Fascism
Fascism simply refers to a form of government whereby the state is given all the powers. In this type of government, the country remains the most important aspect. Nations under this type of government are run by a leader who has the total power of control over people and the government. Fascist leaders do not give citizens a chance to express their dissatisfaction with their governance.
In most cases, these leaders apply autocratic rule to ensure that all citizens work hard for the good of the government and the entire country. These authoritarian leaders will use strong military forces to maintain law and order in their respective countries.
This kind of leadership was first witnessed in the world after the First World War when Italy was ruled by Benito Mussolini. The first part of the 20th century would see the movement spreading rapidly to other regions such as Germany, Argentina, Japan, Spain, Mexico, and Brazil.
Fascism was a powerful movement for quite a number of reasons at that time. For example, most countries lacked experience with democracy, owing to their past leadership styles associated with reigning of monarchs. Another obvious reason here was that many people were disappointed by the serious consequences, which the First World War had brought to their countries.
These consequences would range from destruction of property to loss of lands and other crucial assets. Moreover, some countries such as Italy were not happy with the manner, in which other powerful nations treated them after the end of the Great War.
In this regard, Benito Mussolini, who had emerged as a strong leader, went on to assure the Italians that he would do everything to restore the lost pride of his country. This way, the Italian leader set the pace for the movement, forcing other countries to follow in the same pattern.
Fascism was associated with a number of defining features that would be observed through Militarism Corporation, Economic Nationalism, and Totalitarianism. Militarism Corporation was a common feature among fascism movements whereby the military and police forces were effectively used to help enforce law and order. Militarism was also used to help fascist governments gain full control of their people.
Leaders believed in the use of the military and police to enforce rule. The leaders were characterized by unpopular development views and policies. Therefore, they were always in fear that the masses could revolt against their unpopular rule. In this regard, those who failed to show cooperation to the government were punished through military forces.
As a result the forced cooperation with the government of the day, many people were killed through murder and political assassinations. The use of the military and police to force rule among the people caused much suffering among citizens because there were limitations on how they could express their dissatisfaction with government actions and policies.
This militaristic nature of fascist governments would significantly result in overspending in terms of military affairs, even if there were other domestic issues that called for special attention from the government (Payne 78).
Economic nationalism was another defining feature of fascist governments, whereby useful economic policies that were meant to serve the national interest were introduced. Economic performances in countries across the world are influenced by many factors, most of which are determined by the governments.
If a government adopts policies that are not geared towards economic development, then a country could stagnate in terms of economic development. On the other hand, if a government supports feasible economic policies geared towards realizing economic development, then economy of a country could develop continuously.
Fascist governments viewed national economic development from a unique standpoint. In fact, fascist economic organization is totally different from the normal economic framework followed by non-fascist governments. Fascism encouraged full commitment in private profit, and through this way, it brought numerous benefits to big corporations.
Fascist leaders believed that economic empowerment of citizens and business organizations could result in improved national economic performance. Fascists would also adopt every economic initiative or program that proved to play a significant role in the achievement of their political goals.
For instance, fascist governments were against the foreign trade, due to the belief that there are many consequences that are associated with this type of trade, such as economic sanctions and dependency on international capital, among other issues. The governments believed that dependence on international capital could lead citizens to relax and anticipate so much to be done through foreign support.
Fascist governments led to the growth of national economies through national participation. However, lack of foreign trade led to slow growth of the various countries which adopted economic nationalism.
Countries which welcomed foreign trade were able to grow faster because there was enhanced competition among national and multinational business organizations. The national business organizations were able to learn from their multinational competitors with the aim of improving their productivity and operations.
Totalitarianism is another aspect which has received much recognition in fascist countries. Under this particular case, the government will have total control over the entire society, whereby it would seek to manipulate every aspect of private and public life. This concept was first initiated by the fascist movements in Italy in the course of the 1920s, before it had been adopted by other fascist countries.
