Federal government
TheState government
Local government
TheCounty government
TheTown or township governments
Town or township governments are organized local governments authorized in the state constitutions and statutes of 20 Northeastern and Midwestern states, established asMunicipal governments
Municipal governments are organized local governments authorized in state constitutions and statutes, established to provide general government for a defined area, generally corresponding to a population center rather than one of a set of areas into which a county is divided. The category includes those governments designated as cities, boroughs (except in Alaska), towns (except in Minnesota and Wisconsin), and villages. This concept corresponds roughly to the " incorporated places" that are recognized in by the U.S. Census Bureau, although the Census Bureau excludes New England towns from their statistics for this category, and the count of municipal governments excludes places that are governmentally inactive. About 28 percent of Americans live in cities of 100,000 or more population. Types of city governments vary widely across the nation. However, almost all have a central council, elected by the voters, and an executive officer, assisted by various department heads, to manage the city's affairs. Cities in the West and South usually have nonpartisan local politics. There are three general types of municipal government: the Mayor-council government, mayor-council, the commission, and the Council-manager government, council-manager. These are the pure forms; many cities have developed a combination of two or three of them.Mayor-council
This is the oldest form of city government in the United States and, until the beginning of the 20th century, was used by nearly all American cities. Its structure is like that of the state and national governments, with an elected mayor as chief of the executive branch and an elected council that represents the various neighborhoods forming the legislative branch. The mayor appoints heads of city departments and other officials (sometimes with the approval of the council), has the power of veto over ordinances (the laws of the city), and often is responsible for preparing the city's budget. The council passes city ordinances, sets the tax rate on property, and apportions money among the various city departments. As cities have grown, council seats have usually come to represent more than a single neighborhood.Commission
This combines both the legislative and executive functions in one group of officials, usually three or more in number, elected city-wide. Each commissioner supervises the work of one or more city departments. Commissioners also set policies and rules by which the city is operated. One is named chairperson of the body and is often called the mayor, although their power is equivalent to that of the other commissioners.Council-manager
The city manager is a response to the increasing complexity of urban problems that need management ability not often possessed by elected public officials. The answer has been to entrust most of the executive powers, including law enforcement and provision of services, to a highly trained and experienced professional city manager. The council-manager plan has been adopted by a large number of cities. Under this plan, a small, elected council makes the city ordinances and sets policy, but hires a paid administrator, also called a city manager, to carry out its decisions. The manager draws up the city budget and supervises most of the departments. Usually, there is no set term; the manager serves as long as the council is satisfied with their work.Unincorporated areas
Some states contain unincorporated areas, which are areas of land not governed by any local authorities below that at the county level. Residents of unincorporated areas only need to pay taxes to the county, state and federal governments as opposed to the municipal government as well. A notable example of this is Paradise, Nevada, an unincorporated area where many of the casinos commonly associated with Las Vegas are situated.Special-purpose local governments
In addition to general-purpose government entities legislating at the state, county, and city level, special-purpose areas may exist as well, provide one or more specific services that are not being supplied by other existing governments. School districts are organized local entities providing public Primary school, elementary and Secondary school, secondary education which, under state law, have sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as separate governments. Special districts are authorized by state law to provide designated functions as established in the district's charter or other founding document, and with sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as separate governments; known by a variety of titles, including districts, authorities, boards, commissions, etc., as specified in the enabling state legislation.Unincorporated territories
