The American Dream is an idea, built upon the reputation of the U.S. as a place where dreams can come true if you work hard. That concept is something built around a hope that keeps people going. Participation in the U.S. government is something done easily by helping your political party or joining interest groups that represent your beliefs.
People complain that Congress can never get anything done. The way the framers made the government was that things moved slowly. Take the House of Representatives and the Senate, they both have to agree before a bill is sent to the Executive branch. It's a good thing that bills move slowly, it shows that there isn't a concentrated power in Congress forcing it to be more democratic. There is no strong "clique" in Congress that would rule as there would be in high school for example. Most congressmen consider themselves "Independent" and this works very well with our democratic process.
In the Senate there is a something known as a "filibuster" that can stop a passage for a bill and is also a tool to protect the minority. In the American government the minority is protected and helped. The Bill of Rights is a prime example of protection for minorities.
People will critique the government and how it doesn't solve any problems, but I say give the Federal Government a break. Economists can't agree how to solve our national debt, so of course there is going to be problems when agreeing on laws that effect an entire nation. Our government works, and it works quite well.
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In the article "The American Dream" from the blog America the author talks about the function of our government. He has done an excellent job of showing how different parts of the government work. One such example is of how many people get frustrated with the Congress when they do "nothing." Nothing is far from what they do, approving a bill or any such matter takes tons of effort. Bills can be stalled by filibustering in the Senate. Even if the Congress finishes with it it will have to go through the House of Representatives. If it happens to make it through both of these it must go to the Executive branch. After the House and Senate have put a lot of work into getting the bill passed the President can still veto it. It is a very tedious and long process.
ReplyDeleteThe author explains other ways in which bills can be stopped or slowed down in all the branches of government. Entire books could be written about process in the government. I think that this is a good, well put together, summary of how things happen. For something as complicated as our government system, it seems to be put very straightforward in this article as to how it works. Great job and I couldn't agree more.