Bureaucracy

A bureaucracy is a complex administrative system to organize and manage a country or a company using a pyramid-like hierarchy. This means that in a bureaucracy each person reports to a person of higher position and that this form of organization always each person to focus on a specialized expertise. In regards to the American government, the federal government’s head of bureaucracy is the President and the executive branch is the bureaucracy. Within a bureaucracy each position has a function and the power to act is granted to a position rather than a person. A bureaucrat describes an individual that is an official member of a bureaucracy and works for a department within the bureaucracy. There are four major types of structures within the bureaucracy of the federal government: executive departments, independent agencies, independent regulatory agencies and government corporations. Every department within the executive departments were created by Congress and met a government need that arose and required a department to focus on a specific policy area. An example of one would be the Education department that focuses on federal programs and policies as well as policies to aid education and coordinate educational research. Agencies that are independent have a single function and are not a part of a department. An example of one would be the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). There are also independent regulatory agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA) that have a specific function to create, implement and regulate a specific public policy to protect the public’s interest. The U.S. Postal Service is an example of a government corporation and is the largest government corporation that exists. Government corporations do similar services handled by the private sector and do charge for services however taxpayers foot the bill if the government corporation loses money. In regards to elections, our country depends on bureaucrats to do their jobs in order to have a successful election process. For example, in the election, mail men/women had to effectively do their job in the U.S. Postal Service in order to allow mail-in votes to be voted accurately. An important ideal of bureaucracy in our government is neutral competence --- where federal bureaucrats use their skillset to fulfill their job without being influenced by political issues. This ideal is imperative to having a successful election. This past election was very heated for many political issues not only tied to traditional political ideologies but issues also directly linked to humanitarian issues. If federal bureaucrats let these issues sway them from doing their jobs, the election would have not successfully happened. An unsuccessful election would mean that democracy would have not been upheld if the majority’s will was not reflected in the outcome. Many americans were aprehensive this past election because the liberal and conservative parties seemed more poloarized than ever. Our federal bureaucrats that continued their vital day to day jobs, without being swayed politically especially the days after the election when our country was anxiously waiting the outcome of the election should be acknowledeged.

Interests Groups

Interests groups have formed historically in response to change. These groups are created and organized by people sharing a common objective and can indirectly or directly influence American government policymakers. The American Constitution protects the right of groups to organize themselves, peacefully assemble and petition the Government to reconsider grievances. There are many types of interest groups that exist in America. There are interest groups that represent particular industries, environmental issues, labor interest, agriculture interests, consumer interests, senior citizen issues, professional interests, business interest and labor interests. These interests groups can represent private good as well as public goods. The difference is that a public good does not diminish the rest of the citizen's use of the good. A private good is defined as a good that once one person consumes them, no one else can consume the same good. For example, national defence is a public good and just because one citizen is protected doesn't take away protection from other citizens. An example of a private good would be a phone, when you are using your phone it means nobody else can use it simultaneously. This is important to understand because some interest groups advocate for policies or issues that will benefit others that do not participate in the interest group. There are also interest groups that seek policies that may only benefit the people in the interest group. For example, the oil industry may have a interest group that advocates for better policies that specifically benefit the development of oil as a energy resource in order to protect their own profits. While an environmental industry group may advocate for policies that protect an area from pollution but in the big picture, all citizens of the area will benefit from a healthier environment. Oftentimes, interest groups have a bad reputation because historically lobbyists from specific interest groups have used financial power or powerful political connections to influence congress members. This is concerning because regulating lobbyists has proven difficult and leads to many citizens feeling that interests groups do not have a equal voice. This is more a fact than a concern because the power of an interest group not only is determined by the issue they are advocating for but the financial support they receive. However, interest groups are also a form of representation where ideally anyone regardless of profession, gender, race and economic background can organize themselves in a way in which they can participate in the government system. In other words, average people are given the opportunity to join a interest group that reflects their interests or concerns. By joining an interest group, citizens are given a platform in which they can voice their views on policies to government officials. Not only are interest groups specialized on a particular issue, they also can bring public awareness to a policy issue and address detailed information about a policy that public officials can use when making policy choices. Another benefit of interest groups is that they are not apart of political parties. Political parties are generalized organizations focused on winning elections, operating the government and creating policies. In contrast, interest groups are focused on specific policy issues and are unlikely to divide divide the nation. Pluralist theory views interest groups as an aspect of a decentralized structure of government and makes space for each individual's interest to be presented in the policy making process. This theory also believe that interest groups can't dominate the political process because there are so many interest groups within America. The goal of a democracy is for the voices of the people to be represented in the government system and interest groups are a form of representation for the voices of average citizens to be heard.