The nations established strong governments which guaranteed great political unity that exceeded all diversity. The states would effectively apply educational concepts and other interactive media to impart social lessons on students, thus teaching them to be obedient to the government in all aspects.
It was believed that educating students on the benefits of being obedient to the government could go a long way in ensuring that there was less resistance from the people.
The American Government and Its Principles
The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law that governs the country. It defines the obligations of the different key personnel in local, state and national offices. The main objectives of the Constitution are based on three key areas. First of all, it plays a crucial role in defining and limiting the powers of the national and state governments.
Secondly, the Constitution also helps to define the main relationship between state governments and the national government. Finally, the Constitution helps to safeguard the rights of the citizens by informing the citizens their rights and consequences that could follow if their rights are violated. For instance, the Constitution stipulates the citizens’ right to free expression.
This is a fundamental right in the U.S. because citizens have the freedom to express their dissatisfaction with the government. For example, if the citizens feel that a certain health policy could negatively impact their access healthcare, then they are free to hold peaceful demonstrations to express their opinions about the unpopular policy.
The U.S. government consists of the federal, local, and state governments. Each of these government units plays an important role in the running of the government business as it is directed by the Constitution. Each government is independent and has its budget and personnel who are paid from government coffers. However, the federal government oversees the local and state governments.
Thus, policies that are passed by the federal government are also adopted by the local and state governments. The policies could be in health, transport, and education.
However, the local and state governments also pass their laws which have impacts on the citizens in their areas of jurisdiction. Apart from the above levels of government, the American government also comprises of three distinct branches which include the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial ones.
The Executive
This branch is responsible for the enforcement of the laws that govern the country, and it comprises of the President, his deputy, members of the cabinet who are also the President’s advisors, and heads of executive departments. The executive branch is very essential for the overall running of government operations.
A country’s economic performance is strongly dependent on its government’s executive. Apart from working to ensure that effective enforcement of laws takes place within the country, the Executive branch is also responsible for representing the country’s economic and political interests across the borders.
The Legislative
This is the lawmaking unit of the government, which consists of the Congress and agencies whose main task is to support the Congress in its responsibilities. The Congress is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The Judicial
This branch comprises of the lower federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court. The main purpose of this branch is to interpret the laws of the land and how they are applied in the day-to-day running of the government affairs. The branch interprets the laws of the land and determines many types of cases in private and public domains.
This branch is also responsible for conducting judicial reviews on laws to determine whether they violate the Constitution in any manner. Laws that are found to violate the Constitution are either enacted or done away with. The Judicial branch operates on the principles of the Constitution and it is viewed as the last mediator in matters involving constitutional crises.
Principles of the American Government
Democracy
Democracy is a key principle of the U.S. government whereby the Constitution has guaranteed independent judicial systems, political and personal privileges, and free and fair elections among other crucial aspects. Democracy is a key pillar of the Constitution which has provided conducive environment for political and economic activities.
Limited Government
The American citizens have been given more powers on how they can help to shape the government policies. In this regard, the U.S. government would not interfere in any way with individual rights and personal liberties simply because this would be against the law.
There are various ways by which the power of the American government has been limited. For instance, the Constitution restricts the government from directly getting involved in personal matters of the citizens. Through this, its citizens have the freedom to think and act in ways that are geared towards their personal and national development.
The Rule of Law
The law remains supreme in America, and in that case, all citizens and institutions within the country would be held accountable to the requirements of the law. Under this principle, the U.S. government conducts its roles in regard with the existing rules and regulations. In this regard, there is no way the citizens can raise complaints on laws governing them, after they have been implemented by the government.
Put in other words, nobody is above the Constitution. Actions that are suspected to be illegal are decided by courts of law where the Constitution is interpreted. Those found guilty are punished as stipulated in the Constitution.
The Consent of the Governed
This is another key principle whereby the U.S. government will have the freedom to govern its citizens, as long as it comes up with policies that are acceptable by the people. In this case, the citizens have the right to deny the government the power to govern them if the adopted policies do not impress them. This goes a long way in ensuring that the government adopts policies that are geared towards improving the lives of all citizens.
