Write an essay explaining this state of affairs, focusing on why it is usually so difficult to accomplish
anything in American government. Discuss how the branches must usually work with each other in order
to make effective public policy, and then explain why this is so often difficult — with the result being
frequent gridlock. Finally, explain how parliamentary democracy in most other established democracies is
quite different from American democracy. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the American
system as compared to well-established parliamentary systems, such as those in the UK, Canada, and
Australia.
Political Science
Many countries across the world have their own styles of running their government. The
constitution of these countries does vary and provides the guidelines on how the government
should operate. Therefore, because of these, some government experience different challenges
in providing governance and leadership. This paper therefore deliberates on various aspects that
manifest in governments.
Accomplishing anything in American government has been cited to be so difficult.
Various reasons explain this situation. One of these problems originates from the political
structures in the US. Political class has contributed to these challenges. In most of the time, there
are political divisions entrenched in the society and this has contributed to change of focus on the
most salient aspects of the society. Abraham Lincoln is one of the most remembered presidents
and his argument that a house that is divided against itself is not able to stand hold on truth
Surname 2
(Janda 24). These divisions affect the unity and cooperation that would have helped the people to
achieve their dreams. Partisan politics is therefore one of the causes to blame for this stalemates.
The other reason that has made it hard to achieve anything in the government is the increased
focus on democracy. The people have a right to do whatever they want and go back to the
defense of democracy. The level of unemployment has increased as people sit and wait for the
government to carry out everything for them. This has therefore made it difficult for the
government to expedite all the issues and therefore leaving gaps.
For the government to work effectively and achieve its goals, all the branches of the
government are expected to work closely to be in a position to make effective public policy. The
branches include the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. There is separation of powers
and it is important that each branch respect the functions and the mandate of each other. The
executive should respect the court summons and ruling as well as the decisions reached by the
legislation (Janda 45). This will help to avoid stalemates in governance and when formulating
policies. During a crisis or a problem, the right branches should take the matter and provide
tangible solutions. In case the matter need consultation, all the branches should be consulted to
provide the way forward. Such operations and arrangements will go extra miles to ensure good
working relations in the government. For example, if a policy is proposed it should be taken to
the parliament as a bill and discussed. The members of the house should make amendments and
to the bill and if they deem it appropriate should pass and take it to the president for assent.
However, in case the bill is not worthy and attracts public outcry, any party that feels offended or
is against the bill should take the matter to the courts for a ruling.
Even though people expect these branches to work together, it is not always the case as
these results to gridlock. The problem is because of frequent conflicts between the various arms
Surname 3
of the government and conflicts between the government and the opposition. Impasse between
branches of government such as between the president and the senate or between the courts and
the parliament causes conflicts that jeopardize the operations of the government (Janda 50). Self-
interest is also another problem that has contributed to increased level of disagreement and
conflicts between these branches. People in power forget about their obligation in representing
the masses and instead fight and agitate for their own rights. These actions brew conflicts and
this affects governance.
Parliamentary democracy in most established democracies appears quite different from
that of America. This situation is explained by various reasons. One of the reasons that explains
these differences is that American form of government is presidential and therefore as opposed to
other democracies that are lead by prime ministers. Prime ministers form governments while US
president does not form government but an executive branch as he appoints the ambassadors,
cabinet officials and military leaders and head of regulatory agencies. Parliaments in other
democracies usually have the majority of the members and therefore are able to make decisions
that the government is spearheading. Furthermore, the president comes from the same parties of
the majority party members in the parliament. On the other hand, the US parliamentary
democracy, the president has no powers of appointing congressional leader and the president
parties may not automatically control either the house of congress or parliament. This therefore,
makes it hard for the president to provide leadership, as the majority members of the party may
not support him.
American systems has a number of advantages as wells as disadvantages when compared
to a well established parliamentary systems in countries such as Australia, Canada and UK.
America runs on a presidential system as opposed to these other countries such as Australia and
Surname 4
UK that have a prime minister as the head of state. Some of the advantages of US system is that,
the president is that there is high level of democracy. Before approving of any policy, various
branches scrutinize it and this ensures that decisions reached are essential for the people.
Another advantage of US system is that it is easier for the branches of government to check on
the behaviors or malpractices of other branches such as congress and this ensures accountability
and transparency in the government.
The disadvantages of this system are numerous. One of the drawbacks is lack of
responsiveness and efficiency. In a presidential system, there is no close unity between the
legislative and thee executive and this is likely to cause challenges in leadership (Hankla 200).
The people have no direct influence on the person that becomes president in these parliamentary
systems in countries such as Australia. The people vote the president in US system but the
election collegiate has the final mandate of determining who becomes president through their
voting. Therefore, this makes it difficult for a president to govern because, the number of the
congress or members of the house of parliament may not be enough to provide support. This
therefore, makes such a system more prone to military takeovers that occur in most cases when
the civilian governments have reached impasses (Jensen and McGrath 66). For instance, in US,
it is easy for a crisis to merge, if the people fail to embrace their ideological values and spirit of
democracy compared to other countries such as UK where the prime minister has the full
mandate to provide leadership. Ousting a prime minister is therefore difficult compared to a
president in US.
In US system the president and the congress has separate powers but equal claims to
legitimacy and power. Therefore, if the president of one party is divided with a congress of
another party, this can lead to a conflict. There is no democratic principle currently on which
Surname 5
such an impasse can be resolved and this therefore may affect the governance and leadership of
the country.
Works Cited
Hankla, Charles. “Fragmented Legislatures and the Budget: Analyzing Presidential
Democracies”. Economics & Politics, 25.2(2013): 200-228. Print
Janda , Kennethe. The Challenge of Democracy: American Government in Global Politics, The
Essentials (with Aplia Printed Access Card) / Edition 9 , US: Cengage learning, (2013).
Print.
Jensen, Christian, and McGrath, Robert. “Making Rules about Rulemaking: A Comparison of
Presidential and Parliamentary Systems”, In: Political Research Quarterly, 64. 3
(2011): 656-667. Print.
