Political Science

1) Greider writes that American elites, who are accustomed to  winning  in politics, feel powerless. Why is this so

According to Greider, these political elites feel they are  held hostage  by public opinion or  plebiscite democracy.  Public opinion is the  pulse  of the society and any politician who aspires to stay in office or aspire for a higher one must be attuned or feel the pulse of the public in order to continue winning. Consequently, they are politically emasculated as they cannot assert their leadership by daring to go against popular opinion (Greider, 1993, p. 4).

2) Greider maintains that  expressions of popular aspirations  in elections do not matter in American politics. Why It can be inferred that no one takes them seriously anymore. This may stem from indifference or apathy. Issues are mere fodder of campaigns as citizens look at the character of anyone aspiring for higher office. As a result, these opinions or issues become mere punchlines or motherhood statements to electrify the people during election campaigns as aspirants tell the people what they want to hear to get their support and their character will do the rest. What this shows is an apparent disconnection of public interests to the process of governance, which is why political leaders sometimes tend to make policies that are not consistent to the  will of the people  (Greider, 1993, p. 6). What could make this worse is that the public must have become jaded to the point of indifference or are nave to leave politics to the politicians while they go about their normal lives (Greider, 1993, p. 6).

3) Greider writes that  grassroots  lobbying has become a major technique for interest group influence. Explain why this is so, and give evidence that it is effective for this purpose. The reason why it is effective is that interest groups operate outside the system and therefore are not subject to checks and balances. Furthermore, the target audience are the  little people  themselves to enable them to gain political leverage.  One example on how grassroots lobbying is employed involves issues regarding the environment.  What makes them effective is they have the people on their side the ones their adversaries in business and politics are supposed to serve even though they do not possess the resources or machinery of these  big  groups (Greider, 1993, pp. 71-72).

4)  The utterly normal thing about the savings and loan scandal, as it developed over a decade, is that is was never really treated as a  public issue.  (Greider) Why was it not a public issue Could anything, as you see it, have been done to make it a public issue It is because it is something that ordinary citizens cannot easily comprehend as financial sectors battle it out for control.  Because of their  ignorance  or inability to understand the issues here, only a few could be very vocal about it. It can be inferred here that the people in these institutions know what they are doing, and they felt it is best leaving it that way (Greider, 1993, p. 25).

5) Wasserman makes it clear that the Drafters of the U.S. Constitution created a governmental system that would resist concentration of power and facilitate the dispersal of power. Based on what you have read in the Greider book, is the U.S. government today working in the way desired by the Drafters Why or why not Considering the circumstances, there is no absolute or definite answer given. While theoretically, it calls for a dispersal of power, reality shows otherwise as politicians have fallen victim to the adage by Lord Acton which states that  power corrupts.   In other words, politics is a power struggle and even a democratic government like the United States is not immune to the temptations of power as politicians look after their interests first which is why they do not get reelected next time since they failed to live up to their role as servants of the people.