Question 1
The three forms of democracy representative democracy, republic and constitutional democracy are central to preserving the rights of individual citizens. Representative democracy offers the electorates the opportunity to elect their leaders who represents them in parliament and central government. This is the most common system of governance practiced in many countries. The elected leaders under this form of government have the mandate to serve the electorate over specific period of time before the next elections (Peterson, 2003). The leaders are elected at all levels of government which varies from city level to the federal level. On the other hand constitutional democracy is a form of governance which is championed by constitutionalism. There exist well defined structures and powers which dictates how the government runs the affairs of the country. The constitutional democracy is under constant threats in countries which practice it and this is because there is widespread corruption and manipulation of the electoral system.
Despite the presence of constitution, it largely remains as just a piece of paper with no proper implementation of its provisions. The institutions are usually compromised and controlled by the incumbent thereby putting in jeopardy the thriving of democracy which the constitution champions to uphold. In countries such as America have both the state and central government and each level of government has its roles well cut out for them. The state has the right to reject any element of imposition that the central government might want to impose on them. Finally, the republic is a type of democracy in which the elected representatives on legislation (Peterson, 2003). The voters therefore empower the elected representatives to act on their behalf with the belief that they will act in the best interest of the electorates. Nations such as France, Italy, Indonesia, and India are republics. America is also a federal republic founded on constitutionalism.
All the three forms of governance are effective in enhancing democracy; it is therefore important that there provisions are adhered to the latter by the leaders. Any practices such corruption, electoral malpractices, and abuse of office should be shunned and culprits should be punished heavily. This is the only way to ensure that the fruits of these forms of governance are felt by ordinary citizens.
Reference
Peterson, T. (2003). Constitutional Democracy (6th ed.). New York, U.S: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Question 2
Federalism is a form of government that enables a country to have control by two levels of government; the national government and the county governments for individual states. The United States constitution grants the national government with the power to oversee the national functions while the state governments have the jurisdiction to deal with local concern. The federal government consists of three main branches that have separate powers (Roust & Shvetlova, 2007). The three branches of the national government consist of the parliament judiciary, and the executive. Each of the three branches of the national government has independent and separate functions ensuring separation of powers. The constitution of the United States provides for three clauses which clarify the separation and distribution of powers among the three constituents of the national government. The clauses also explain the checks and balances among the branches of the central government.
There is no single branch of the national government that can perform the functions of any other branch. The U.S. explains the different functions of each branch. The legislature has the congress whose mandate is to design laws for the country, the executive whose main component is the president and performs the duty of implementing the laws while the judiciary is made up of the court system whose work is to interprets and determine legal issues (Ritchie, 2006)). Despite the fact that the three bodies of the national government have powers and duties, the constitution provides room for interrelations among them. They work hand in hand with each other enabling for the checks and balances for the national government.
The checks as well as balances discourage any single branch of the state government from attempts to assume too much power (Ritchie, 2006)). Under the checks and balances for the federal government, the functions of one arm of the central government encourage the management and monitoring actions of the other. For example, the President has to sign the legislation passed by the congress while the congress has to approve the president’s appointments of top government management. This set up for checks and balances safeguard the country against tyranny.
The United States of America has faced some issues on its policy and the policy making process. One of such issues is the federalism policy and the associated challenges with the national government. With the current policy on federalism, the national government is tasked with the provision of education, infrastructure, healthcare and most concerning the grant programs. The most pernicious thing for the national government is its involvement in the grant programs when the American citizens cannot afford healthcare nor secure good paying jobs. . For the United States to make further steps, the federalism policy that was abolished between the sixties and seventies, should find its way back. The federalism policy then allowed the congress and the executive to make decisions. They made informed decisions that worked out the challenges the country was facing. The federalism of that time should be restored for the nation to go ahead.
References
Roust, K. & Shvetlova, O. (2007). Representative Democracy as a Necessary Condition for the Survival of a Federal Constitution. The Journal of Federalism, 37 (2) pp. 244-261.
Ritchie, A. C. (2006). The Constitution and the states. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 185(1), 16–21.
