While there are many types of government that exist today (democracy, democratic republic, dictatorship, monarchy, theocracy, etc), there are only three systems of government (unitary, federal, and confederal) that exist. Over the course of it's history, the United States has experience with all three of these systems, which will be discussed below. To be direct, however, the United States has a federal system of government under the U.S. Constitution.
Systems of government are usually identified by where the authority within a country lies, rather than who has that authority. Types of government are identified by the latter. Below is a description of each system, along with an example of a time when the United States experimented with each.
Systems of Government
Unitary: A unitary system of government is characterized by a country having a strong, central government. This means that while power is centralized and laws are uniform throughout the country, there is very little regional control, which can cause citizens who live in areas further from that central authority to feel "out-of-touch" with their government. Example: Prior to the American Revolution, Britain ruled the colonists from afar through it's unitary system of government. While King George III did send royal governors to rule over some colonies, those regional leaders only had authority under the direction of the King. Therefore, the strong central authority that ruled over the colonies, was literally located an ocean away in Britain. As the colonies grew in population and production, Britain increased regulation, leading the colonists to question whether another system of government would allow them more regional control.
Confederal: A confederal system of government is characterized as one in which there is simply a loose alliance of independent states. Unlike a unitary system, regional governments have most of the authority over their citizens, but there is still a weak central authority. Example: When the British colonists declared independence, they set up a blueprint for government referred to as the Articles of Confederation. Under that system, the newly independent states each created their own governments under their own constitutions and formed their own laws. Essentially, the state of Massachusetts was an entirely different country than the state of Virginia. However, with lack of a strong central authority to solidify their alliance, the states often found themselves at odds with each other. Due to the weak nature of a central government to solve this issues in a confederal system, the Articles of Confederation was sure to fail if major revisions were not made.
Federal: A federal system of government is characterized by a country having a division of authority between its strong central government and its regional governments. Both the central and regional governments have the power to make laws which may apply to all citizens in the country (in the case of the central government) or all citizens in the state (in the case of the regional government). Example: The Articles of Confederation failed because the confederal government lacked a central government with the authority to hold the regional governments accountable to the alliance they created on many fronts. Whereas a unitary government gave the central authority too much power (as seen through the King's abuse of power), the confederal government had stripped it's power completely. Therefore, the men who met to make revisions established through the United States Constitution, a division of powers between the states (located in state capitols) and the national government (located in Washington D.C.). This is the current system of government holds citizens accountable to their respective states and the national government, and holds the states accountable to the national government and each other.
Several different terms describe the government of the United States. The main feature of the government of the United States is democracy, or a system of government whereby people exercise authority over the government by voting. The United States is not a direct democracy but an indirect form of democracy. In a direct democracy, eligible voters cast votes for the laws and regulations governing them. The United States is an indirect democracy whereby eligible voters vote for representatives to pass laws on their behalf and, for lack of a better term, act as a watchdog over the administration of the government by civil servants.
Some political scientists refer to the government of the United States as a democratic republic. A democratic republic is a hybrid between democracy and a republic. A republic form of government refers to a government ruled by representatives and an elected president as opposed to a monarch. Eligible voters vote, as in other forms of democracy, for representatives. The problem with this term and why it may no longer be applicable to the United States is that many governments claim to be democratic republics in that voters vote for representatives. However, in many places, those representatives are chosen by a committee or by the ruling party, essentially limiting the choice of voters to candidates that are representative of the people in power or the ruling party. An example of this is North Korea. Led by a dictator, the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) and Provincial People's Assemblies (PPA) run the country. North Korean citizens vote for members of the SPA or PPA but have no say in government policy.
A more accurate description of the United States would be a democratic presidential republic, if you were to use the term.
Another term/concept you may be familiar with is a representative democracy. Representative government is a government where eligible voters elect representatives to serve and make laws on their behalf. Certainly, that describes the United States accurately. Other political scientists prefer the term constitutional republic because the Constitution guides the democratic process, and the branches of government (theoretically) have equal weight. To make the description more accurate, political scientists will add the word federal to constitutional republic, as the federal government supersedes state and local authority.
Whatever term you use to describe the government of the United States, it should include the word democratic, as voters still are the arbiter of political power as it is exercised in the United States. I suppose if a person really wanted to be accurate, they would call the United States a democratic constitutional representative presidential republic—but that would be too long. I suggest the form of government of the United States is a democratic representative form of government.
No comments:
Post a Comment