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Us constitution thesis
American government structure
Us constitution thesis
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The idea of political culture is found within the state’s history. The history of the state is impacted by the people settled in the region, religious backgrounds, and geography. The history of the state influences the attitudes and beliefs that people hold regarding their political system. Daniel Elazar theorized a connection between the states’ history and attitude towards government by explaining differences in government between states. Every state is different with some common ground. Elazar’s theory divides states into three types: moralistic, traditionalistic and individualistic. The state’s constitution defines the powers of government with political culture bias. Because of the state constitution, the political culture influences the power and limitations of governors, legislative, and judiciaries.
The northeast, northern Midwest and northwest part of the country tend to be moralistic states. The citizens of these states believe that the role of government should promote the interest and policy innovation that benefit the public. The expectations for government are that politicians make changes within the state with public services. The government tends to have higher budget, opposed to traditionalistic and individualistic, government spending is praised to promote for the greater good. The citizens are highly active with participation, dictating the laws and policies of their state. The competition is expected in these states, because popularity is essential for the politician. However, in traditionalistic states these characteristics vary.
Traditionalistic states are located in southern states and rural areas like Texas. Unlike in moralistic states, the citizens are not expected to be participants in politics ...
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...ies. Depending on the states’ political culture, the judge is elected through popular election either with partisan or nonpartisan elections. The political culture of the state affects the judges’ capabilities to make decisions. Judges are to uphold strict interpretation based on past precedent but it is difficult with social pressure. For example, moralistic Massachusetts passed civic unions for gays, however, in traditionalistic state Georgia would likely deny gay rights.
Works Cited
Kevin B. Smith, Alan Greenblatt, and John Buntin, Governing states and localities: First Edition (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press), 2005, 95.
Kevin B. Smith, Governing, 100.
Kevin B. Smith, Governing, 100.
Kevin B. Smith, Governing, 100-101.
Kevin B. Smith, Governing, 177.
Kevin B. Smith, Governing, 223-235.
Kevin B. Smith, Governing, 257-271.
A Not So 50:50 Nation Culture Wars? The Myth of a Polarized America: Book Review The book Culture Wars? The Myth of a Polarized America by Morris P. Fiorina, Samuel J. Abrams, and Jeremy C. Pope is a persuasive text regarding America and its division on political topics. In chapter one, Fiorina begins with a powerful quote from Pat Buchanan’s 1992 speech at the Republican National Convention, “There is a religious war…a cultural war as critical to the…nation…as the cold war…for this war is for the soul of America” (Fiorina et al. 1).
Increasingly over the past two decades and in part thanks to the publication of James Davison Hunter’s book, Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America, the idea of a culture war in American politics has been gaining attention. While the tension between conservatives and liberals is palpable, it’s intensity has proven hard to measure. However, it doesn’t seem that many Americans are polarized on the topic of polarization as most would agree that the culture war is real (Fiorina, 2005). This thinking is what prompted Morris Fiorina to write the book Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America. In it, Fiorina outlines an argument against the idea of a culture war by looking at party affiliation by states, how public opinion on hot button issues changed over time and various explanations for why Americans are so hung up on the topic of polarization. While Fiorina makes a good argument, the evidence supporting the culture war is too powerful to explain away.
Daniel Elazar created a classification scheme moralistic political culture of individuals, and traditionalistic to describe the political culture of the state. According to Elazar, Texas can be described as traditionalistic and individuals. Historically, the Texas political parties demonstrated a strong tradition, provincialism, and business dominance. The models, however, may weaken as the Republicans increase its power in the state and urbanization continues.
The people of Texas are diverse and carry their “big can-do attitudes and accents” (Pearson); making Texas a bigger than life state. The political culture of Texas is impacted by two different subgroups of individualistic and traditionalistic characteristics. The combination of traditionalism and individualism has had a huge impact on the state and Texas’ seven different constitutions. The shift in power between 1827 and 1876 has impacted the political diversity Texas has today. Looking at the specifics of these subcultures, the traditionalists believe government should benefit the wealthy and powerful, and that government services must be limited.
