Question and Answer; Government
Things the Government Must Do
The government has an obligation to carry out some actions in order to ensure that the country forges ahead. Firstly, any government has a duty to ensure that it has in place the various policies that empower women, in order to ensure that the women in their nations are empowered in all fields. Be it to protect them from the discrimination and abuses that they may encounter in their day to day lives. This should be among the major priorities that the government has to have in mind due to this being a global problem that all countries have in place policies to eradicate.
Secondly, any government has an obligation to better the literacy levels in the nation. This is through building the schools or bettering the already existing schools. This is mainly due to the fact that all the governments have the right to ensure that they mold the young generation for the future.
Lastly, the government has an obligation of bettering the economy of the country. The main reason various governments are brought into power by the public is due to them having the best manifestos as compared to their rivals’. Bettering the economy of the state will always be tailored to improve the standard of living of the citizens and hence each and every government must always have in place these strategies.
How the Government can be a Problem to the Citizens.
The Government can be a problem to its citizens in many ways. Firstly, if the government is dictatorial in nature it will always cause a problem to its citizens. This is due to the fact that the involvement of the citizens in the governance is a key characteristic that all the governments must adopt for the success of the nation.
Secondly, if the government has in place policies that may be said to infringe the rights of the citizens. For example, if the government has in place policies that really exploit the citizens in terms of the taxes they are paying; it will always be very problematic to the citizens if the government imposes really high taxes to the common citizen without their best interest at heart.
Lastly, the government can be problematic if it has in place projects which in turn harm the citizens be it mentally or financially. For example, if the government has in place nuclear projects without having the correct health protection mechanisms, then in cases that there’s a nuclear meltdown or an accident then this will always be a cause of problems to the members of the public.
Political System and Political Culture.
Political System can be described as the way that a nation always carries out its political activities. This may be through the laws, procedures. However, Political Culture is the way the citizens of the country carry out their political activities. This will in most cases be determined by their morals and political beliefs of how a desirable society should be.
Political Socialization
Political Socialization may be defined as the process by which a country develops its set of political ideas. This development will always be determined by various factors, namely;
Family: Family is a major determinant of the values that an individual goes ahead to develop. This is mainly due to the fact that the parents always play a major part in instilling certain values or ideas in a person. This is among the reasons that you will hear somebody claim that “I am from a republican family”.
Mass Media: The members of the 5th Estate always play a major role in instilling these political values on the citizens as a whole. This is mainly due to the fact that a particular station or paper may be affiliated to a certain party or political though and in turn this will cause them to always only show the positive actions of this party or individual. If somebody has subscribed to this Newspaper or a constant viewer of this channel, then he or she is most likely to be influenced by these stations.
Schools: These are institutions that the child spends the better part of his or her life. At the schools, they will always be exposed to different schools of thought and may be persuaded to back a particular line of though hence they will be said to have been influenced by the learning institution.
Work Place: This is again another major determinant of an individual’s political stand. This will always be caused by the fact that in most cases if a large percentage of the work mates are affiliated to a certain political ideology, then this individual will in most case be influenced to also get affiliated to this particular political attitude.
Religion: This is also among the various factors that will always determine how this particular person acts or behaves. If a certain political bus is against this individual’s religion, then they will always tend to have a negative attitude towards this political party and the same to the contrary.
Policy Making Process
Most countries have in place bodies that are mandated to carry out the policy making process. However, the citizens may at times have in place various activities that will in turn affect the process of making policies in the country.
Firstly, the citizens can influence the policy-making process by them clearly tabling their thoughts of these policies. This will be effective due to the fact that the policies are normally tailored to meet the needs of the citizens and in cases that they are able to air their views, either through letters or verbally, then they may influence the policy making process in their country or community.
Secondly, the citizens can influence the policy making process of the government by challenging the policies that have been brought by the policy makers. This will mostly be through the available forums. It is best for them to challenge these policies in the courts on the ground of repugnancy and if this is unsuccessful, then the next option should be the strikes and go-slows.
Lastly, policy making processes can be influenced by the citizens via them calling the press conferences. The media has been realized to be among the major platforms of mobilization and hence if they use the media houses to give their opinions, then they may influence the decision-making process.
Military Governments
Military Governments are in most cases established when the members of the military seize power from the sitting government. This may be through force or by hem being legally being allowed to form the government. However, these governments are always formed after a country seizes power be it from a foreign country or via a coup.
History has however been able to prove that these governments will in most instances not last as long as the other regimes. This is mainly due to the hostility of these governments to the general public and infringement of most of the human rights hence they will always lack the backing of the general public and will be ousted. In addition to this, the international law has various provisions, such as The Hague Conference (1907) and the Geneva Conference (1949), which will always limit the continuous existence of the military governments which will always reciprocate in them not being around for long.
Bureaucracies
These are the systems of making decisions where these decisions must always be arrived at through a certain pre-set hierarchy. This is very important, due to the fact that it ensures thatvarious important decisions will only be arrived at after following a set standard of operations. In addition to this, Bureaucracy comes with the requirement of employing professionals and hence the decision arrived at will be the best decision.
However, it comes with its set of negative impacts. This is mainly due to the fact that bureaucracies may be considered to be time-consuming and complex, hence cannot be relied upon during emergencies. In addition to this, it may limit an individual’s innovation ability, hence may render him or her ineffective.
Public Policy
Public Policy may be defined as the process by which the needs of the citizens of the country are addressed. It is important due to the fact that it is mainly tailored to address a certain need and hence may act as a way of ensuring that the members of the general public are always aware of how a certain issue will always be handled. This is mainly due to it being developed over a particular period of time.
References
Barrett, K., & Richard, G. (2015). The Causes, Costs and Consequences of Bad Government Data. Retrieved from Governing the States and Localities: http://www.governing.com/topics/mgmt/gov-bad-data.html
Holmes, B. (2011). Citizens' engagement in policymaking and the design of public services. Retrieved from Politics and Public Administration Section : http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1112/12rp01
Owen, D. (2008). Political Socialization in the Twenty-first Century. Montepelier: Center for Civic Education and the Bundeszentrale fur politische.
