Summary Of America The Unusual By John Kingdon
American Government
2/20/2006
America the Unusual
A look at John Kingdon's factual exploration.
America the Unusual, by John Kingdon, is a series of observations and discussions as to the unique nature of American politics and government. America is considered "The Land of Opportunity" by many - but what makes it different from other countries? How does it provide more opportunity than other systems of government or politics? In his book, Kingdon continually poses and answers questions regarding the truly individual nature of American government, and helps explain not only why things are done in the manner of current times, but how it came to pass.
Kingdon's first and primary point that seems to continue throughout his writings is the …show more content…
relatively low amount of interference the government exercises in the affairs of its citizens. Americans desire limited public policy, a result of several components of American ideology - the most important being our desire for individuality and equal opportunity for all citizens. There are many possible explanations for the reason Americans think this way, including the personality of the immigrants who fled here, our physical isolation from other countries, and the diversity of the American population, among other things. Kingdon suggests all of these as a potential starting point for discussion of why America is so unusual when compared to the rest of the world - despite being made up of immigrants from other countries, they have created a system of politics and government unlike any other.
Kingdon vouches greatly that autonomic individualism is one major feature of America that separates it from its contemporaries. America was a country founded out of mistrust for the government - and in creating its own constitution, limited the powers of its government by separation of state. A further fragmentation of government power occurs on the level of the state, which acts independently of the federal government, while still yielding to the controls of the Constitution. Even in the upper reaches of government, individualism in opinions is encouraged. This sort of 'separatism' contributes to making America truly unique when compared to a government like that of the United Kingdom, where Kingdon states, "Members of parliament have even been known to lose their seats... because they abstained on issues deemed central to their party."(11) Whereas such a course of actions would be punished in the British parliament, in America it is simply viewed as representing the rights of the people.
Kingdon mentions the government's relative lack of interference with its people in both positive and negative respects, framing his argument effectively.
While it permits more freedom to its citizens, it also neglects to properly provide things such as health insurance, something every other industrialized country makes centrally available. Public policy in the United States has been in perpetual swing, from the increased participation during the Great Depression in the form of the New Deal, to the decreased government regulations in the 70's. An exception is made in the form of the American military, which is highly regulated and funded. Defense is a huge part of America's culture due to the requirements of being one of the world's superpowers. Kingdon suggests that defense spending began as a response to the threat of communism. Since the end of the cold war, spending for defense has decreased and will most likely continue to decrease, but it represents a large branch of the government that is run and regulated out of private hands. Another exception to this public regulation rule is education the U.S. government provides universities, colleges, and trade schools for public use, the number of which trump many other
countries.
Kingdon sticks largely to the facts in his writing, citing a large amount of other sources. Much of his arguments are, in fact, simply comparisons between the factual differences of systems of government. Kingdon's main focus is separation of powers and limited government setting a standard for American culture, and he examines this idea from multiple perspectives throughout the book. It is evident that despite having a historical background that has its roots in other countries, America is a country unlike any other a product of isolation, individualism, and diversity that Kingdon holds is relatively uninterrupted by government interference.
2/20/2006
America the Unusual
A look at John Kingdon's factual exploration.
America the Unusual, by John Kingdon, is a series of observations and discussions as to the unique nature of American politics and government. America is considered "The Land of Opportunity" by many - but what makes it different from other countries? How does it provide more opportunity than other systems of government or politics? In his book, Kingdon continually poses and answers questions regarding the truly individual nature of American government, and helps explain not only why things are done in the manner of current times, but how it came to pass.
Kingdon's first and primary point that seems to continue throughout his writings is the …show more content…
relatively low amount of interference the government exercises in the affairs of its citizens. Americans desire limited public policy, a result of several components of American ideology - the most important being our desire for individuality and equal opportunity for all citizens. There are many possible explanations for the reason Americans think this way, including the personality of the immigrants who fled here, our physical isolation from other countries, and the diversity of the American population, among other things. Kingdon suggests all of these as a potential starting point for discussion of why America is so unusual when compared to the rest of the world - despite being made up of immigrants from other countries, they have created a system of politics and government unlike any other.
Kingdon vouches greatly that autonomic individualism is one major feature of America that separates it from its contemporaries. America was a country founded out of mistrust for the government - and in creating its own constitution, limited the powers of its government by separation of state. A further fragmentation of government power occurs on the level of the state, which acts independently of the federal government, while still yielding to the controls of the Constitution. Even in the upper reaches of government, individualism in opinions is encouraged. This sort of 'separatism' contributes to making America truly unique when compared to a government like that of the United Kingdom, where Kingdon states, "Members of parliament have even been known to lose their seats... because they abstained on issues deemed central to their party."(11) Whereas such a course of actions would be punished in the British parliament, in America it is simply viewed as representing the rights of the people.
Kingdon mentions the government's relative lack of interference with its people in both positive and negative respects, framing his argument effectively.
While it permits more freedom to its citizens, it also neglects to properly provide things such as health insurance, something every other industrialized country makes centrally available. Public policy in the United States has been in perpetual swing, from the increased participation during the Great Depression in the form of the New Deal, to the decreased government regulations in the 70's. An exception is made in the form of the American military, which is highly regulated and funded. Defense is a huge part of America's culture due to the requirements of being one of the world's superpowers. Kingdon suggests that defense spending began as a response to the threat of communism. Since the end of the cold war, spending for defense has decreased and will most likely continue to decrease, but it represents a large branch of the government that is run and regulated out of private hands. Another exception to this public regulation rule is education the U.S. government provides universities, colleges, and trade schools for public use, the number of which trump many other
countries.
Kingdon sticks largely to the facts in his writing, citing a large amount of other sources. Much of his arguments are, in fact, simply comparisons between the factual differences of systems of government. Kingdon's main focus is separation of powers and limited government setting a standard for American culture, and he examines this idea from multiple perspectives throughout the book. It is evident that despite having a historical background that has its roots in other countries, America is a country unlike any other a product of isolation, individualism, and diversity that Kingdon holds is relatively uninterrupted by government interference.