The United States possesses a number of Unincorporated territories of the United States, unincorporated territories, including 16 island territories across the globe. These are areas of land which are not under the jurisdiction of any state, and do not have a government established by Congress through an organic act. Citizens of these territories can vote for members of their own local governments, and some can also elect representatives to serve in Congress—though they only have observer status. The unincorporated territories of the U.S. include the permanently inhabited territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands; as well as United States Minor Outlying Islands, minor outlying islands such as Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Navassa Island, Palmyra Atoll, Wake Island, and others. American Samoa is the only territory with a native resident population and is governed by a local authority. Despite the fact that an organic act was not passed in Congress, American Samoa established its own Constitution of American Samoa, constitution in 1967, and has self governed ever since. Seeking Admission to the Union, statehood or independence is often debated in US territories, such as in Puerto Rico, but even if referendums on these issues are held, congressional approval is needed for changes in status to take place. The citizenship status of residents in US unincorporated territories has caused concern for their ability to influence and participate in the politics of the United States. In recent decades, the Supreme Court has established voting as a fundamental right of US citizens, even though residents of territories do not hold full voting rights. Despite this, residents must still abide by federal laws that they cannot equitably influence, as well as register for the national Selective Service System, which has led some scholars to argue that residents of territories are essentially second-class citizens. The legal justifications for these discrepancies stem from the Insular Cases, which were a series of 1901 Supreme Court cases that some consider to be reflective of imperialism and racist views held in the United States. Unequal access to political participation in US territories has also been criticized for affecting US citizens who move to territories, as such an action requires forfeiting the full voting rights that they would have held in the 50 states.Elections
As in the United Kingdom and in other similar parliamentary systems, in the U.S. Americans eligible to vote, vote for an individual candidate (there are sometimes exceptions in local government elections) and not a party list. The U.S. government being a federal government, officials are elected at the federal (national), state and local levels. All members ofSuffrage
Who has the right to vote in the United States is regulated by the Constitution and federal and state laws.Campaign finance
Successful participation, especially in federal elections, often requires large amounts of money, especially for television advertising. This money can be very difficult to raise by appeals to a mass base, although appeals for small donations over the Internet have been successful. Both parties generally depend on wealthy donors and organizations - traditionally organized labor helping the Democrats and business donations the Republicans. . Since 1984, however, the Democrats' business donations have surpassed those from labor organizations. This dependency on donors and the political influence it can give them is controversial, and has led to laws limiting spending on political campaigns being enacted (see Campaign finance reform in the United States, campaign finance reform). Opponents of campaign finance laws allege they interfere with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, First Amendment's guarantee of free speech. Even when laws are upheld, the complication of compliance with the First Amendment requires careful and cautious drafting of legislation, leading to laws that are still fairly limited in scope, especially in comparison to those of other developed democracies such as the United Kingdom, France or Canada.Political parties, pressure groups
Political parties
; Background TheOrganization of American political parties
Unlike in many other countries, the major political parties in America have no strong central organization that determines party positions and policies, rewards loyal members and officials or expels rebels. A party committee or convention may endorse a candidate for office, but the determination of who will be the party's candidate in the general election is usually done in primaries open to voters who register as Democrats or Republicans. Furthermore, elected officials who fail to "toe the party line" because of constituent opposition to it, and "cross the aisle" to vote with the opposition, have (relatively) little to fear from their party. Parties have state or federal committees that act as hubs for fundraising and campaigning, (See, Democratic National Committee, Republican National Committee) and separate campaign committees which work to elect candidates at a specific level, but do not direct candidates or their campaigns. In presidential elections, the party's candidate serves as the de facto party leader, whose popularity helps or hinders candidates further down the ballot. Midterm election are usually regarded as a referendum on the sitting president's performance. Some (Lee Drutman, Daniel J. Hopkins writing before 2018) argue that in the 21st century, along with becoming overly partisan, America politics has become overly focused on national issues and "nationalized", (and for Republicans, loyalty to Donald Trump), so that even local offices, formerly dealing with local issues now often mention the presidential election.The two-party system in the U.S.
