DEMOCRATS-REPUBLICANS

 DEMOCRATS - REPUBLICANS

Along the U.S. history, 2 parties have ruled the political life, these are the Democrat party and the Republican party. Not because they are the only parties, but because these are the only ones that have make it to the Presidency.

The main difference between these parties is that the Democrats are considered liberals and the Republicans are considered conservators. It is important that we understand that the conception of “left” or “right” is different depending the country, and in America the difference between this 2 is very little.

Let’s see the essential differences.

Democrats, are in favor of an interventionist government within the corporate sector in order to regulate their activities, since they believe economy should be controlled by the State. On the other hand, Democrats refuse to regulate issues linked to morality and traditions of the citizens, they are in favor of the social struggle, the constant improvement of communities and the establishment of social welfare laws to protect especially the minority groups within the country. 

Their foreign policy view is oriented towards the NO involvement in international conflicts or foreign wars, leaving international issues rather to the U.N. or other international institutions.
This explains President’s Obama campaign of removing troops in Iraq, even when this haven’t happen.

Republicans, “The grand old party” or “The party of the rich” believe that government should not intervene in the economy, as a neoliberal approach.  They assure that the State should regulate the social behavior of individuals (They are against of homosexual marriage and adoption, drug consumption and some other). Away from the social stratification proposal of Marx, they assure that in society all the roles are given and should NOT change at all since this would alter the order the country has. 

Republicans are the majority in the Chamber of Representatives of the U.S. and this makes them the biggest opposition to Barack Obama’s government.

As for their foreign policy view, they promote military use and the projection of the U.S. as the super armed power it is and even show off more than what they actually have. 

SOURCES 

http://www.democrats.org/

http://www.gop.org/

What makes the American presidential system so unique? 

The characteristics of a presidential system are

• Separation of power. In the specific case of the U.S. this is a core because of the checks and balances its political system has since the past.
• Unification of the roles of head of state and head of government under the figure of the President. President is also commander in chief of the military forces.
• Election by suffrage. This gives the president the legitimacy of the citizens.

•            President CANNOT dissolve the congress. This again gives the check and balance to the system, although they work together, they are independent of action.

As we know, The United States political principles are based in DEMOCRACY as the ruling ideology for whatever decision they make, whether it is economical, civil, military or political, and their system as it is presidential is not an exception.

The United States presidential system is defined by this specific traits:

Popular Sovereignty Since the president is elected by popular methods, even when it is not a direct suffrage they use their right to vote to orient the election towards their favorite candidate.

Division of Power To avoid tyranny and promote cooperation the power is divided and does not only relay in the Executive power.

Federalism To keep the nation cohesion and avoid the problem of the confederation and the willingness of independence of some states in the union.

Representative democracy Comes as a tradition not only from ancient Greece but more close, from the colony when they had William Penn and the representative assemblies. Democracy is the government of the people, so the president is the director of the nation but because and for the people.

Legal equality As it is stated in the Declaration of Independence, "Equality before the law”, since then the American life has been marked by the defense of equality (Civil Rights, Black people voting, Women’s rights etc.)

Judicial Revision Courts and tribunals are in charge of the constitutional and administrative control of the law. Any law or administrative act which is clearly opposed to the Constitution can be objected and ruled out by any tribunal and ratified by the Supreme Court.

Limitation of the State´s power (public power) –Limitations are established in the Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence, marked by a defense of individual rights in all foundational documents and State regulations. This is the base of the Federal spirit of the U.S.

Preponderance of civilian power over political power Since the President is the representative of the people and as well is the head in chief of the military forces, The Armed forces are under direct mandate of the people of the United States, represented by the President.

Political absenteeism  40% of the American citizens who are able to vote, chose for abstention this mark either they dislike and do not trust the candidates or that they trust in other’s decision to be best than their own.

As these characteristics denote the uniqueness of the U.S. Presidential system, it is not static and with the changes the world is presenting and even the internal dynamic of the county, it may vary from what we know today to the future. 

SOURCE:

Louis F. Monroy Class notes 

As we started the debate in class about what does “being an American” really mean, some of the arguments in the debate went from “Having migratory preferences when travelling trough the world” or even “Having the opportunity to belong to the most powerful race on earth” as having the citizenship of the United States of America.

What about the “chosen ones” to live the easy life, isn’t that what Hollywood always sales to us? The American society is the perfect society, where everyone has a place and a variety of opportunities.

If we go to the literal response to that, according to the American constitution the answer would be:

• -    Any person born in U.S. territory. (Guam, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, District of Columbia, Northern Mariana Islands.
• -          Children of U.S. citizens, no matter where they were born.
• -          By naturalization (after being a U.S. resident)
• -          Honorary citizenships

But more than a “green card” or a passport, being an American involves a series of behaviors, ethnicities, ideology and more cultural characteristics.

As Bellah mentions in the text “Civil Religion in America”, Americans hold a “civil religion” that cohesion them as a society, this religion is characterized by the inherited symbols, values, rituals and even holidays (as Thanks Giving).

When we think of the north American society we picture in our mind a multicultural society, united by their difference, in religion, in ethnicity, race etc. so when we figure out how cohesionate they are by this supra culture, at least I am amazed.

So another characteristic of what does being an American mean just came up.

This multicultural society exports to the world their “democratic” life, where you can get a burger for a buck and faster than you tinkle, the society of consumption.

As for decades this society ruled the world, when they got “ill” the whole world suffered of it as well, and the economic crisis of 2008 was not an exception.

Inside the country this idea of the solved life crashed as the amount of families in the street rose. The collateral effects in the globalized world appeared as the Greek economy crashed, and the Italian, Spanish and the whole European Union’s economy trembled.

So, this is another characteristic, being an American is to be somehow responsible of the WHOLE world’s wellness.

It would be unfair to blame a simple citizen for everything, but actions of one, makes the destiny of a whole.

SOURCES

“Citizenship and nationality” U.S. Department of State.

Bellah R. (2005), ´Civil religion in America’ in Daedalus, Vol. 134, No. 4, 50 Years (Fall,

2005), pp. 40-55, MIT Press.