The Main Failure Of The American Political System

952 Words2 Pages

Jasmine Jones
Sociology 3
May 28, 2017
Second Essay Exam
2.
The main fault of our government is that it is not as democratic as it should be. We have what some have called a "deficit of democracy. The problem is that American government is now increasingly responsive to special interests and not the public interest. This is why many people are frustrated and disappointed with our political system. Instead of a democracy where all citizens have an equal say in the governing process, some organizations and individuals have a disproportionate and unfair influence over what the government does. The result is that the power and greed of the few too often win out over the needs of the many. The needs of the rich are overshadowed by the needs of …show more content…

When
Harvard
Business School alumni asked about seventeen elements of the business environment in a survey on U.S. competitiveness, 60% of alumni said the “effectiveness of the political system” was worse in the United States than in other advanced economies. Research on the American political system shows that the Congress now is more divided than ever, pulled apart by two different conceptions of government. Many in the media and in Congress complain that the nation’s politics have become too ideological. Congressman Jeb Hensarling, for instance, the co-chair of the super committee set up to trim the budget deficit, has declared that “the committee did not succeed because we could not bridge the gap between two dramatically competing visions of the role government should play in a free society.”
The real problem with American politics is the growing tendency among politicians to pursue victory above all else to treat politics as war instead of listening to the people, which runs counter to democratic values and may be crippling
Washington’s ability to reach solutions that capture the smartest thinking of both …show more content…

His main objective as president is to make America the most hated country on this planet; pushed by competitiveness and the fetish of supreme power overall.
The problem of our democracy not being “democratic enough” is getting worse and it is increasingly limiting how good government can be in the United States. The less responsive a government is to its citizens, the less liable it is to act in the public interest. The more it favors the interests of the few over the interests of the many, the less likely it is to do all the good things it could do. Most of the substantial achievements of government described have occurred because it was reacting to demands made by the public to deal with serious social and economic problems. So if we want our government to live up to its potential as a force for good in society, we need it to be as democratic as it can be. That is why it is crucial to understand exactly why our democracy is falling short, and what can be done to fix that. While many politicians ignore our democratic deficit, most Americans are painfully aware of it. Surveys find that they are increasingly concerned that their democratic government is not working for them the way that

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