"Third" political parties have appeared from time to time in American history but seldom lasted more than a decade. They have sometimes been the vehicle of an individual (Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party (United States, 1912), "Bull Moose" party, Ross Perot's Reform Party of the United States of America, Reform Party); had considerable strength in particular regions (Socialist Party of America, Socialist Party, the Farmer-Labor Party, Wisconsin Progressive Party, Conservative Party of New York State, and the Populist Party (United States), Populist Party); or continued to run candidates for office to publicize some issue despite seldom winning even local elections (Libertarian Party (United States), Libertarian Party, Natural Law Party (United States), Natural Law Party, Peace and Freedom Party). Factors reinforcing the two party system include: * The traditional American electoral format of single-member districts where the candidate with the most votes wins (known as the "First Past the Post electoral system, first-past-the-post" system), which according to Duverger's law favors the two-party system. This is in contrast to Multiwinner voting, multi-seat electoral districts and proportional representation found in some other democracies. * the 19th century innovation of printing "party tickets" to pass out to prospective voters to cast in ballot boxes (originally, voters went to the polls and publicly stated which candidate they supported), "consolidated the power of the major parties". * Printed party "tickets" (ballots) were eventually replaced by uniform ballots provided by the state, when states began to adopt the secret ballot, Australian Secret Ballot Method. This gave state legislatures—dominated by Democrats and Republicans—the opportunity to handicap new rising parties with ballot access laws requiring a large number of petition signatures from citizens and giving the petitioners a short length of time to gather the signatures.Political pressure groups
Special Advocacy group, interest groups advocate the cause of their specific constituency. Business organizations, for example, will favor low corporate taxes and restrictions on the right to strike, whereas labor unions will support minimum wage legislation and protection for collective bargaining. Other private interest groups, such as churches and ethnic groups, are more concerned about broader issues of policy that can affect their organizations or their beliefs. One type of private interest group that has grown in number and influence in recent years is the political action committee or PAC. These are independent groups, organized around a single issue or set of issues, which contribute money to political campaigns for United States Congress or the presidency. PACs are limited in the amounts they can contribute directly to candidates in federal elections. There are no restrictions, however, on the amounts PACs can spend independently to advocate a point of view or to urge the election of candidates to office. As of 2008, there were 4,292 PACs operating in the US.The number of interest groups has mushroomed, with more and more of them operating offices in Washington, D.C., and representing themselves directly to Congress and federal agencies. Many organizations that keep an eye on Washington seek financial and moral support from ordinary citizens. Since many of them focus on a narrow set of concerns or even on a single issue, and often a single issue of enormous emotional weight, they compete with the parties for citizens' dollars, time, and passion.The amount of money spent by these special interests continues to grow, as campaigns become increasingly expensive. Many Americans have the feeling that these wealthy interests, whether corporations, unions or PACs, are so powerful that ordinary citizens can do little to counteract their influences. A survey of members of the American Economic Association (i.e. the association of professional economists) found the vast majority—regardless of political affiliation—felt the prevalence and influence of special interest groups in the political process led to benefit for the special interest groups and politicians at the expense of society as a whole.
Religious groups
Despite the constitution's First Amendment Establishment Clause ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion ..."), religious groups (primarily Christianity, Christian groups for historical and demographical reasons) have often become political pressure groups and parts of Political alliance, political coalitions. In recent decades, conservative Evangelicalism, evangelical Protestants have been particularly active within the broader Republican Party. (However, some scholars have argued that this coalition may be starting to split, as of 2008.) This influence has often translated into the passing of laws related to morality and personal conduct. State alcohol and gambling laws, for example, have been found to be more restrictive in states with a higher percentage of conservative Protestant Christians.History, development, evolution
American political culture
Colonial origins