Congress

The US congressional representation is organized in a unique way because it has a bicameral legislature. This means there are two separate chambers that make up Congress, The House and The Senate. This ideally balances out power between The House which represents the people as a whole and The senate that represents the states. The number of representatives in The House from each state is determined by the state’s population, therefore larger states have more House seats. Every ten years the U.S. The Census Bureau takes a census of the population in each state and this census determines if seats need to be reappointed. Every state regardless of population receives at least one house seat. The goal of this is that the population of each state is represented accurately in congress. The Senate is organized differently and each state only has two senate seats to fill. Popular representation of people is ideally reflected in The House and state representation is reflected in The Senate. Both The House and The Congress are a part of the legislative process. If legislation is introduced separate committees (usually subcommittees) the House and the Senate review the bill and if the bill is not pigeonholed and instead approved it will be reported to the full chamber. The idea is that the subcommittee can approve, add new amendments or draft a new bill before it reaches the full chamber. Floor debates are conducted differently in the House than the Senate because there are many more House members than members of the Senate. The bill will get voted on and if the bill word for word is passed in both chambers, the conference committee will create the final compromise on the bill before the bill is sent for presidential approval. The goal of this process and having both popular representation and state representation when creating new legislation. Ideally this would mean that any bill passed serves the interests of the American people (or the majority of people) as well as the state’s interest.

2020 Election Week

Election week of 2020 was filled with a lot of emotions such as doubt, fear, bewilderment, frustration and ultimately some relief. As I was looking at the votes being counted during the poles for each presidential candidate it was interesting to see how many voters (a small percentage) chose to vote for third party candidates. In Chapter 7 of the text it talks about the United States perpetuating a two-party system, a precedent that is believed to be a result of the first major political division that happened between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. The two-party system that continues to prevail and prevailed this past week is also influenced by election laws and institutional barriers. This election week was not different from previous elections in the fact that the focus was on the democratic candidate and the republican candidate. The shocking part to me during the election this week was how close the popularity vote percentage wise were between the two candidates especially in the swing states. To me it was shocking because for me this election was beyond politics, it felt like to me people’s votes were also a reflection on how they felt about sexism, systematic racism and honestly human decency. I was relieved by the results. Historically, this election was a big deal because our first woman Vice President was elected and she is also the first person of color to be in that position. Her speech last night was amazing and all I can say is she opened doors for lots of future girls. She also brought hope to women such as my grandmother that the future will be brighter. My grandmother is an immigrant from India who has dedicated her life to making a better future for her own three daughters and six grandchildren. After hearing Kamala Harrris speak last night, she cried with happiness seeing a half indian, half aftican american woman be elected Vice President. When it comes to California state props, I was thrilled that prop 17 passed and that felons can vote once again. I do not believe in stripping human rights away from criminals. Felons in particular never made sense to me because once they have served their time in jail or prison there is no justification to continue to be punished once “justice has been served”. I was disappointed to see prop 22 pass that allows Uber and Lyft to classify employees as independent contractors. This was very frustrating to see because it allows the companies to be exempt from California Labor Laws and not give their employees health care benefits etc. I was not surprised by the outcome because this prop was backed by business oriented liberals and the commercials for this prop blasted every tv channel and media suggesting prop 22 was in the drivers best interest. The commercials advertised that if the prop passed it would allow drivers to continue to “work on their own time” but the truth is that was just a distraction. These commercials were funded by companies that had a personal interest in not having to provide benefits to employees. The five topics I would like to talk about in my final project for this class would be: The electoral vote and how it works Systematic racism within the history of our government Separation of church and state regarding the public school education system Why the United States is a democracy (historical information) What is federalism?

