Don’t Trust the American Government Why should citizens of their native country trust a government that lies, cheats, and steals from families? Back then, in past centuries, it used to be a very common thing to do. The American government is not the kind of people we should be trusting. “We the people” need to open our eyes and should elect politicians who can be trusted and reliable with good intentions of making this country back in tip top shape. The actions that the government makes sometimes raises more questions rather than answering them. Confidence has been declining steadily over the last couple of decades. Statistics shows that in 1964, three-quarters of the American citizens trust the government. Today, only one-quarter of American …show more content…
There is no shortage of reasons for the loss of trust the people have for the government. There have been multiple incidents where trusted politicians had a fault during each of their terms for lying, stealing, cheating, and being greedy. Too many politicians that are in the government these days seem to try and work around the hard, tough questions that are being asked to them; not answering the questions in a direct manner but instead doing it vaguely. Millions of dollars are being spent in places where the people of this country don’t even know. In today’s society, the American government has an abundant amount of money and power which they can use to leverage in their favor. Even with all these reasons that have been given, some people still have the belief that they and this nation should still trust the government. Those are the gullible people that are being tricked. * Then again, the United States government is the one who makes this nation run, but the greed and dishonesty in the past …show more content…
+ Sure, the government has kept everyone in the United States safe from terrorist attacks and mass shootings recently, but that comes with a cost of surrendering our freedoms as well. With the power of the government, they do not give as much freedom that the “Land of the free” is supposed to have and deserve. Laws today provide certain restrictions on American citizens on having the authority to own a gun. The Second Amendment states that in the United States Constitution the people have the right to keep and bear arms, but this may not completely be the case. It almost seems that people want to trust the government, but have no choice but to do that. In the 2016 presidential debate, the front-runner and favorite to win the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton, is looking to be the first woman to ever be elected president of the United States. What most people don’t know, or don’t hear, is that she has violated multiple federal laws. For example, it turned out that during her term for U.S. Secretary of State, Clinton had been using a personal email for both work and personal messages. She isn’t the only politician to have a personal email. Tom Blanton, who is director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University was being asked about Hillary Clinton’s emailgate scandal and he had this to say about it, “Blanton
the public can put its trust ad faith in but this time it fell apart
What do you think are the most important reasons for low public trust in government? How could public trust in government be
The government of the United States of America is very unique. While many Americans complain about high taxes and Big Brother keeping too close an eye, the truth is that American government, compared to most foreign democracies, is very limited in power and scope. One area American government differs greatly from others is its scope of public policy. Americans desire limited public policy, a result of several components of American ideology, the most important being our desire for individuality and equal opportunity for all citizens. There are many possible explanations for the reason Americans think this way, including the personality of the immigrants who fled here, our physical isolation from other countries, and the diversity of the American population.
The Texas government is an unusually complex institution that is composed of many different levels. Everyone asks, with a constitution like the one Texas has, can people really trust the government? The main reasons why people might not be trusting of the government are that they might believe that the officials take advantage of their power, or want to try to control them. The Texas legislature is also subject to checks and balances in the three branch system. For example, the governor 's power to veto bills, which is rarely overridden, and to call special sessions; while the court has the power of judicial review. In Texas, the Constitution divides the powers
Our nation seems as if it is in a constant battle between freedom and safety. Freedom and security are two integral parts that keep our nation running smoothly, yet they are often seen conflicting with one another. “Tragedies such as Pearl Harbor, 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombings may invoke feelings of patriotism and a call for unity, but the nation also becomes divided, and vulnerable populations become targets,” (Wootton 1). “After each attack a different group or population would become targets. “The attack on Pearl Harbor notoriously lead to Japanese Americans being imprisoned in internment camps, the attacks on 9/11 sparked hate crimes against those who appeared to be Muslim or Middle Eastern,” (Wootton 1). Often times people wind up taking sides, whether it be for personal freedoms or for national security, and as a nation trying to recover from these disasters we should be leaning on each other for support. Due to these past events the government has launched a series of antiterrorist measures – from ethnic profiling to going through your personal e-mail (Begley 1). Although there are times when personal freedoms are sacrificed for the safety of others, under certain circumstances the government could be doing more harm than good.