The American political culture is rooted in the Colonial history of the United States, colonial experience and the American Revolution. The colonies were unique within the European world for their Voting rights in the United States, (relatively) widespread suffrage provided to white male Property qualification, property owners, and the relative power and activity of the elected bodies they could vote for. These dealt with land grants, commercial subsidies, taxation, the oversight of roads, poor relief, taverns, and schools. Courts, (private lawsuits were very common) also provided Americans with experience in public affairs and law, and gave interest groups such as merchants, landlords, petty farmers, artisans, Anglicanism, Anglicans, Presbyterianism, Presbyterians, Quakers, Germans, Scotch-Irish Americans, Scotch Irish, Yankees, Yorkers, etc. control over matters left to the royal court, aristocratic families and the established church in Great Britain. Finally, Americans were interested in the political values of Republicanism in the United States, Republicanism, which celebrated equal rights, civic virtue, and abhorred corruption, luxury, and aristocracy.Concepts of the Founding Fathers
Two pivotal political ideas in the establishment of the United States were Republicanism in the United States, Republicanism and classical liberalism. Central documents of American thought include: the United States Declaration of Independence, Declaration of Independence (1776), the Constitution of the United States, Constitution (1787), the Federalist Papers, Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers (1787–1790s), United States Bill of Rights, the Bill of Rights (1791), and Gettysburg Address, Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" (1863). Among the core tenets were: * Consent of the governed: the authority and legitimacy of the government is dependent upon the assent of the people as expressed in free and fair elections * Civic duty/"Positive liberty"/"republican virtue": the responsibility to understand and support the government, participate in elections, pay taxes, oppose political corruption, and perform military service. * Democracy: government answerable to citizens, who may change who represents them through elections. * Equality before the law: laws that attach no special privilege to any citizen and hold government officials subject just as any other person. * Freedom of religion: Separation of church and state, government that neither supports nor suppresses any or all religion. * Freedom of speech: government that restricts neither through law nor action the non-violent speech of a citizen; a marketplace of ideas.Post–World War II
At the time of the United States' founding, the economy was predominantly one of agriculture and small private businesses, and state governments left welfare issues to private or local initiative. As in the UK and other industrialized countries, Laissez-faire, laissez-faire ideology was largely discredited during Great Depression, the Great Depression. Between the 1930s and 1970s, fiscal policy was characterized by the Keynesian consensus.Weeks, J. (2007). Inequality Trends in Some Developed OECD Countries. In J. K. S. & J. Baudot (Eds.) ''Flat world, big gaps: Economic liberalization, globalization, poverty & inequality'' (159-176). New York: Zed Books. After the "Reaganomics, Reagan revolution" in the early 1980s, however, laissez-faire ideology once more became a powerful force in American politics.Clark, B. (1998). ''Political economy: A comparative approach''. Westport, CT: Preager. While the American welfare state expanded more than threefold after WWII, it held at 20% of GDP from the late 1970s to late 1980s.Barr, N. (2004). ''Economics of the welfare state''. New York: Oxford University Press (USA). In the 21st century, Modern liberalism in the United States, modern American liberalism, and Conservatism in the United States, modern American conservatism are engaged in a Bipartisan coalition in Congress, continuous political battle, characterized by what ''The Economist'' describes as "greater divisiveness [and] close, but bitterly fought elections." Since 2016, the United States has been recognized as a Illiberal democracy, flawed democracy in the ''Democracy Index'' by the Economist Intelligence Unit, partially due to increased political polarization. In foreign affairs, the United States generally pursued a noninterventionist policy of "avoiding foreign entanglements" before World War II. After the war, when America became a superpower, for many decades the country embraced Internationalism (politics), internationalism, seeking allies to contain Communism and foster economic cooperation.Development and evolution of political parties
Background
TheDemocratic and Republican parties
