Political Science

Question 1
There are a number of pathways to influence in U.S politics thus many groups use different types of activities with an aim of inserting pressure on the government officials. Outside strategies are used to shape as well as help win opinion of the public. Outside strategies at times are merely indirect efforts meant to exert pressure and influence the outcome of certain policy decision. It is said that interest groups, congregational committees and executive agencies often collaborate on mutual beneficial policy making in a manner that is greatly invisible to the public. Some of the outside strategies employed to influence America political system may include the following

Signaling is an outside activity used by outsiders in United States political system. Different groups aim at showing policy makers the level of support they command from the public. They win public support by criticizing poor policies put in place by policy makers and explaining the possible consequences of such policies to the public. Information is conveyed to the public by various means of communications with journalist taking an upper hand in spreading the information to the public thereby influencing the political system (Walker 1991, 105)

Another strategy employed by outsiders to influence U.S political system is conflict expansion. The outside groups use the above strategy to expand their support by the public. Their aim is to accelerate debates on some policies developed by policy makers so that the conflict is aggravated to an extent of touching the entire public. The intension is to force the government to amend some areas in the policy to fit the needs of both the public and outsiders (Lieberman 2009, 2)

Similarly it is said that the effect legislative and administrative lobbying on Americas foreign policies has been used by groups to influence policy decisions. Research has shown that organized lobbying by outside groups usually exerts pressure as well as influence in various ways. For instance, it may use mass media to increase publicity, organizing, engage in protests and demonstrations, and many others. Likewise, it is agreeable that pressure exerted to the government by the outside groups usually drive Americas foreign policies and that globally, oriented business groups often impose consistent and quite significant influence in conjunction with support from foreign policy expertise (Walker 1991, 110).

It can therefore be said that the strategies used by outsiders to influence U.S political system are many and includes organizing of meetings and conferences, using mass media to inform the public on specific policies, providing speakers for various groups, engaging in class action lawsuits, and litigation among others mentioned before (Lieberman 2009, 3).

Question 2
Money is said to play a big role in the politics of United States. Research shows that it is very difficult to meet with dignified politicians like senators if you dont have money. The available data shows that donors have been paying huge sums of money to politicians, rich individuals, and corporations to enable them get direct access to political representatives and effectively lobby for their grievances which means low income earners and the poor do not have a chance to air out their grievances because they cannot afford to offer money to politician. The situation in America political system suggests that there is high level of financial dependence by politicians and the only way that influences channeling the opinions of the people (Walker 1991, 112).

Question 3
Civil disobedience refers to refusal to follow laws or policies believed to be unjust. Practitioners of civil disobedience use non violent techniques in order to bring wide attention to injustices taking place in the government. Currently, civil disobedience in America has been seen in form of marches, strikes, demonstrations and other types of economic resistance aimed at opposing poor political decisions. In America, the most outstanding practitioner of civil disobedience was Dr. Martin Luther King who led Americans in a series of peaceful marches, sit-ins, and boycotts. Dr. Luther, who was a civil rights leader, achieved international popularity by leading Americans in various protests and he is said to have been jailed many times. Mass arrests, killing of civilians while demonstrating, beating pledged to non civil disobedience served as vital factors in passage of new civil rights legislation and communicating the opinion of the general public (Woodcock 1966, 2).

Question 4
Currently, American media is characterized by various problems such as sliding profits, propaganda, manipulation scandals, among others. It is indicated that media distortions, omission as well as inaccuracy is an issue that has been acknowledged by many people outside America although there is a given number of Americans that have identified cases of bias in the media. Research shows that it is difficult for average citizens in America to get an open objective view of a number of things especially on global issues. Many citizens in United States often obtain narrow view of various vital global issues and even those who watch news on television reports that they only view limited headlines. The above issues charactering American media has contributed to citizens identifying high level of biasness (Shah 2009, 2).

Question 5
There are a number of constraints in American media which range from inability for most of journalists to observe professional code of conduct as one journalist said that the biggest constraint is moral rectitude. In Arizona for instance, journalists could formulate their own stories to match what has been outlined in the newspapers. It is also said that there are cases of shortage in collecting commercial resources which is accredited to lack of time and money to facilitate gathering of information. Similarly, some journalists reports that they are limited to gather news because of the small size of staff along with low pay, lack of incentives among others (Weaver 2006, 79).

Question 6
Political ideologies in America influence political behaviors in different dimensions. For instance, religion in America is said to have got greater influence in American political behaviors for over forty years. It is said that Americans with high traditional beliefs and behaviors tend to vote for republican candidates while those that are quite secular tend to vote for democratic candidates. Similarly, concerns about economic justice also influence political behaviors. Research carried out to find out the relative influence of economic justice shows that government decisions pertaining to distribution of services and benefits greatly influences political behaviors in America (Rasinsiki 2005, 1).

Question 7
The powers of federal government have grown in America due to a number of issues although much credit goes to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his novel deal. The beginning of the growth of federal government lies in constitution convention that allowed a federal income tax. Similarly the government managed to grow because of changing its mandate and enlarging its powers, protecting the rights of their citizens. The biggest growth in the government was the civil war because it helped create supremacy over states, laid a foundation for the growth of various groups of interest such as injured war veterans were then entitled to pensions, expansion of railroads, regulation of water borne shipping, America food administration helped to control entire food industry from agriculture to sale, fuel regulations and finally regulating the entire economy among others were the basis for the growth of federal government in America (Holcombe 1997, 4).

Question 8
The need for adversarial system in America was influenced by the need to guarantee coexistence and respect for human rights so as to ensure effective use of the law in courts of law so as to guarantee Americans with order and security. The system aims at abandoning the inquisitory penal system that has been responsible for inefficiency, corruption, disorganization and others forever. The importance of the adversary system has helped ensures that trials, presentation of proofs and making a verdict should take place in the same trial process thus doing away with the issue of the judge making a verdict basing on paper work but having higher level of contact with the defendant. Another effect of the system is that it does away with dilatory motions and it points out that application of penalties will be subordinated to respect of human rights thus the system is essential for promoting social peace based in human rights (Jackson 2009, 1).