Elections

Reading chapter 8: Public Opinion and Voting and chapter 9: Campaigns and Elections was very interesting especially because the chapters were relevant with Election day a few days away. One thing I learned was there has been an increase of non voters over the last few years according to the text. I thought this was relevant because I believe this led to the outcome of the last election. The Pew Research center did a survey to determine why so many people chose not to vote. The survey’s results showed 70 percent of nonvoters didn’t vote because they felt uninformed about the candidates and 40 percent of non voters didn’t feel they had a duty to participate. Another option chosen by many nonvoters was that they felt their individual vote wouldn’t make a difference. All of these answers are answers I’ve heard from people that explained why they didn’t vote in our last election. These reasons are also reasons I’ve heard many say is why our current president is in office and it has been stressed by many that for participation is needed by every voter in this next election if they want to see a different outcome. Was shocked how many non-voters felt they were not well informed on the candidates. To me, that large of a percentage of people not feeling informed is very problematic in a country that relies on democracy to steer our country. Without voter participation, it is unlikely our government system will represent the people. My personal opinion is that a lot of confusion has to do with media which is talked about in chapter 9 of the text. Finally, I do believe that in our recent presidential debate that was broadcasted on TV, there is no doubt that the people were robbed from being informed and learning about the candidates. Instead, the debate was ego driven and didn’t allow the people to gain information but left the door open for more confusion. A lot of the media covering the candidates this year has not focused on informing the people but rather playing into the chaos by false news. Something that surprised me in chapter 8 was when the text was talking about geographic regions it mentioned that most white southerners were democrats because the Civil War and the outcome of it was blamed on republicans. For me, that was the last thing I was expecting to read. All the information I’ve gained over the years suggested that the south was a republican hotspot. Another surprise was reading that 45 percent of Americans consider themselves moderates and only 21 percent liberals and 35 percent as conservatives. This was news to me because if almost half of Americans consider themselves moderates, why is every election centered around liberals and republicans? In this current election climate there is an intense feeling of us versus them between the liberals and conservatives. This idea of “Us v.s Them” may not be new but the intensity of this concept has grown this year. Not only with elections happening but with a call to action by the movements such as Black Lives Matter that have also put our government officials under a microscope on whether they have every citizen's best interest at heart or if it’s limited to the wealthy and white individuals. In the text it talks about voter suppression and this has happened in this 2020 election. Some states not allowing mail in voting during a pandemic or making voting centers limited in areas that have more residents of color. In chapter 9 the text talks a lot about the expense of campaigns and how over the years, campaigns have become more expensive. One reason for this the text points out is front loading primaries. When primaries are rushed, it doesn’t give candidates time to raise money for their campaign on the road. The initial idea is that candidates would begin their campaign road and if more people liked their stances, the more money they could gain along the campaign trail to propel them. Now, primaries are being pushed to sooner dates which results in only the financially abundant candidates can stay in the race. The text states “the fear is that an accelerated schedule of presidential primaries will likely favor the richest candidates”(p.200). The reason this stood out to me because I feel that it says a lot that our current president is not a career politician but is considered one of the wealthiest people in America. Even though the text talked about the ways campaign donations are regulated, there are also legal loopholes, soft money and independent expenditures that make regulating campaign money seem more like an ideal. It was also a surprise to me that the text states half of a candidate's endorsements come from television advertisements. This surprised me mostly because I am in the younger generation and my personal experience is that most of the canidational information I’ve seen has actually come from social media platforms. Though I have learned about the electoral college once in school before, I learned a lot by reading about it in the text. The electoral college is a group of electors chosen by voters of each state. These electors represent the people of their state in the election. I didn’t realize that voters didn’t directly vote for candidates but instead the electors that will cast the vote. The number of electors from a state is equal to the number of state representatives in both chambers of Congress which was also news to me. Most states except Maine and Nebraska use the “winner takes all” system while crediting the votes during an electoral college. This means that the majority of the votes is the state's choice of candidate. I have heard many people call the electoral college an outdated system. I don’t feel as if I am informed enough to say that however I do think it says a lot that I only learned about the electoral college once in my whole k-12 education. This relates to this coming election because based off the last election, the electoral college does not necessarily depict the popular vote. Hilary Clinton won the popular vote last election but lost because of the electoral college. Regardless of my own political preference, it seems odd to me that we conduct two types of voter representation that result in opposing numbers. It seems that if popular vote and the electoral college don’t align there means something is wrong with the system.