Lobbyist and Interest groups

Interest groups influence government policies by lobbying for support by providing funds and support to political campaigns. By supporting politicians and their campaigns they seek to influence policies to support their own interests .some groups have grown so powerful that economics actually “dominate politics”. Some of these groups are so strong and have so much public support that they can influence policy by threatening politicians to get them voted off. Well-funded interest groups make use of litigation to get laws overturned. Meaning that those groups who have money can hire lawyers who can fight for them and get policies changed in their favor.

Interest groups use different tactics to push their individual agendas many will use their financial support as a toll to get politicians to support their agendas, however they ill also use their financial support as a threat. They threaten politician to stop financial support if they can not get the politician to support them. These groups also offer the support of their members if politicians help them with their policies or threaten to remove their member s votes if the politicians do not help. Promised voter support from groups has become very influential in the way politicians push for policies as votes can sometimes be more important than money.

The support and influence that interest groups have on voters can be an extremely strong tool to be used in favor or against politicians in order to gain their support. 

Judiciary

The American judicial system was formed by emulating English law,  a system of “Common Law” in which judges do not just read the law and decide cases based strictly on what is written but based on its individual merits as well as their interpretation of the law.

In the American legal system the Judges are charged with interpreting the written law using their own “judgement” as well as incorporating historical cases which is known as “legal precedent”. As judges are not to go against cases that have already been decided they must consider past cases prior to making decisions and interpreting existing laws. The influence of past decisions has very strong influence in judge’s decisions in cases being considered still today. I partially agree with this particular system as we should not be reinventing the wheel, however circumstances and situations change. Times also change and if we as a society continue to make judicial decisions based on past rulings there may be cases in which judges could send innocent people to jail, or even let guilty people go free based on decisions made with an out dated point of view. In order to consider previous decisions while continuing to maintain their ability to pass judgment over the case at hand judges should be able not only to interpret the written law, use “legal precedent”, use their judgment, consider the case on its own merits, but also use all the new technology that is available.

In our judicial system we also afford our judges the ability to make or accept plea deals in order to alleviate or reduce the amount of time that cases may take. Due to the fact that interpretation of law can be time consuming and may cause back logs in our court systems. This allows the courts to secure a timely resolution therefore allowing the court system to see more cases and be “more effective”.  Our judicial system also differentiates the different types of crimes whether criminal or civil. I believe this separation allows for a more specific procedure that will allow judges as well as lawyers to better serve their offices as well as their clients.

Although many conservatives may oppose the current way in which judges interpret law this is exactly the way the system was designed to work in our Constitution.  Our system of law if interpreted the way it was designed is meant to give all citizens equal rights and equal treatment in a court of law. Any one facing a court must be afforded what is known as “due process” which basically means that they must follow an established process or set of rules prior to making decisions that may lead to prison terms. This due process insures that our citizen’s rights are not being violated.

We may not have a perfect system however if our judges follow the established laws we should be able to afford our citizens as fair a system as is possible while maintaining civil order. Our judicial branch is charged with protecting the rights of all Americans including minority groups as well as the poor which in turn should allow all to get justice not just those in the majority, privileged, or “upper class” groups of our society.

The Executive Branch/ the President

In this section of our course I feel that my blog is going to be very similar to what I discussed in my Congress blog. The President as well as the House of Representatives, and the Senate rely strongly on the relationship, or how they are perceived. According to Richard Neustadt as was quoted by our professor the president power is limited to a certain extent by the checks and balances system however this power can be enhanced by several factors. One being public, and peer perception as well as  strong support from his party and the way in which the president can use his power to persuade others to support his policies. In order for a president to be able to effectively perform his job he must have the abilities shown above. The president must be able to effectively communicate to others his views and persuade them to agree with such views in order to further his agenda. The president must also be viewed by the people as an effective administrator of power and execute with knowledge the office which he has been elected to enforce.

As we have seen in our most recent elected president, a president can impact his office tremendously by carrying out his responsibilities according to his personal agenda. We have had the opportunity to see firsthand how the system of checks and balances works. We have seen how many policies have been enforced by a majority who support the president despite the will of the people. We have also seen how the will of the president has been suppressed by a majority from an opposing party. The current president has been challenged to carry out many of his policies even in cases in which we have seen increased support by his party.  We have seen cases, in which the president has been persuasive enough to have House, or Senate members cross party lines, and we have also seen cases in which he has not been persuasive enough to get the support of his own party. The power that the president is been privileged to have by being elected to represent our country is not limitless, however if said president can gain the support of his peers as well as that of the people they can influence our country and our laws in a great way.

