Why do the American people love US Politics? There are many answers to that question. Some folks say it is because we are so far apart; whereas some say it is because Americans believe in their country and their government, and they are willing to fight for it. Still others point out that we have an extremely diverse society, which makes a political system that works well almost anywhere. So, I would like to present a few possible reasons for why this political system does indeed work the way that it does in the US, and why perhaps it doesn’t work as well elsewhere.
First of all, as a former political science major at Harvard University, I do know that the American polity system does indeed work the way that it is supposed to. And that is, it checks up on itself. It makes sure that everything is working the way that it should be. And it also checks the other branches of government too. If they are not following the rules and procedures that they are supposed to follow, then they can get fired.
But that is not the case with most government branches. The executive branch cannot be fired by the legislative branch, or by the judicial branch. If they decide that they want to rule, rather than following the rules and procedures, they can do it. And if they decide not to rule, then they can hardly be fired.
If there was ever a time that I agreed with this assessment of US politics, it was when George W. Bush was elected President. I was living in Canada at the time, and I heard all the commentary on the radio about how badly he was losing his election. I can safely say that most of it was bogus. His approval rating was through the roof, and in fact, his disapproval rating was less than all the other candidates put together. He won anyway.
Another thing I thought was fascinating was the reaction when the US economy took a bit of a dive during the Bush Administration. Mainstream media was in a tizzy over how awful the recession was, and yet Bush supporters were saying it was the best recovery since the Great Depression. In other words, the government did work in the end, and the people who were affected the most by the poor economy did not care one way or the other.
A final thought on this subject comes to mind when you consider the number of wars that the United States has fought in the past hundred years. It would be easy to think that all of these conflicts were necessary evils of our past, and that somehow they actually helped us out. But that just is not the case. They only served to further weaken our country. I hope that future historians will see that we need less wars, and that fewer wars are likely to be necessary.