In the 150+ years since the Democratic and Republican parties have been America's two major parties, though their policies, base of support and relative strength have evolved considerably. Some eras in American politics include: * Reconstruction era and Gilded Age. After the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, Democrats celebrated "state's rights", a principle dear to the "Solid South" (i.e. solidly Democratic) where "repressive legislation and physical intimidation" of Jim Crow prevented the "newly enfranchised African Americans from voting". Nationwide it supported Easy money, cheap-money, and opposed banking and tariffs. Another element in its coalition were mostly urban Catholics. After the defeat of the Confederacy, the Republican Party, associated with the successful military defense of the Union and often known as "the Grand Old Party", became the dominant party in America. * theDevelopment of voting
In pre-colonial and post-revolutionary American times, voters went to the polls and publicly stated which candidate they supported, rather than voting secretly, which was considered "cowardly" and "underhanded". Originally, state laws required voters to be property owners, but "by the time Andrew Jackson was elected President, in 1828, nearly all white men could vote". Later in the 19th century, voting was done by written paper ballot. A broadened franchise where many voters were illiterate or misspelling disqualified a vote, led to the use of printed ballots. Each political party would create its own ballot—preprinted "party tickets"—give them to supporters, and who would publicly put the party's ballot into the voting box, or hand them to election judges through a window. The tickets indicated a vote for all of that party's slate of candidates, preventing "ticket splitting". (As of 1859 "nowhere in the United States ... did election officials provide ballots", i.e. they all came from political parties.) In cities voters often had to make their way through a throng of partisans who would try to prevent supporters of the opposing party from voting, a practice generally allowed unless it "clearly" appeared "that there was such a display of force as ought to have intimidated men of ordinary firmness." The practice was dangerous enough that in "the middle decades of the nineteenth century," several dozen (89) were killed in Election Day riots. It was not until the late nineteenth century that states began to adopt the secret ballot, Australian secret-ballot method (despite fears it "would make any nation a nation of scoundrels"), and it eventually became the national standard. The secret ballot method ensured that the privacy of voters would be protected (hence government jobs could no longer be awarded to loyal voters), and each state would be responsible for creating one official ballot.Suffrage
Some key events of suffrage expansion are: * 1792–1856: Abolition of property qualifications for white men were abolished. * 1868: Citizenship was guaranteed to all persons born or naturalized in the United States by the Fourteenth Amendment, although Jim Crow laws prevented most African Americans from voting. * 1920: Women are guaranteed the right to vote in all US states by the Nineteenth Amendment. * 1964-66: Civil Rights laws and Supreme Court rulings eliminate tax payment and wealth requirements and protect voter registration and voting for racial minorities. * 1971: Adults aged 18 through 20 are granted the right to vote by the Twenty-sixth Amendment.Concerns, problems, criticism in policy and representation
In an August 31, 2022, poll by Quinnipiac University#Quinnipiac Polling Institute, Quinnipiac University, 69 percent of Democrats and 69 percent of Republicans replied yes to the question "Do you think the nation's democracy is in danger of collapse". A 2020 study, "Global Satisfaction with Democracy" by the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, found thatfor the first time on record, polls show a majority of Americans dissatisfied with their system of government—a system of which they were once famously proud. Such levels of democratic dissatisfaction would not be unusual elsewhere. But for the United States, it marks an "end of exceptionalism"—a profound shift in America's view of itself, and therefore, of its place in the world.Concerns about the American political system include how well it represents and serves the interests of Americans. They include: * underrepresentation of certain groups (women, Black people, Latin Americans, Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans, LGBT in the United States, gay people, and those under 60 years old); * complete failure to represent other groups (citizens living in Territories of the United States, territories, in Washington, D.C., D.C. (for Congress), and felons in some states); * whether policy and law-making is dominated by a small economic elite molding it to their interests; * whether a small cultural elite has undermined traditional values; More recently, concerns have included: * that a disconnect between what the majority of people want and what the government does (in supreme court rulings, legislation, etc.) has gotten worse in recent years because of some features and institutions of the American system (gerrymandering, the electoral college, "first-past-the-post" voting, etc.); * "a growing movement inside one of the country's two major parties—the Republican Party—to refuse to accept defeat in an election"; * a belief (without evidence) that voter fraud is "being committed by minority voters on a massive scale" preventing Republicans from being elected.