Government’s Role in the Economy
As it would be observed, the government plays a crucial role in the running of the economy. While it is obvious that producers and consumers play the ultimate role in matters aimed at shaping the economy, the government’s role can never be overestimated when it comes to steering the economic ship in the right direction. The USA has been the leading economic power in the world for the past half century.
Even though this success has mainly been driven by the unfailing efforts of capital-driven citizenry and consumer-based society, the government has also been very influential in the country’s economic structure over the years. This has been achieved through the actions of fiscal policy and monetary policy, both of which have played a crucial role in ensuring that monetary resources in the country are well supplied and managed.
Another important way through which the government controls the economy is through stabilization and growth. The government stabilizes factors that have impact on the economic performances of business organizations. When this is done, business organizations perform constantly well because there is no fear of constant business uncertainties precipitated by policies adopted by the government.
The excellent performance of business organizations in the U.S. goes a long way in improving the national economy of the biggest economy in the world. Stabilization and growth have been fundamental goals of the Federal Reserve whereby effective initiatives have been undertaken to promote price stability and maximum employment of people.
As it would be observed, the above goals have been pursued and achieved through the influences of financial conditions and interest rates as they are determined by the Federal Reserve System. Through such initiatives, the Federal government has managed to promote the country’s economic activities, thus maintaining a steady growth, increased employment levels, and stability of prices.
As a matter of fact, the U.S. economy would not reach where it is today without any challenges. Past and present financial crises have constantly shaken the country’s economic bases in a more threatening way. However, through the mission and goals of the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Congress has over the years worked hard to steer the economy in the right direction.
The role of the Federal Reserve in shaping the economy has been evident during many ways. For example, the system has been supportive to the economy in all aspects, and in that way, it has been in the front line in helping to promote a sustainable economic recovery not only for the USA but for the entire world.
There was a time in the U.S. history when unemployment and recessions were seen as the biggest economic threats. High unemployment levels of a country indicate poor performance of the economy. A stable economy is one which supports employment by ensuring that a good number of graduates from colleges and universities are absorbed into jobs.
A government ensures availability of employment vacancies by promoting investment and industrialization. Recent unemployment and recession crises nearly brought the U.S. economy to its knees. This, however, forced the government to seek and establish effective ways, through which the economy could be strengthened. One promising approach that would be applied was to cut taxes to encourage consumers to spend more.
This was supplemented with the increased growth in the monetary policy resources, which also helped to encourage more spending. Over the years, the U.S. government has discovered other better tools that can be used to stabilize the economy, particularly through fiscal policy plans.
In this regard, government revenues were manipulated to control the economy, and through such approaches, both monetary policy and fiscal policy would come to assume growing prominence as better tools that could be used to steer the U.S. economy in the right direction.
Through such approaches, the U.S. economy is rapidly recovering from the consequences of the long term recession which has progressively affected the country following previous financial crises.
In fact, the country’s economy is on better footing nowadays, considering the declining unemployment rates and price stability among other recent developments. It is expected that the U.S. economy will continue to lead across the world in the near future because it has very strong foundation and due to the fact that successive governments have been supporting stabilization and growth of the economy.
However, to maintain the lead, successive U.S. governments should always strive to lead from the front. Successful U.S. governments should promote both local and international investments. International investments in upcoming economies in Africa and in the Middle East will ensure that the country is always at the forefront in terms of economic performance.
More businesses in the U.S. are also expected to become multinational companies which would target potential markets in the Middle East and Africa. The markets in these two regions are characterized by many consumers for various services and products.
Previous performances by many U.S. multinational companies show that the U.S. companies have the potential to grow by expanding to international markets. Economies like China are doing very well in the international markets and they pose great competition to the U.S. economy, particularly in Africa where Chinese companies have adopted low pricing strategy for their services and products.
