American Government
Chapter One
Chapter one of the “American Government” gives you a rough idea about what all is going to be discussed throughout the book and also discusses how the American’s believe in equality of result and equality of opportunities (Landy and Milkis 2008). Equality of opportunities means that every citizen should get an equal amount of rights, no class of people is superior over any other. Equality of result is a way of trying to make people understand that everyone will be provided with the success of the amount they deserve.
Then this book talks about how liberalism and democracy are a part of the American government that supports equality or results and opportunities. It gives a brief explanation that what is liberalism and liberty then it explains the different parts of it. Under the heading of “A right not to vote” the book explains how voting used to be such a painful process for everyone in America but since the time “motor-voter” law has been passed the whole process has become easy.
The book even explains how the meaning of liberalism has been changed by the people, how it was used before, and what it is now. Then the book looks at different aspects of the American Constitution and explains how democracy and equality go hand in hand. Democracy and equality explain how every citizen of America is allowed to vote with no issues of belonging to different races or having a different color.
This book looks at different American political development throughout the book while giving a broader view by comparing it to past, present, and how the government will bring a change in the future. This book plans to look at different issues faced by the American government; it is divided into four parts which look at different topics and issues in depth.
Chapter Two
Chapter two talks about how the foundation was laid down of the American republic and what all were the difficulties faced by the people (Landy and Milkis 2008). This then leads to the origin of “we the people” and people were given the freedom of religion, association, and property. Cultural strains became the biggest issue of all because people started to forget who their ancestors were and started to think as if there was no one before them.
At the same time, Puritans came to America and brought thinking of free religious expression and everyone started to follow it with complete obsession. It also discusses the issues which were caused by the declaration of independence. People were afraid to change and did not want to develop in terms of politics which became the reasons for conflicts between the supporters of liberalism and democracy which turned out to be brutal.
After the publishing of the book “common sense” many members sent it to their cities and read themselves, Jefferson was considered to be an icon for American democracy. The declaration of slavery was made by Jefferson whereas he had slaves for himself therefore it was very contradicting with all the statements he made to the public. American foreign policy was that every citizen of the U.S who belonged from a different part of the world was as equal as any other U.S nationals. The revolution also caused many people to raise their voices against injustice with women which protected the rights of women. This chapter concludes while leaving many questions in a person’s mind which are answered in the following chapters.
Chapter Three
The chapter discusses the parts in which different constitutions were held. The process of invention that took place at the Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia. The chapter summarizes deep love for the country. The debate regarding the constitution remained heated during different events noted in the chapter.
The chapter focuses more on the successful events which were held by the view of Antifederalists. The view was based upon the factor that they held an undemocratic manner. It was for sure that democracy will be more in small size as it was their beliefs because friendship and trust among the citizens were the only factors on which the government depends. To trust one another one must have to be aware of one’s character. The federalists considered citizenship could learn by participating in the great tasks of local governance which gives them the experience about how to speak in public, how to listen to others, and when they have to compromise.
Deliberation is the key to making a public decision. Political deliberation is successful when the assembly comes to the point in making decisions when the issue is at stake. A huge set of skills and attitudes are involved in Political Deliberation which gives one a sense in making decisions correctly. A rule of secrecy was adopted to promote deliberation. The rule gives the chance to the delegates to take controversial positions and to discuss them freely and to work out on compromises without any fear. The Constitution also required leadership which gives the citizens a sense to select their direction and is giving them the courage about what the government decided would guide them.
In the final analysis, due to these effective delegates, the Philadelphia Convention succeeded. The Constitutional government not depended on the countable powers alone, but also on the separation of powers. Expressive views of the fellow humans were also shown by the delegates. Federalists and Anti-Federalists agreed on the point that the tyranny of the people in a huge number was a serious indication that would harm liberty. Federalists and Antifederalists were all constitutionalists; they believed that the government should promote a set of fundamental governing principles and procedures.
Chapter Four
Chapter four of the “American Government” takes into notice the events that occurred in the past to reveal American democracy’s overwhelming buoyancy (Landy and Milkis 2008). The Americans view the Constitution as an unchallengeable law, which is being followed religiously for over 200 years. During the era of Jefferson’s terms as the first democratic president, the struggle between the Federalists and Republicans intensified.
It was the time of the free speech, also the time when Louisiana was purchased from France to enhance democracy. Then it was the time of the Jacksonian’s Democracy that put forward the issue of “more democracy for the whites.” During those times, the Second Bank of the USA was re-chartered at the time for democratic Nationalism, whereby lowering the taxes and slavery. In 1865 the civil war came to an end.
Three amendments were made to the constitution for banning slavery, guaranteeing equality of law, and giving voting powers to all the Americans. The United States declared war on Germany in 1917, but the major change was the nineteenth amendment that provided women with the power to vote. In 1929, the world entered the Great depression. Also, the USA entered World War 2 in 1942. But the major enactments of the congress, during the years from 1935 to 1945, were the enactment of the security and the labor relations Acts and the GI bill of rights. The events of the new deal liberalism caused Congress to enact the Medicare and voting rights activists. In 1996, Bill Clinton was re-elected as president of the USA for providing social security and Medicare.
Chapter Five
Chapter five tells about federalism, which is the relationship between the state government and the federal government of the USA and how it affects the whole nation (Landy and Milkis 2008). The constitution is a sort of agreement between the two different parties, one of them being who wanted a strong government and the other wanting a bit lenient. The book explains how America used to be a decentralized republic for the first 150years of its life.
America was dominated by the states and other localities, which made it unclear that the union would overcome this decentralized republic. There used to be a lot of differences between the federalists and republicans based on the constitution, it was called the republicans and compact theory, which changed the term from “we the people” to “we the people of different states.” The republican, which was Jefferson’s party, believed in the rule of the majority and considered the federalists to be monarchists.
The time since Andrew Jackson became the president till the end of the civil war, federalists tried to dissolve the union and decentralize the political powers, it did not end successfully, and the republican rule was again in the play. The civil war and slavery were faced by the American government simultaneously. At the end of the civil war, republic rule was imposed, and amendments were made to the constitution.
Lincoln said it to be a “new birth of freedom” and “government of the people, by the people and for the people.” The state of all the states was changed and made much better, the rights of the people were protected especially of the minorities and women. The federalism changed and became better, which everyone could accept. Now, it does not only interest American’s but also the European Union looks at it as an inspiration.
Bibliography
Landy, M, and S. Milkis. American Government: Balancing Democracy and Rights. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008.