Concerns about political representation of gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation
Observations of historical trends and current governmental demographics have raised concerns about the equity of Representation (politics), political representation in the United States. In particular, scholars have noted that levels of descriptive representation—which refers to when political representatives share demographic backgrounds or characteristics with their constituents—do not match the racial and gender makeup of the US. Descriptive representation is noted to be beneficial because of its symbolic representative benefits as a source of emotional identification with one's representatives. Furthermore, descriptive representation can lead to more substantive and functional representation, as well as greater institutional power, which can result in minority constituents having both representatives with matching policy views and power in the political system. Serving as a United States congressional committee, congressional committee chair is considered to be a good example of this relationship, as chairs control which issues are addressed by committees, especially through hearings that bring substantial attention to certain issues. Though minorities like African Americans and Hispanic and Latino Americans, Latinos have rarely served as committee chairs, studies have shown that their presence has directly led to significantly higher likelihoods of minority issues being addressed. Given that racial and ethnic minorities of all backgrounds have historically been marginalized from participating in the US political system, their political representation and access to policymaking has been limited. Similarly, women lack proportional representation in the United States, bringing into question the extent to which women's issues are adequately addressed. Other minority groups, such as the LGBT community, LGBTQ community, have also been disadvantaged by an absence of equitable representation—especially since scholars have noted their gradual shift from originally being perceived as more of a moral political issue to being considered an actual constituency. Political representation is also an essential part of making sure that citizens have faith that representatives, political institutions, and democracy take their interests into account. For women and minorities, this issue can occur even in the levels of government that are meant to be closest to constituents, such as among Member of Congress, members of Congress in the House of Representatives. Scholars have noted that in positions such as these, even close proximity to constituents does not necessarily translate to an understanding of their needs or experiences and that constituents can still feel unrepresented. In a democracy, a lack of faith in one's representatives can cause them to search for less-democratic alternative forms of representation, like unelected individuals or interest groups. For racial and ethnic minorities, the risk of seeking alternative representation is especially acute, as lived experiences often lead to different political perspectives that can be difficult for white representatives to fully understand or adequately address. Moreover, studies have begun to increasingly show that people of all races and genders tend to prefer having members of Congress who share their race or gender, which can also lead to more engagement between constituents and their representatives, as well as higher likelihoods of contacting or having faith in their congressperson. In addition to making it more likely that constituents will trust their representatives, having descriptive representation can help sustain an individual's positive perceptions of government. When considering women in particular, it has been suggested that broader economic and social equality could result from first working toward ensuring more equitable political representation for women, which would also help promote increased faith between women and their representatives.Race and ethnicity
= African Americans
= Although African Americans have begun to continually win more elected positions and increase their overall political representation, they still lack proportional representation across a variety of different levels of government. Some estimates indicate that most gains for African Americans—and other minorities in general—have not occurred at higher levels of government, but rather at sub-levels in federal and state governments. Additionally, congressional data from 2017 revealed that 35.7% of African Americans nationwide had a congressperson of the same race, while the majority of black Americans were represented by members of Congress of a different race. Scholars have partially explained this discrepancy by focusing on the obstacles that black candidates face. Factors like election type, campaign costs, district demographics, and historical barriers, such as Voter suppression in the United States, voter suppression, can all hinder the likelihood of a black candidate winning an election or even choosing to enter into an election process. Demographics, in particular, are noted to have a large influence on black candidate success, as research has shown that the ratio of white-to-black voters can have a significant impact on a black candidate's chance of winning an election and that large black populations tend to increase the resources available to African American candidates. Despite the variety of obstacles that have contributed to the lack of proportional representation for African Americans, other factors have been found to increase the likelihood of a black candidate winning an election. Based on data from a study in Louisiana, prior black incumbency, as well as running for an office that other black candidates had pursued in the past, increased the likelihood of African Americans entering into races and winning elections.= Hispanic and Latino Americans
