Essential Features of American Political System

AMERICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM: ITS NATURE AND VICES

This research paper considers the essential features of the American political system as it has evolved since the founding of the Republic and seeks to characterize its current reality as opposed to its pretensions, both in terms of its political integrity and as a system for providing social justice.

The American political system still has many of the characteristics of representative democracy in which political moderation and respect for the civil rights of the individual and minorities prevails, but it has become largely unrepresentative of and unresponsive to the will of ordinary citizens and shows signs of being incapable of reforming itself. It is also a political system which enshrines a seemingly permanent division between economic and social haves and have nots and in which the American dream of equality of economic opportunity has greatly diminished.

Intent of the Framers. The Federalist Papers indicate that the framers of the American Constitution intended to establish not a pure democracy but a representative system of government subject to popular sovereignty in which the potential for tyranny and the abuse of political power would be limited. In Federalist No. 15, Alexander Hamilton said that government was instituted "because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint;" and in No. 51 James Madison said that "if men were angels, no gov

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ted in low voter turnouts, the popularity of the term limits movements, a large number of negative votes in local elections on revenue raising measures and the high (19 percent) vote accorded to Ross Perot in the 1992 presidential election, despite his antics which persuaded many voters that he lacked presidential timber. His candidacy, nevertheless, provided an outlet for protest against the system. All sorts of remedies have been bruited about for improving the system, various schemes for campaign finance reform, all of which appear to fail because the forces in control like the system in place, suggestions for the introduction of more direct democracy such as national referenda on important issues and passage of a flat tax and a constitutional amendment prohibiting tax increase without a 2/3's or 3/4's vote of approval. 2. Is the System Just? Meaning of Justice. The definitions of philosophers over the ages over the meaning and ends of justice have varied. Plato believed that justice was whatever disinterested principles of good government are decided upon by the philosopher-kings who would lead his ideal Republic. Aristotle did not believe in perfect leaders, but rather expected that republican virtue would achieve the good

Category: Government - E