. Despite Perot’s appeal to voters disenchanted with “politics as usual,” he gained no electoral votes, and Democrat Bill Clinton defeated President George Bush. The party system itself seemed to have been weakened, as voters became disillusioned with politicians and appeared to be influenced more by a candidate’s overall message or positions on the issues than by party affiliation. Campaign techniques were changed by the increasing use of television advertisements and appearances. Media advisers became more prominent, often eclipsing traditional party leaders. In addition, the role of party conventions in selecting candidates was reduced by the growing prevalence of primary elections.

Government and politics are serious issues that people should think about. There are a lot of different viewpoints on Government alone. It is up to us all to decide what is the best Government for us all. Unfortunately we do not know what Government is the best. The United States has the most reasonable laws for people to obey and follow. In the end all of the different types of Governments and laws leads us to a huge controversy amongst ourselves.