Texas is an intricate state with deep roots embedded in limited government authority. Almost all, Texans, favor the limited government between citizens and state. The two most important cultures in Texas are individualistic and traditionalistic culture. Individualistic views are summoned by limited government and that politics are the root of malicious acts, and is usually responded with negative reactions from the community. The individualistic cultures’ vision is egotistical for ones self-interest. The individualistic culture is viewed as priority in private independent business rather that those of the community as a whole. Unlike individualistic views, traditionalistic culture is motioned by conservatism. This cultures vision is supported by the common wealth of society’s privileged. Its beliefs are usually of distrust in its bureaucracy. Traditionalistic culture maintains an obligation to its family hierarchy. The traditionalistic subculture has a lower voting turn out rate compared to the opposition. These distinctive cultures were bestowed upon Texans in the 1800’s, when Texas was changing into a diverse and demographically society. Individualistic and traditionalistic cultures are the outline of ideology and certainty to the way Texas government is administrated. This has a huge impact on the way the Texas structures its government and why people support such a structure. And Texas is viewed as both subcultures.
University of Texas at Austin. Texas Politics, The legislative Branch. Austin, 2nd Edition-Revision 94 2009, Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services.
The United States of America has engaged in the battle known as political polarization since before its foundation in 1776. From the uprising against the powerful British nation to the political issues of today, Americans continue to debate about proper ideology and attempt to choose a side that closely aligns with their personal beliefs. From decade to decade, Americans struggle to determine a proper course of action regarding the country as a whole and will often become divided on important issues. Conflicts between supporters of slavery and abolitionists, between agriculturalists and industrialists, and between industrial workers and capitalists have fueled the divide. At the Congressional level there tends to be a more prevalent display of polarization and is often the blame of Congress’ inefficiency. James Madison intentionally designed Congress to be inefficient by instating a bicameral legislation. Ambition would counter ambition and prevent majority tyranny. George Washington advised against political parties that would contribute to polarization and misrepresentation in his Farewell Address of 1796. Washington warns, “One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts.” Today, the struggle to increase power between political parties results in techniques to gain even the smallest marginal gains. To truly understand political polarization, we must examine data collected through a variety of means, the effects of rapidly changing technology, and observe what techniques are used to create such a polarized political system.
Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges are elected in nonpartisan statewide elections. Mid-term vacancices are filled by appointment. State law requires that nominees are state residents and have practiced law for a minimum of seven years.
Government by the People by James Burns, J.W. Peltason, and Thomas Cronin (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1984)
To define the terminology of federalism to a simplistic way is the sharing of sovereignty between the national government and the local government. It is often described as the dual sovereignty of governments between the national and the local to exert power in the political system. In the US it is often been justified as one of the first to introduce federalism by the ‘founding fathers’ which were developed in order to escape from the overpowered central government. However, federalism in the United States is hitherto uncertain where the power lies in the contemporary political system. In this essay I will outline and explain how power relationship alternates between states and federal government. Moreover I will also discuss my perspective by weighing the evidence based upon resources. Based on these resources, it will aid me to evaluate the recent development in the federal-state relationship.
Political culture is broadly shared values, beliefs, and attitudes about how government and society should function. Gov. Rick Perry speaks supporting strong Texas state government and minimal federal government intervention. Based on Texas’s founding origins, and experiences and orientation toward the marketplace (pro big business), who should participate in government, and the role of government. The three state political culture categories are moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalistic. Texas is a mix of traditionalistic and moralistic according to our textbook. The moralistic New England Puritanism view of the common good, government should promote public good. Individualistic view of government to provide order and protect property
There is much debate in the United States whether or not there is polarization between our two dominate political parties. Presidential election results have shown that there is a division between the states; a battle between the Democratic blue states and the Republican red states. And what is striking is that the “colors” of these states do not change. Red stays red, and blue stays blue. Chapter 11 of Fault Lines gives differing views of polarization. James Wilson, a political science professor at Pepperdine University in California, suggests that polarization is indeed relevant in modern society and that it will eventually cause the downfall of America. On the contrast, Morris Fiorina, a political science professor at Stanford University, argues that polarization is nothing but a myth, something that Americans should not be concerned with. John Judis, a senior editor at The New Republic, gives insight on a driving force of polarization; the Tea Party Movement. Through this paper I will highlight the chief factors given by Wilson and Judis which contribute to polarization in the United States, and will consider what factors Fiorina may agree with.
Daniel J. Elazar, a political scientist, developed his own theory of state political culture. Elazar divided the states into three types; moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalistic. He describes the moralistic states’ political positions as being justified by demands to the general public interest, rather than narrower interests. In individualistic states, in contrast, government tends to serve more specific interests. Although these states view the government as a
The American Political System The American political system is a federal system, which consists of
Rabin, J. (2003). Encyclopedia of public administration and public policy: K-Z. United States: CRC press.