Politics For Dummies (For Dummies Series)

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The federal government, or national government, looks after things like immigration, foreign affairs and minting money. Other powers, such as taxation, lawmaking and law enforcement are shared between state and federal governments. When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. If you’re a US citizen and you’re 18 or over, you should be eligible to vote in the presidential election, which takes place every four years. Skip eligible to vote Where US Politics Came From: Crash Course US History #9. What did the founding fathers want the country to look like? Generally support gay marriage; support anti-discrimination laws to protect LGBT against workplace discrimination.

Conservatism: Conservative thought is coloured by the belief that – over time – history has produced institutions and modes of government that function well, and which should be largely preserved for the future. They also believe that political change should be organic and gradual, rather than revolutionary. The intention in creating a coalition with another party is that they will have over 51 per cent of the seats within a parliament and therefore be able to pass laws more easily. Political ideology: A belief system (Weltanschauung) that shapes how people see and analyze politics. An ideology affects people’s outlook on the world and the role they play in it. It determines how people see everything and everybody. Voters are the average Americans who have desires and needs that they want met by the people in power. To vote, you have to be a United States citizen of at least 18 years of age with a legal residence established in the state you’re representing and, of course, registered to vote in your state. As a voter, you can vote for state and national representatives and senators, state laws, presidential nominees and presidents (although the president isn’t elected by voters, he or she is elected by the Electoral College, a select group of people who are expected to vote according to the popular vote) on election day. Even though voters cannot vote on national laws, they can advise the members of Congress representing their state on how to vote on certain bills, or protest against laws as a group. Regardless of our personal views, there is only one truth. Focus must always, first and foremost, be on liberty and the Republic. We protect the weak to balance the scales, not to favor the weak or to take liberty away from the strong. Sometimes this will require tactics, but our primary tactic is, as Madison suggests, “the freedom of speech and press”, and as Aristotle suggests, this is an approach that must be rooted in morality and ethics to be legitimate.Presidents serve four-year terms. Since 1951 presidents have been limited to two terms. The vice president takes over if the president dies, gives up the job, or is unable to serve.

Critical realignment: A core group of a political party’s supporters switching to the opposition. This switch also creates a new majority party. You may think income inequality is an issue in America, but wealth inequality is even more problematic, and it always has been. Wealth inequality was what Athens rebelled against, it contributed to the downfalls of Rome, and it was the reason America rebelled too. The battle has always been the same, and war aside, the battle is always fought with money and rhetoric. Postbehavioralism: A methodological approach that combines aspects of traditionalism and behavioralism. Representative democracy: A type of democracy where the people elect representatives to make policy on their behalf.

Summary of the American Political Parties

The president decides what the government should do. This is called making policy. A part of making policy is recommending laws for Congress to pass. Another part is dealing with foreign countries. As commander in chief of the armed forces, the president can send soldiers into battle in foreign countries. However, only Congress may declare war. David Easton, 1917–2014: Easton not only created the school of postbehavioralism but also gave the world the input/output model to explain policy making. The new president is officially sworn into office on 20 January in a ceremony known as the inauguration, which is held on the steps of the Capitol building in Washington DC. State socialism: Advocates a direct state role within a nation’s economy, but private property isn’t allowed. In other words, the state owns all the property in a society. A prime example is the former Soviet Union where the state owned all the property and a private market wasn’t allowed to function.

Most of the cases that the Court hears are appeals of cases that lower courts have already decided. The justices vote on which cases they will hear. Almost without exception, those on the left support gay marriage, and other gay rights issues like adoption rights and non-discrimination at work or in business. There are 435 voting members of the House of Representatives (six non-voting members also attend sessions representing US territories and Washington DC). Each state is allocated a different number of representatives based on their population – California is the largest with 53 while seven states have just a single representative.States have governors who take on the executive role as per the president nationally. With the exception of Nebraska, the remaining 49 states all have two chambers – an upper house, or Senate made up of state senators and a lower house (known as the House of Representatives, Assembly or House of Delegates).

Cadre party: A decentralized and part-time political party whose major purpose is to win office. The United States has Cadre political parties. What’s funny–yet deeply disturbing–is that despite all the hubbub that this election is stirring up, not many people actually know too much about American politics. Even though it’s taught in American schools, research by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania found that out of 1,416 adults, 36% couldn’t name all three branches of government and 35% couldn’t name any of them. And if almost 60% of Americans turn out to vote in general elections like they did in 2012, that’s a lot of people who don’t know a whole lot about the government and how it works who have a say in who is elected and what laws are passed. Kenneth Waltz, 1924–2013: Waltz created the idea of the three image (level) explanation for international conflict. His Man, the State, and War: A Theoretical Analysis was published in 1959. Red, blue, blue, blue . . . since 1945, the Conservatives have been the dominant political force in Britain. The biggest political animal of them all was undoubtedly Margaret Thatcher, who managed to win three consecutive elections. Here’s a list of British governments since 1945: Years in Office The Constitution, the Articles, and Federalism: Crash Course US History #8. What did the founding fathers want the country to look like?

Balancing the Scales – How to Protect America From Special Interests

Like fire is to air, liberty is to factions”– Madison Federalist #10 (playing off of Hamilton’s rant against factions in #9, factions are one of the major themes of the papers). [17] It’s Liberty and Justice for all, not just for those in our in-group. It’s a matter of morality and ethics, not guerrilla tactics. A Timeline of Democracy Fascism: An authoritarian ideology that is highly nationalistic, militaristic, and in many instances openly racist. Critics say postal ballots are susceptible to fraud - and there have been isolated incidents involving Republicans and Democrats - but numerous nationwide and state-level studies have found no evidence of any widespread fraud. End of voter fraud Is the election just about who is president?