As our nation has grown Congress recognized that the office of president can be a very power office and if left unchallenged could become more powerful than even Congress. In 1947 an amendment was implemented and later ratified 1951 in which term limitations were implemented. This amendment insure that the office of president could not be held for more than two terms by any sitting president, which would limit the amount of years that any president could serve to eight unless they were a sitting vice president in mid- term  when he became president.  Through the years we have seen how the parties that are able to gain the peoples support have been able not only to win the presidential race but also the House and the Senate. We have also seen how the way they deal with foreign policy has been a major factor in how the people perception of their effective has been. Throughout the years many different factors have been influential during election but foreign policy continues to be one of the deciding factors for the American people.

Gerrymandering /Congress

While reading this assignment and the professors blog one can’t help but to see how all our readings intersect at some point. While reading this particular assignment I kept going back to whether our government has too much power or just the right amount. As was the case during the time of President Abraham Lincoln we could see how with President Bush how during times of war people are willing to afford the government powers that would normally not be accepted. During the civil war Lincoln had unprecedented amounts of powers. This was bought on by the need of the people to be able to launch an effective war effort. We also saw the same dynamics taking place after the terrorist attacks of 911 the American people were willing to surrender certain rights in order to feel secure.

It seems that the political climate has not changed in our entire history, although we have system of checks and balances there is always a struggle of power. The House of Representatives is constantly trying to be stronger than the senate, the Senate is trying to be stronger than the House of Representatives, and both the Senate and the House are trying to be stronger than the executive branch of government. It seems the system that had been created to insure a system of checks and balances b also provided an avenue in which parties can strategically put themselves in a position of advantage by securing either or both the Senate or the House.

It seems that in the most recent political environment we can see how the original intent of Congress is being implemented; we can see how Congress is being used as the most power branch of our government. It has proven to be effective to block policies that our president has tried to implement as well as enforce those policies that they are in favor of. In recent years we have seen how if the House and Senate are aligned with the political party of the sitting president they have had the power to appoint positions such as Federal Judges despite the opposition of the other parties and even against the popular vote.

Congress is designed to do the will of the people however in many cases it seems that it does the will of the party. Whether the democratic or republican party is in power Congress has been designed to represent the people and is charged to represent the people in local issues within their district or states. With representation changing depending on the amount of people in their respective states one can see how parties can secure representation depending on parties in their respective states. In cases in which an issues is more conservative when population increases in these states it gives these conservative states advantages during elections.

With gerrymandering the House has the given power to draw new lines which in turn can afford them advantages during elections depending on what party these districts may support.

Citizenship and Social Class

According to T.H. Marshal in order for any person or group to achieve equal rights the judicial system must play a very important role, they are the one main element needed for any one groups right to be enforced and implemented. As per marshal equal rights is only achieved when any group or person can execute political “power”, in other words to have a voice and a vote. He also that in order for a group or individual to enjoy equal rights they must be part of a major group and be participant of its legislations and enjoy all benefits whether social economic and be able to enjoy the benefits of being such a member. 

Interestingly enough while T.H. Marshal was attempting to trace back to see the birth of citizenship he broke citizenship down into three major groups civil, political, and social. He attempted to show that civil rights came first, then political, rights and later social.  Marshal stated that social rights were somewhat unaddressed until the development and implementation of public education. It seems that T.H. Marshal uncovered that the social aspect of equality was not advancing at the same rate as the civil and political aspect. It seems that social equality was not being addressed with the same sense of urgency as were the other two aspects.

According to T.H. Marshall Citizenship is a Status that is bestowed upon members of society and whom enjoy the same status of equal rights and duties as other members of this society. Meaning that Citizenship is a “guarantee” that you will be treated equally as other members of your society and you have the same obligations as other members.  According to Marshal there is no universal principle of what Citizenship should look like but ideally citizenship should   reflect a measure of equality in which all Citizens enjoy the same privileges and responsibilities. In a society of equal rights there should not be differences in the way an individual is treated because of race, or gender. Unfortunately this sense of equality does not carry over when it pertains to class equality. According to Marshal Class equality is very similar to Citizenship as they are both based on a set of values and ideals and as such may bring forth conflicts between opposing principles. To my understanding class and Citizenship are both based on principles that are imposed or implemented by those who have more power and will be opposed by those who disagree. Citizenship should reflect the principles of all its citizens and not just those who have power.