The New Federal Government
The new Federal Government was first established in 1787 under the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution acted as the key platform on which the U.S. was designed. This was only about thirteen years after the Declaration of Independence.
Key personalities were instrument in the creation of the U.S. as a nation in 1787 by various roles in legal, economic and political roles. For example, Thomas Jefferson, a man of many firsts in the U.S. political system who was then serving as a U.S. minister in France, had played a key role in the designing and planning of this new form of government.
In the course of this time, the new government was not lucky to escape many of the challenges and problems that affected the newly independent countries in the world those days. Many across the world were able to start off and perform well economically based on the strategies they used to overcome problems experienced at the time of independence.
The major problems faced by the Federal Government after the passing of the Constitution ranged from foreign policy issues to economic-related problems in 1787. In fact, the U.S. is where it is today because its first leaders’ decisive leadership styles that enable country to solve most of its problems at the time of independence.
George Washington became the first U.S. President under the new government in the year 1789. However, the first years of the new Constitution had proved to be a very challenging moment for him and his assistants, especially in their plans for establishing a strong national government that would be accepted by the Americans.
In fact, George Washington and the new government faced a lot of obstacles as they tried to make things better for the Americans under the new Constitution. The U.S. citizens had so much hope in the new Constitution because they hoped that it would improve their lives through better economic performance.
One of the major issues here was that there was a challenge of establishing a strong economy out of the existing one, which was in a very bad shape following the Revolutionary War that had just come to an end. All over the world, revolutionaries have been shown to destabilize national economies.
In fact, some countries have been destroyed by revolutionaries because they lead to poor economic performances. In addition, it takes a lot of time for countries to recovers from the negative impacts of revolutionaries. However, the U.S. was able to make a great leap by learning from the revolutionary and the leaders acted to avoid uncertainties in the future.
The other problem was that it was not easy to recover from the debt resulting from the war, since the paper money that was issued in the course of the conflict had proved to be worthless. In order to succeed in this mission, the President together with the other key units in the government lacked other options, but to implement effective strategies that would help in stabilizing the country’s financial system.
The leaders understood that stabilizing the country’s financial system could help to grow and sustain the economy. Countries whose financial systems have suffered have encountered as a result of political revolutions or poor foreign policies face difficulties in growing their economies because their currencies lose value in international markets across the world.
Another big problem that faced the new government in the era of George Washington would be foreign policy issues. The new American government would constantly find itself getting into conflict with the Spanish government, which failed to recognize their western and southern boundaries. The George Washington’s regime was able to solve the boundary dispute with the Spanish government.
This gave the country a chance to concentrate on other activities to grow the economy. There was also a serious problem with the British forces, who extended their stay at Old Northwest forts, even after the 1783 Peace Treaty that had brought the Revolutionary War to an end. The leadership of the day was able to use strategies to solve problem of external aggression by the British government.
Other common issues facing the new federal government were observed in the government’s efforts to preserve the national independence of the country. More importantly, the new government was eager to establish a strong political system that would provide a lawfully begotten place for opposition.
Apart from the problems discussed above, there were also other numerous issues that affected the new Federal Government after the passing of the Constitution in the year 1787. Some of these issues included but were not limited to challenges associated with territorial expansion, diplomatic ties with the Native Americans, diplomatic relations with Europe and other Western powers, and regulation of interstate trade.
There was also the problem of consolidating public opinion and support on the new government system, since the American citizens had mixed reactions about the new Constitution. All these issues had brought serious challenges to the President George Washington and the new Federal Government.
However, the issues would play a significant role in strengthening the new governing in its future mission for the Americans. In fact, successful U.S. governments have been learning from the experiences underwent by the first U.S. government after the country gained independence.
Although the experiences were tough, the U.S. has been leading in terms of economic, political and military achievements, among other areas across the world.
Government Policies and Their Impact on Unequal Distribution of Wealth and Income
Government policies are crucial in helping the government exercise its roles in the country in a successful manner. In most cases, the policies tend to influence or even determine the actions and decisions of the government on citizens. Generally, government policies are important, as they offer incentives which attract a certain value or disincentives that may suppress particular behaviors or actions.
