10.30.13

ESSAY 1

        The role of democracy as well as the role of majority rule have changed and will continue to change in american politics.  The House of Representative, which is part of the Legislative branch is the part of our national government that is most closely tied to our citizens.  This is because the people, who back in the day were land owning white males, could elect who they chose to the House of Representatives. This gave us as a people more freedom and choice.
        The U.S. constitution limited majority rule by creating separation of powers (Judicial, Legislative, and Executive) and through checks and balances.  These require that power is balanced among the three different government institutions to insure that no one group has too much power.
        Primary elections have helped the United States become a more democratic system because they place more choice over who would be president in the hands of the people.  A second development of the twentieth-century that has helped our country become more democratic is the Seventeenth Amendment.  It states that the senate of the U.S. will be composed of two senators per state, who are elected by the people.  This helped our country by giving the people more of a say as well as giving each state equal power when it comes to the number of senators.
     

ESSAY 2

  Citizens participate in the political process through many different forms besides voting.  Two common forms are civil disobedience and protesting. Many civilians will act on civil disobedience knowing that they are breaking the law, but in hopes that they are making a big enough statement that more people will get involved and keep the ball rolling.  The other form, protesting, is done to achieve a policy change through less detrimental acts than civil disobedience.  These types of demonstrations draw attention to the problem quickly and universally.  Many protests or civil disobedience acts will air on national television, in newspapers, and many other forms of media almost immediately after the incident.  This helps the demonstrators draw attention hoping to persuade other civilians into reform.

New American Center

On the survey we took yesterday my results told me I was in the “Bleeding Hearts” category.  I was surprised my results because on most of the questions I answered neutral.  Even though Im not considered knowledgeable when it comes to politics, I have noticed in the past that I do agree with some more liberal and some more conservative views.  I even have noticed that I do think in ideological terms to an extent.  

So after reading “13 Things That Define The American Center,” I was even more confused.  Almost every view that the new american center has I believe in as well.  I noticed that many of the poll questions they showed I had the same answers to yesterday.  I find that I have the same viewpoints about the way our country is evolving but my results from yesterday don’t reflect that at all. This makes me question how they determine from certain questions where you fall on the spectrum, which questions made me fall completely to the left?

After reading all of this information I feel like a lot of things the center believes in makes us as a whole have disappointment in our country.  We want certain things to change, but unless our government and politics system breaks into more than two definite parties most of it isn’t likely to happen any time soon.

10/14 Homework

What is the effect of ideology on public opinion in America?  Do people really think in ideological terms?  Does the liberal conservative dimension adequately capture how Americans feel about political issues?

The effect of ideology on public opinion in the U.S. is contradictory because americans are ideological conservatives but operational liberals or in other words conservative in principal and liberal in practice.  The small percentage of people who think in an ideological way are called ideologues.  But many people decide how to vote and what they believe about in politics depending on factors such as personalities, how the economy is going now/ who is in power and if the leader is linked with good fortune.  So a large percentage of people are voting based on nature of times or no issue content rather than thinking ideologically.