= As the most populous minority demographic identified in the 2010 US Census, Hispanic and Latino Americans have become an increasingly important constituency that is spread throughout the United States. Despite also constituting 15% of the population in at least a quarter of House districts, Latino representation in Congress has not correspondingly increased. Furthermore, in 2017, Latino members of Congress only represented about one-quarter of the total Latino population in the US. While there are many potential explanations for this disparity, including issues related to voter suppression, surveys of Latino voters have identified trends unique to their demographic—though survey data has still indicated that descriptive representation is important to Hispanic and Latino voters. While descriptive representation may be considered important, an analysis of a 2004 national survey of Latinos revealed that political participation and substantive representation were strongly associated with each other, possibly indicating that voters mobilize more on behalf of candidates whose policy views reflect their own, rather than for those who share their ethnic background. Moreover, a breakdown of the rationale for emphasizing descriptive representation reveals additional factors behind supporting Latino candidates, such as the view that they may have a greater respect and appreciation for Spanish language, Spanish or a belief that Latinos are "linked" together, indicating the significance of shared cultural experiences and values. Although the reasons behind choosing to vote for Latino candidates are not monolithic, the election of Latinos to Congress has been identified as resulting in benefits for minorities overall. While it has been argued that unique district-related issues can take equal or greater precedence than Latino interests for Hispanic and Latino members of Congress, studies have also shown that Latinos are more likely to support African American members of Congress—and vice versa—beyond just what is expected from shared party membership.= Native Americans
= Similar to other minority groups, Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans often lack representation due to electoral policies. Gerrymandering, in particular, is noted as a method of concentrating Native voters in a limited number of districts to reduce their ability to influence multiple elections. Despite structural efforts to limit their political representation, some states with large Native American populations have higher levels of representation. South Dakota has a Native population of about 9% with multiple List of federally recognized tribes in the United States, federally recognized tribal nations, and it has been used as a case study of representation. A 2017 study that conducted interviews of former state elected officials in South Dakota revealed that even though many felt that they were only able to implement a limited number of significant changes for tribal communities, they still considered it to be "absolutely essential" that Native Americans had at least some descriptive representation to prevent complete exclusion from the political process. Moreover, formerly elected state and local government officials asserted that ensuring that the issues and concerns of tribal nations were addressed and understood depended on politicians with Native backgrounds. Historically-backed suspicion and skepticism of the predominantly white US government was also considered to be an important reason for having representatives that reflect the histories and views of Native Americans.= Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
= Relative to other, larger minority demographics in the United States, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) face different challenges related to political representation. Few congressional districts have a population that includes over 50% Asian Americans, which can elevate the likelihood of being represented by someone of a different race or ethnicity. As with other minorities, this can result in people feeling unrepresented by their member of Congress.Gender and political representation
Women have made continual socioeconomic progress in many key areas of society, such as in employment and education, and in comparison to men, women have Voting gender gap in the United States, voted at higher rates for over forty years—making their lack of more proportional representation in the political system surprising. Some scholars have partially attributed this discrepancy to the electoral system in the United States, as it does not provide a mechanism for the types of Women in government, gender quotas seen in other countries. Additionally, even though gerrymandering and concentrated political representation can essentially ensure at least some representation for minority racial and ethnic groups, women—who are relatively evenly spread throughout the United States—do not receive similar benefits from this practice. Among individuals, however, identifying the source of unequal gender representation can be predicted along party and ideological lines. A survey of attitudes toward women candidates revealed that Democrats are more likely to attribute systemic issues to gender inequalities in political representation, while Republicans are less likely to hold this perspective. While identifying an exact source of inequality may ultimately prove unlikely, some recent studies have suggested that the political ambitions of women may be influenced by the wide variety of proposed factors attributed to the underrepresentation of women. In contrast to attributing specific reasons to unequal representation, political party has also been identified as a way of predicting if a woman running for office is more likely to receive support, as women candidates are more likely to receive votes from members of their party and Independent voter, Independents.= Social inequality and sexism