Government policies which support individual and national efforts in economic building result in improved and sustained economic growth. On the other hand, government policies that do not support individual and national efforts in building the economy lead to slow and poor economic growth.
Through effective policies, the U.S. government has over the years managed to resolve many social, political, and economic issues affecting its diverse population. It has been established that economies cannot thrive in areas characterized by rampant social, political, economic issues.
Successful governments in the U.S. have been able to grow and sustain the economy by understanding the crucial interplay among political, social, and economic factors in the overall economic performance of a country. This significant goal has been achieved through the commitment of different government units who have always ensured that resources are equally distributed amongst the citizens using appropriate policies.
The U.S. government policies as they are adopted by different leaders over the years have continued to draw mixed reactions from the American population. While there are those who think that the policies have contributed to equal distribution of wealth and income, others presume that the policies have not been to anything better as far as the distribution of wealth and income is concerned.
However, their international critics argue that those who have been criticizing the government on the policies are not fair in their accusations. They argue that the U.S. policies have been leading across the world by enhancing distribution of wealth and income among citizens.
Even though there are incomplete answers about whether or not the government policies have achieved their goals in the society, it is clear that the policies have in fact helped to improve the wellbeing of the targeted people. In the last five decades, multiple U.S. presidents have come up with consistent policies aimed at addressing the unequal distribution of income among the Americans.
These policies, however, have increased income inequalities in the country, rather than helping to minimize them. The main reason behind this is the changing demographic patterns of the Americans. For instance, the increase in the number of single parents and the increase in the proportion of the aged people in the country have contributed largely in driving down U.S. incomes at the low end.
The dynamic demographic patterns in the U.S have led to a slowdown in the economic growth. It has been shown that a country does well economically when most of its population middle-aged.
Middle-aged persons are energetic and contribute a lot to economic activities that are geared towards building and sustaining the economy. On the other, a country characterized by a majority of citizens who are elderly is negatively impacted in terms of economic growth.
The other reason why government policies would lead to unequal distribution of income among the American citizens is because there are no strict laws or regulations in place to ensure that income redistribution is carried out fairly across various groups of people (Graham 109). Therefore, some groups are favored at the expense of others in terms of incomes.
A fair society is one in which all members are treated equally and access income fairly as encouraged by various policies that have direct and indirect impacts on incomes. There have been complaints about misappropriation, waste, and abuse of government money through income-transfer programs.
These ill practices will tend to lead to unequal distribution of income among the people. This explains the reason why actual benefits to the needy will tend to be much smaller in most cases, while it is clear that the government policies discharge enormous amounts of money every year. This would be solved in the future by ensuring that income-transfer programs are fair in their design and implementation.
In fact, they should be geared towards helping the poor. In addition, such programs should be evaluated regularly to ensure that the needy access the benefits intended by the programs. The regular evaluation will go a long way in preventing and minimizing waste, misappropriation, and abuse of government money and ensuring that the needy are helped in the society.
There is also the distribution of wealth, which according to financial experts, appears to be much more unequal in the U.S. compared to the distribution of income. The main reason why distribution of wealth remains unequal in the country is because relevant government policies have always made it difficult for everyone to comprehensively reveal information about their assets or holdings.
This way, it is not easy to acquire information about people’s wealth and possessions. The other concern here is that government policies have become less supportive of the demands of labor unions in terms of employees’ income and benefits.
This has over the time led to unequal distribution of income among different professionals in the country. As a result of this, the gap between what CEOs earn compared to what an average worker takes home has continued to widen. This has contributed to job dissatisfaction and poor performances by individuals at work.
Works Cited
Graham, Hilary. “Social determinants and their unequal distribution: clarifying policy understandings.” Milbank Quarterly 82.1 (2004): 101-124. Print.
Payne, Stanley. A history of fascism, 1914-1945, Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996. Print.