Government Influence and Power in US

Table of Contents

Introduction
History
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The government of the United States has gone through tremendous changes with the hope of improving the countries economy and stability. Its current federal system was aimed at apportioning the country into smaller administrative units to enhance governance. The earlier centralized system seemed to lock out some areas in terms of development. After the Second World War, the country realized how much it needed to stabilize and regain its political and economic stability. So much had been spent on the two wars and there was an urgent need for the country to regain. In its efforts, it decided to change the political outlook and strengthen its military supremacy. For a long time, America has been credited for its international supremacy in military and economics.

History

It was after the Second World War that the country realized the relationship between security and stability. For a long time the country had not invested much in military. In the 1930s, while Germany spent 23.5 percent of its resources to defence, America spent only 1.5 percent (Dean, 2004). This made the country to be ill prepared for the subsequent wars that it had to face, which has made it weaker economically. As much as the country continues to lead in the overall GDP, the percentage growth has continued to decline. In 2000, the World Bank found out that the country accounted for 27 percent of the worlds gross domestic product, which is the highest in the world economy. This is yet much lower to what it contributed several years ago. In 1980 it was 22%, 1960, 26%, 1938, 31% and 38 % in 1938.

Currently it has been predicted that China and India will immerge to be powerful in the economy displacing America from its position. A lot of questions have risen on what is making the country to loose its supremacy when it has all the potentials to rise. The current political system was aimed at improving the country rather than what it is currently experiencing. America has been a target for terrorist attacks with the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin ladens ware bouts remaining to be a mystery. Even though the country has intensified its war on terror; the inability to capture the main culprit remains to be a defeat on the countries military.

A government system that was meant to boost the countries political and economic power is facing some of the biggest challenges that have been never seen before, the question that has remained among the citizens is whether the earlier political system was far much better than the current one (Dean, 2004). The government was centralized and all the work of administration lay absolutely in the hands of the president and the ministers. With the current system, the country is divided into several states that are accountable to the central government. Several people have however criticized the functioning of the current system terming the state governments as mere puppets. The federal government has so much influence on the way the state issues are managed, which leaves them with narrow chances of implementing their own decisions.

It was hoped that by bringing the administration closer to the people, the public will have much more influence on the decisions of the country. As much as the people are given the chance to vote for their local and state leaders, the absolute authority for the nominated leaders to take leadership roles remain with the central government. The decisions made by the people have to first be scrutinized by the central government before they are considered for implementation. Such a system has made the decision making process very slow and thus slowing down development projects.

There has been a constant complain from the people from different states that feel the resources are not adequately distributed to them. The central government seems not to realize that different states have conflicting needs that is rarely attended to. The people require that through their representatives, the government should be able to distribute resources in accordance with the needs of a certain state. There has been inequality in the rate at which the states develop, due to the assumption that the needs are similar. This has seen some states develop at a much higher rate while others survive on minimum facilities.

This has made the people feel left out by the government despite their loud cry. The countries central leadership seems to be more concerned of the external affairs and neglecting the critical needs of the people. Despite the peoples diligence in working hard and honouring their dues by regularly paying their taxes, they seem not to enjoy the fruits of their labour. In the real sense, the country has laid emphasize in protecting its dignity and position in the world, forgetting the very people that support it (DeBow, 2005). As much as there is a need to protect the internal security of the nation, this should not be done at the expense of the peoples well being.

It is important for the countries leadership to understand that most of its security problems are becoming more of internal than external. With the current global financial crisis, the country needs to look more at the means that will ensure that it does not decline further (DeBow, 2005). It is a high time that the country realizes that the entire funds that they need to externally protect themselves are internally generated by the very people that are being ignored. When the citizens cannot have confidence in the current leadership then there is no way they are going to be motivated to work harder.

Conclusion

For any dynamic change to be experienced in the country, it requires a people who out of the agony of their suffering, need to come out strongly in protest of the trend. The leaders may be too preoccupied in making a political history for them selves to realize this. Just like the earlier freedom activist that can be credited for a historical change in America, a new breed has to resurface to defend the majority interest. Unless this happens, the country may have nothing to protect in future, it may only be remembered in the books of history as a once upon super power. There is still hope for the nation, the current predictions are not in any way meant to bring the country down. It is a wake up call that needs to be treated with urgency. The faster the country responds to it, the better for its future. The people are the most important channels to advocate for change, after all there cannot be leadership unless there are people to lead. In short it is the citizens that make the leadership. (Dean, 2004)