The Jacksonian Democrats of the early 1800’s often claimed that they were guardians of the Constitution, economic equality, individual liberty, and political democracy. However, a closer look at their leader Andrew Jackson’s policies and decisions while in office will show us, as with most politicians, that his party’s claims were not entirely verifiable. First, let’s look at the statement that the Jacksonian Democrats were guardians of the Constitution. The evidence provided in Document B, compounded with the testimonies of Documents A, C, F, and G, as well as many of Supreme Court Justice John Marshall’s cases, blatantly show the speciousness of these claims. As shown by Documents C and G, Jackson overstepped his Constitutional bounds in each of situation, that of the closure of the Second Bank of America, and that of the Indian Removal.
Type Lower house-to respond to the needs of the people faster since they only have a two year term. Laws dealing with revenue must start in the House. Upper house--The six year term means the Senate can be slower and consider the long term effects of laws. Term limits None None New session started January 3, 2013 January 3, 2013 Majority Leader Eric Cantor, (R), since January 5, 2011 Harry Reid, (D), since January 4, 2007 Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, (D), since January 5, 2011 Mitch McConnell, (R), since January 4, 2007 Seats 435 voting members, 6 non-voting members: 5 delegates, 1 resident commissioner 100 Political groups Democratic (200), Republican (233), vacant (2) Democratic (53), Independent (caucus with Democrats) (2), Republican (45) Next election November 4, 2014 November 4, 2014 Voting system First-past-the-post First-past-the-post Length of term 2 years--all 435 seats are up for reelection every two years. 6 years--Here there is a continuous body idea.
Parties have been known to be competitive, potentially affecting the type of policies that states pursue. Political parties and interest groups are different; however they do share some similarities in their functions. A political party is an organization that seeks to gain and maintain power within government. It seeks to run the government and enforce policies. Its functions consist of nominating candidates to office that the people would vote for and attaching their party name to the candidate to influence voter choice, organize and run elections, and organize the legislature.
3. Chief Executive: How did the government function? Any noted appointees? Was the President flexible or highly organized? 4.
However, there are inevitably some questions arising about the electoral college and whether it still works best for the US today. Some say it should be completely scrapped, with a more democratic direct election taking it's place; others day that it can be mended by reforming it, and the final argument is to defend it, and leave it as it is. One reason to end the electoral college system is because it is not democratic enough. The winner of the nationwide vote could in fact lose the election because of the way the electoral college works. Popular vote winners have been denied the presidency in 1824, 1876, 1888 and 2000.
An example of this is the events of 2013 when congress blocked Obama’s attempts to control gun ownership. This was an effective use of the checks and balances as congress successfully blocked a piece of Obama’s legislation. The use of this power is not always effective because congress’ blocking can sometimes lead to a gridlock situation. An example of this was in 2010 when congress and Obama spent weeks in gridlock trying to decide how to cut the federal budget. The effectiveness of the legislative checks and balances depends on the makeup of congress.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of parliamentary and presidential systems of government. In order for one to identify the strengths and weaknesses of Parliamentary and Presidential systems of Government, one has to firstly define what a Parliamentary government is and what a Presidential government system is, then compare and contrast the functions and different methods of governing associated with both terms, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of both systems of government What is A Parliamentary System of government ? According to the Miriam Webster online dictionary, a parliamentary system can be defined as a system of government where the real executive power is vested in the cabinet, which is composed of the members of the legislature who are individually and collectively responsible to the legislature. Parliamentary governments can also be defined as governments having an absence of a clear separation of powers between the branches of government, specifically the executive branch, responsible for implementing laws and the legislative branch which is responsible for creating laws. Instead the executive branch is “merged” with and dependant upon the legislative branch.
What is the relationship of the United States to other nations? What are the roles of the citizen in American democracy?). 4 – C1.0.3 Describe the purposes of government as identified in the Preamble of the Constitution. 4 – C3.0.2 Give examples of powers granted to the federal government (e.g., coining of money, declaring war) and those reserved for the states (e.g., driver’s license, marriage license). Content Objectives: TLW recall the roles of citizens in the American democracy TLW describe the purpose of the federal government as defined in the Constitution TLW explain why a limited federal government is important in American democracy.
The key element of the model is that political power is centred on Whitehall and Westminster. The Westminster model is split into two different sections, Westminster’s politicians and Whitehall’s civil servants. The civil servants are permanent, whereas the Westminster politicians aren’t. In Westminster they run under parliamentary sovereignty. The key principle of parliamentary sovereignty is that the system is based on two linked characteristics; a first past the post electoral system, which inevitably give one party the majority.
The system works by allowing the electorate to vote for a party but not a particular member because of this it is up to parties to decide what order candidates in multi-member constituencies appear on the list, once the ballots are counted each party receives the number of seats proportionate to the number of votes it received. Another voting system used in the UK is the system which elects the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh assembly and the London assembly: AMS. This system gives the electorate two votes, one for a candidate the other for a party. Particular candidates are elected using AMS, and the parties are elected using a list system. The percentage of votes a party receives determines the overall number of