Essay Number 1 What are some advantages that our federal form of government has over a strong national government in a highly centralized system? What are some disadvantages of a federal system like ours? Advantage The simple majority system‚ like others plurality / majority‚ is defended fundamentally for its simplicity and for its tendency to favor winners who are responsible for a geographically well-defined area. The most frequently cited advantages are: Provides a clearly defined choice to voters
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AP U.S. Government: Chapter 9 and 10 Chapter 9: Interest Groups * K Street – where much political life occurs; a row of office buildings where nearly 7‚000 organizations are represented in Washington * The U.S. has many more organizations represented in its capital than other countries. These are interest groups (lobbies) who participate in politics. * Explaining Proliferation * Three reasons why interest groups are so common in this country * Cleavage in society * Divisions
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The Government’s Flaws and Normative Solutions America’s government can be defined as a federal republic. Federal meaning that individual states have a certain degree of power‚ but centrally there is a national government that has authority over them. In a republic‚ the people have the power to elect leaders who will govern according to the set of laws in the U.S Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Even though we have a set of
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The interest group I chose is Common Cause. It is one of the largest public-interest groups and was founded in 1968. Its goal is to reorder national priorities toward “the public” and to make governmental institutions more responsive to the needs of the public. Common Cause sparked a democracy reform movement that keeps growing. It drove the movement that won voting-right for 18-year-olds. It has also led campaigns that secured and now work to strengthen and defend the laws limiting the influence
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Influence of interest groups on the American legislature We elect politicians on the basis on the issues by which they stand‚ and these issues are either held up or weakened by the numerous interest groups that exist today. Interest groups target both major and minor issues‚ using all of their resources to sponsor or overpower the groups’ concern. Interest groups are composed of a limited range of the body of voters who have a great stake in the issues their group support. They make evident
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Describe how federal government operates. The federal government of the U.S. is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is known as the United States of America. The federal government comprises of three branches of government: a legislative‚ an executive‚ and a judiciary. These branches and their various powers are explained in the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution grants numerous powers to Congress. These include the powers to levy and collect taxes‚ to
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American political action is recognized in the role of interest groups. In those countries which most align themselves with the United States‚ namely Great Britain‚ France‚ and Germany‚ the role of interest groups is downplayed and only seen as a radical option for voicing political dismay. However‚ citizens of the United States are far more likely to voice their respective ideologies and beliefs via interest groups. As a result‚ interest groups play a much
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Interest groups are one important mechanism through which citizens in the United States make their ideas‚ needs‚ and views known to elected officials. Citizens can usually find an interest group that focuses on their concerns‚ no matter how specialized they may be. Directories of American voluntary associations reveal the incredible variety of reasons why citizens band together. However‚ interest groups generate a great deal of controversy. Some critics even blame interest groups for many of the
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Having a government that contains energy‚ stability and republican liberty might not seem that hard if one of these three ingredients are present‚ but if two or more are present in government it is where the difficulty begins. It is hard to fit all these three characteristics into one government because they do not blend together. Publius describes the need for energy and stability in the new government while at the same time maintaining the republican liberty. The 1787 Constitution achieves these
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Although they both serve as linkage institutions‚ interest groups and political parties have different goals in politics. The fundamental goal of interest groups is to influence legislative decisions and public policy by attempting to focus people’s attention on these topics or educate them on a certain issue or a small group of issues. They do this mostly by lobbying congressional committees at the local‚ state‚ and national levels‚ usually during campaign season. Grassroots lobbying and political
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