Citizenship at its earliest form was designed as a principle of equality, however as is usually present when men attempt to empower themselves over others equal rights take a back seat to the desires of others to be in control. Capitalism was a conduit for separation of classes. As some people began to accumulate fortunes and power separation of classes also grew and this also led to separation of rights.

Federalism

In my opinion Federalism was the attempt of this newly form government to separate itself from the oppressive rulers and country which they had just fled and fought for their freedom from. As they continued to grow and become this new nation it needed to continue to organize itself in in so doing it began to create numerous layers of government. It seems that every time they encountered and issue a different branch or position was born and charged with facing and resolving these issues. By creating these new layers of functioning committees or departments within the government they allowed for a more precise focus and dedicated administration of these issues. It was designed in such a manner that these different layers or agencies would work independently and have as little influence or dependency from other agencies this way they could insure “preservation of liberty”.

While our forefathers were busy creating our constitution which would provide its citizen with rights and responsibilities as well as creating a new form of government for the people and by the people, they were not prepared for the “politics” that it would create. Our forefathers did not anticipate all the division later to be known as partisanship or political parties that this would generate. They did not foresee or anticipate the fact that unknowingly they had created parties and with this came the “lobbyist and the supporters as well as the opposition. The vision was a government that could lead the people that needed to be governed, but little did they know that this was the genesis of something greater “Politics”.

Reality was that those whom were financially well positioned were also to be well positioned in this newly created system. Alexander Hamilton had the foresight to understand that finance and politics are inevitably intertwined.  He understood that politics would be a great influencer in the creating and supporting of any political system.  He also understood that he who had the political power could also have the financial power, and he who had the financial power could also have or influence the financial power. The creation of parties bought along with them the need for financial support in order to support parties and their respective cabinets. Also the need for financial support also created layers of government as the country needed to have a treasury this treasury needed administrators, secretaries and so on. Once again organization created layers and layers created bigger government.

Civil Disobedience

As I was reading this week’s class on “Civil Disobedience” written by Henry David Thoreau. I was personally confronted and challenged by the many times I have complained and have been upset about unfair laws and the implementation of these laws. I have complained, I have shared my opinion with others and yet I have done nothing about it. In recent years there have been many peaceful movements and marches that have taken place that I have agreed with but have not participated or even thought of participating in. Interestingly enough I can tie this part of our course with the earlier piece that talked about imprisonment. The fact that I am worried more about being put in jail by an imperfect, and unfair judicial system than I am about protecting my own rights is really frightening. Being able to peacefully protest unfair practices should not be accompanied by the fear of one going to jail and ruining ones record, as well as possibly affecting their future professional career. I feel strongly about unfair distribution of wealth in our country, the 99% movement, I also feel strongly about many of the immigration issues that have recently affected our society and how unfair these practices are, and I also feel strongly about the me too movement and how for many years this has been a “non- issue” being ignored and pushed aside.

Reading this article by Henry David Thoreau has challenged me to understand that unless we speak out we become part of the problem while we stay silent injustice continues to reign. We must never forget that even though we have elected or appointed politicians and officials to write and enforce the laws as well as represent us we continue to have an opinion and should never surrender the right to express that opinion and fight for our rights. We as citizens of a free democratic society have this right and should protect it. Those that came before us and continue to stand up and fight for the rights of themselves and others have taken many risks to attempt to bring forth a fair implementation of what are our civil rights as citizens of this great nation. This paper highlights many champions that fought for many relevant issues in today’s society. Issues like women’s rights which apparently have been “resolved”. Champions like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and even Frederick Douglass. However we continue to see unfair practice in the work place from unfair wages to disproportionate promotion opportunities.  In recent days the #me too movement has shined a light on many problems that women have women have faced for years and without a person to stand up and fight for their rights this would have remained covered.

Without civil rights leaders who continue to stand up and fight we would not be able to enjoy the rights that we as citizens should enjoy. Most of us and yes I include myself are not willing to stand up and fight. We are always ready to complain and wine but this will not bring forth change, standing up and being heard will. As a veteran I have been trained to follow orders without questioning them, however as a citizen I should question unfair practice and implement the rights offered to me by the Constitution and the democratic political system that governs our country.