Testing Theories Of American Politics: An Analysis

“The Logic of American Politics,” written by Samuel Kernell, Gary C. Jacobson, Thad Kousser, and Lynn Vavreck brings together the sequence of events that occur throughout our history in chapters six through nine. Chapter six, Congress, focuses on the development of Congress and how they came to hold so much power within the United States; with the creation of Congress came the Presidency. The Presidency, chapter 7, explain how the framework for President of the United States was given only enough power to control/respond to national emergencies, and under the President were bureaus that worked with him. Chapter 8, The Bureaucracy, was created by the frameworkers, but was never given a clear definition on how to organize this branch of government, just like the bureau's work alongside the President the Judiciary system works alongside Congress.

Americans only see few ways to affect real change on government because politicians are too reliant upon large donations. Groups contribute money, and later on receive a kickback of bill that favors them or supports their positions. “Candidates who raise lots of money say it indicates broad support. Candidates with little money point out that voters, not donors, decide elections” (2012 Presidential). Candidates spend large amount of time fundraising, which decreases people’s confidence in the government’s ability to do their

It is evident that interest groups have more of an influence than a citizen’s ability to

All these wealthy groups and people would benefit from passing of a certain law. For example, big banks and central banks have an interest group, who uses congressmen to try to influence politicians so that they won’t make strict policy regarding banks systems and how they operate. Those rules may be affect banks or big business in generating fewer profits. Majority believe that it is a bad thing that interest groups and lobbyists are involved in legislating because their voices and ideas do not come directly from ordinary citizens. Their interest to grow their business and wealth may not benefit the general ordinary citizens of United States. The big business and wealthy groups may try to influence a bill to be passed for their interest and not for the interest of the general public. Nevertheless, Congressmen may listen to the big central banks because they have money to play around with. This includes donating to Congress campaigns to be

Presently, there are three theories that have been posed to explain the American political process. They are, elite theory, hyperpluralism, and pluralism. While all of them have sufficient evidence in regard to discussion and debate, pluralism undoubtedly best explains the American political process. Pluralism states that our democracy is best achieved by the existence and cooperation between various groups, and individuals, which participate in government by means of election. In context of American politics, pluralism is the core which our political process revolves around.

The United States has experienced fundamental changes that are dramatically detrimental to democracy. Voters’ ability to define political discourse has been so diminished that even decisive election results like Barack Obama’s in 2012 have little impact. That’s because powerful interests — freed to, in effect, buy elections, unhindered by downsized and diffused media that must rely on revenue from campaign ads — now set the rules of engagement. Lobbying involves working to bring pressure to bear on policy makers to gain favorable policy outcomes. In order to accomplish their goals, interest groups develop a strategy or plan of action and execute it through specific tactics. The particular strategies developed and the specific tactics used, however, vary widely both among and within political

Due to the need for campaign funds by both the Democratic and Republican party, representatives and party leaders are easily influenced by the alluring presence of money presented by the wealthy. Consequently, in terms of economic position, laws and policies tend to favor the privileged rather than the overall majority. For instance, beginning in the 1970s, corporate America started to invest more money and focus into politics. A large amount of corporate spending is on lobbying. In contrast, most Americans don’t have an organization to lobby for them. This being so, because the wealthy have more lobbying clout, the government tends to pay closer attention to the concerns of the very privileged.

There has been a lot of fuss over big business influencing the government in the United States lately. Now there is no doubt that the business elite have some influence on politics. It can even be traced back to the early 1900’s, when “the People’s Party had disintegrated, but many writers and activists have continued to echo the Populists’ central thesis: that the U.S. democratic political system is in fact dominated by business elites” (). Although there are countless arguments to go against this idea, the questions still comes up today: Is government dominated by big business? Political Scientist G. William Domhoff believes that government is dominated by big business. More specifically, Domhoff believes that owners and top-level managers in income-producing properties are not only dominant power figures in the US, but they also have inordinate influence in the federal government (). Another political scientist however, Sheldon Kamieniecki, believes otherwise. He states that businesses do not really get involved in policies that affect them; and even when they do, their success rate at influencing policies is not consistent. In fact, he believes that other factions have more influence on government policies ().

The topic of discussion on June 23 was whether or not the politics in America is successful. In addition, the central focus on that day was whether or not politics was completely broken. All in all, politics as a whole, matters; not voting in politics is a choice but voting matters in the long run.

Marquette University’s Assistant Professor of Law, Richard Esenberg, is doubtful of the effectiveness of a project that will restructure campaign finance. He foresees the near impossibility of the passage of a bill, along with many drawbacks in similar attempts to miraculously restore democracy to American citizens. Although this is a greatly debated and doubtful topic, there is still hope in the power of the people. While there may be instances where wealthy donors provide a better democratic election, in a land of the people; the majority of the voting population should control the few politicians that run the government.

The obstacles can be broken down into two obvious categories, politicians, and the corporate dollar. in the short term these lack of regulations are what these power plants want. However, looking in the long run, especially with instances of coal ash being spilled into drinking water and waterways, it is obvious that cost overall is much more. The other category is the politicians. Politics in America is a game of corruption, thinking the worst this day in age would be wise and otherwise would be foolish. So long as there is not a disaster that grasps the attention of voters, they are not really going to care. Granted that is a generalization, but seeing how some regulations were put into place as a reaction to these disasters says a lot. Proactive

The government in the United States supposedly revolves around American ideals such as equality and diversity; however, this is simply not the case as perpetuated by class inequalities. The meaning of democracy has been skewed in the United States to represent something entirely different than it did in 1776. Today, American democracy behaves more like an aristocracy, where the upper class exercises power within the government and state, influencing discourse and therefore the laws and resources in our country, which are purportedly “for the people”. Democracy is presumed to provide everyone with equal political power, but the government in today’s America, although seemingly following this ideal model, does not. Instead, the elite upper class has a monopoly over the political influence and are the sole benefactors from public policies due to their influence over the policy making process. The upper class has an overall benefit from class inequality, as it greatly impacts American ‘democracy’ through the significant power gained through money and status, leadership roles that impact government, and the influence in the policymaking process that creates upper class advantages.

Interest groups and advocacy groups have an undeniably strong influence in Washington, and while the results of lobbying efforts are not often touted, they sway policy in areas like energy, housing, public finance, education, gun control and many more. These interest groups may represent parochial interests, but there is surely an area of policy that matches most splintered-off factions. While they’ve been portrayed as shadowy forces in lawmaking, “Interest Group Influence on US Policy Change: An Assessment Based on Policy History” by Matt Grossmann attempts to quantify and

The power elite is able to exert power over society. The power elite’s control over politics demonstrates how inequality is functional. This validates the class-domination theory of power, which is distributed based on economic power. By controlling economic resources, the power elites political influence in government shapes law and those involved in government to the power elites benefit. In today’s American society these laws have impacted both the corporate community and the elite. Furthermore, the author’s portrayal of the elite displayed how the elite have control concerning choices in government policies, elections, and laws.

The era of volatility has created a shift from America being the middle-class society to simply rich or poor (Sachs, 2011). A gap this large has not been experienced since the 1920’s (Sachs). “The top 1% of households takes almost a quarter of all household income” but an economy this top heavy will not be able to succeed (Sachs, 2011, p. 30). The working classes are struggling with housing, wage, and employment issues. Rich individuals are ignoring these troubles, shipping their business operations out of the country, thus furthering the downward spiral of the economy (Sachs). To make matters worse, this has become in a large part a political issue, because the rich can influence candidates with funding, where the poor and working