Everyday citizens often live unaware of their government’s inner workings. The knowing of political espionage is often too heavy of a subject to be inducted in conversation. True, prima facie, modest twists and turns of information may not be considered substantial, but this inconsideration leaves much to be uncontrolled. It is easy for political leaders to become power crazed, to not realize the massive implications that come of their actions. Only after all is said and done do the people actually realize their government is an opaque mask of deception. The Watergate Scandal substantially impacted Americans’ trust in their government.
No, not at all deceived, just not well informed. America’s government refrains itself from telling the population the entire truth considering major contemporary political issues, which ultimately leads to confusion as to what rumors are true and which aren’t, due to the suspicious actions that America’s speakers take.
The average American doesn’t really think much of the government, without realizing, something terrible is secretly happening. Since the Articles of Confederation failed to unify the states that finally gained independence, 55 delegates came together in Philadelphia to discuss the making of a Constitution. The constitution would have a purpose to stop tyranny. The definition of tyranny (according to James Madison and Federalist Paper #40) is the accumulation of powers in the same hands whether of one, a few, or many. The constitution guarded against tyranny with the use of Federalism, “Separation of Powers”, “Checks and Balances”, and “Balancing power between large and small states”.
Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, once said “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” In America’s society today, some are willing to sacrifice their civil liberties in order to gain protection and security over some potential threat. Especially after the events of September 11th and several attempted bombings in U.S. cities. This sacrifice of individual freedoms such as the freedom of speech, expression, the right to information, to new technologies, and so forth, for additional protection is more of a loss than a gain. Citizens of the United States deserve equal liberty and safety overall, as someone should not have to give up one value in order to gain another. This concept of individual right goes beyond the simple idea of “individual comfort.” Personal liberties cannot be surrendered and are not to be compromised since these liberties are intangible. Individuals should not have their personal liberties exchanged for national security because individuals are guaranteed protection to these rights.
and is this distrust of our government even a serious problem at all? These are
To examine this decline in voter turnout we must consider several factors. One of those factors is that there is no political efficacy. Political efficacy means that people are less likely to vote if they don't believe that their vote will be counted, or if they don't trust the government. Little faith in the electoral process leads to a conviction that a person's vote doesn't really matter. Citizens show lack of interest in politics because they have limited information about the government. The percentage of Americans who say they have “trust and confidence” in the presidency and Congress has decreased in the past decades. Americans’ Trust in government was 70% in 1960s, and then decreased to 40% in 1980s. A recent survey from Pew Research Center showed that “Only 2...
The United States has a corrupt system of money hungry companies that care very little to not at all about the American people and what they provide them. This capitalist society has led a nation to a time of great corruption. Corruption in places one would never think to look, but have right before their eyes.
The current relationship between the United States government and the American citizens is a “parent-child” relationship; where the government are the parents and the citizens are the children. The children give up certain rights to be protected and cared for by the parent. Citizens give up rights such as being able to make their own laws and rules, judging others, and creating their own form of rulership to have their basic rights of life, liberty, and property be protected by the government. This relationship is powerful, but like all “parent-child” relationships, the child often gets mad at the parent for being “unfair” or “too strict”; most of the time, however, the relationship works well and allows the people and government to smoothly coexist through a system
Not all Americans are necessarily angry at the government, but they are certainly frustrated with it (How Americans View Government). Less public trust has led to a restless citizenry who do not trust even the people they elect, and has also led to the people seeing a moral decline in government (Ibid). These effects can be positive, however, for a lack of trust in the federal government has led Americans to seek trust in their local governments (Ibid). Distrust in government can also led to a stronger sense of patriotism in the minds of individual citizens, and thus support the principles of individualism (Vavreck). Government trust may be falling, but there still are remedies to revive that
“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution”, line from Abraham Lincoln [online] that indicates a nation’s corruption.