Forms of Government, Essay Example

Equal Protection

The structure of a country’s political system is based primarily on how power and authority is distributed. Within most large countries are many political units. These can be states, provinces, colonies, districts, or other such groupings. The issue that differentiates one type of government from another is the level of authority granted the central (federal) government.

In a confederacy, the federal government has the least amount of power.  Each political unit is fairly autonomous and only awards the federal government as much (or little) authority as it chooses.  In most cases, the federal government has very limited power (CIA).

In a federal governmental system, political power and authority are split between the federal government and the political units. Political units can make their own laws, collect their own taxes, and manage their own internal affairs. The federal government does tend to have ultimate authority where conflicts arise.

A unitary form of government offers little authority to individual political units. The central government makes all laws, collects all taxes, and political units tend to serve as “administrative arms” for the central government. Unitary governments are not to be confused with socialist governments wherein the government owns production and distribution.

Unitary governments are preferable. In a confederate government, each political unit has equal and autonomous power which can lead to conflict and division. Federal governments have a lot of power, but do not have the tax resources collected by the political units to distribute for the common good. A unitary government (e.g. Canada, England, France)can be democratic and have free enterprise and still provide equitable healthcare and other basic human services to its citizenry.

The United States was founded on the premise that all men are created equal and according to the 14^th Amendment, every person should have equal protection under the law (Cornell). In contemporary America, this principle is still idealistically true although in practical application, debatable.

Given the increase in disparity between the wealthy (individuals and corporations) and the poor, one might argue that the US is entering another Gilded Age. In their paper, (McCarty, Poole, and Rosenthal 6-7)argue that a direct relationship exists between political polarization and economic equity. In essence, right-wing conservatism tends to favor the wealthy in terms of taxation and regulatory legislation. One might even argue that the US has become more of a plutocracy than a democracy.

Poor people often feel disenfranchised from not only the political system, but the court system as well.  In her paper presented at the annual conference of the American Sociological Association, (Hernandez 1-7) begins with a case study involving a poor family living in substandard housing.  The family did not seek legal recourse against the property owner due to their mistrust of the legal system in dealing with the economically disadvantaged.  Instead, they continued to live in the home while it continued to deteriorate.

This story is a shining illustration of how bias in the justice system affects the quality of life for those who feel disenfranchised from the system. 

Works Cited

Equal Protection. 2010. Cornell University. 22 June 2010 <http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/Equal_protection>.

Government Type. 2010. Central Intelligence Agency. 22 June 2010 <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2128.html>.

Hernandez, D. “Living in Paradox: Low Income Families, Home, and Neighborhood Challenges and (non) participation in the Legal System.” Diss. Conference of the American Sociological Association, 2007. Web. Web. 22 June 2010. <http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&hid=13&sid=193b2553-dd3c-4c66-81c6-2d951d425181%40sessionmgr13 >.

McCarty, N., K. Poole, and H. Rosenthal. Political Polarization and Income Inequality. Diss. Prinston U, ND. n.p.: Prinston, n.d. Web.