= Social inequality and sexism have been noted by scholars as influencing the electoral process for women. In a survey of attitudes toward women candidates, women respondents were far more likely to view the process of running for office as "hostile" to women than men, especially when considering public hesitancy to support women candidates, media coverage, and public discrimination. Political fundraising for candidates is also an area of inequality, as men donate at a higher rate than women—which is compounded by gender and racial inequality in the United States, racial inequalities related to income and employment. However, recent increases in women-focused fundraising groups have started to alter this imbalance. Given that disproportionate levels of household labor often become the responsibility of women, discrimination within households has also been identified as a major influence on the capability of women to run for office. For women in the LGBTQ community, some scholars have raised concern about the unequal attention paid to the needs of lesbians compared to transgender, bisexual, and queer women, with lesbian civil rights described as receiving more of a focus from politicians.= Social pressures and influences
= Social pressures are another influence on women who run for office, often coinciding with sexism and discrimination. Some scholars have argued that views of discrimination have prompted a decrease in the supply of women willing to run for office, though this has been partially countered by those who argue that women are actually just more "strategic" when trying to identify an election with favorable conditions. Other factors, like the overrepresentation of men, have been described as influencing perceptions of men as somehow inherently more effective as politicians or leaders, which some scholars argue could pressure women to stay out of elections. However, others contend that the overrepresentation of men can actually result in "political momentum" for women, such as during the Year of the Woman. Within some racial and ethnic groups, social influences can also shape political engagement. Among Latinos, Latinas are more likely to partake in non-electoral activities, like community organizing, when compared to men. Despite differences in political activity and social pressures, elected women from both political parties have voiced their support for electing more women to Congress to increase the acceptance of their voices and experiences. Furthermore, studies have found that increasing the descriptive representation of women can provide positive social influences for democracy as a whole, such as improved perceptions of an individual's political efficacy and government's responsiveness to the needs of people. When women can vote for a woman candidate of the same party, studies have also found that these influences can be magnified.LGBT political representation
Although some scholars have disputed the benefits of descriptive representation, only a small number have argued that this form of representation actually has negative impacts on the group it represents. Studies of bills relating to LGBT rights in the United States, LGBT rights in state legislatures have provided a more nuanced analysis. Pro-LGBT bills tend to be introduced in higher numbers when more LGBT representatives are elected to state legislatures, which may also indicate an increased likelihood of substantive representation. Increases in openly LGBT state lawmakers have also been hypothesized to inadvertently result in more anti-LGBT legislation, potentially as the result of backlash to their presence. Despite the risk of negative consequences, at least one study has concluded that the LGBT community receives net-benefits from increased openly LGBT representation. On the federal level, the presence of the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus has been identified as improving the ability of Congress to address the intersectional issues faced by the LGBT community, as well as provide a source of pressure other than constituency on members of Congress to address LGBT issues. Additionally, non-LGBT members of the caucus have been criticized for not sponsoring enough legislation, emphasizing the value of openly LGBT members of Congress. While descriptive representation has provided benefits overall, scholars have noted that some groups in the community, such as transgender and Bisexuality, bisexual people, tend to receive less focus than gays and lesbians.21st century concerns
While American political institutions have had more political representation of older heterosexual well-to-do white men since their founding, complaints about an increase in political polarization and decline in political norms are more recent. At least three "well-regarded" global democracy indexes—Freedom House, Varieties of Democracy,A Luhrmann et al., Autocratization Surge–Resistance Grows: Democracy Report 2020 (Lindenberg: Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem), 2020): https://www.v-dem.net/media/filer_public/f0/5d/f05d46d8-626f-4b20-8e4e-…. and the Economist Intelligence UnitDemocracy Index 2020 (The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2020): https://www.eiu.com/topic/democracy-index.— "show an erosion of American democracy since 2016".Disconnect between public opinion and government policy
A disconnect between "the power to set government policy" and political opinions of the general public has been noted by commentators and scholars (such as David Leonhardt). The United States "far and away the most countermajoritarian democracy in the world," according to Steven Levitsky. Before the 2000 election, only three candidates for president won "while losing the popular vote (John Quincy Adams, Rutherford Hayes and Benjamin Harrison), and each served only a single term", while as of 2022 "two of the past four presidents have taken office despite losing the popular vote" - 2000 United States presidential election, George W. Bush in 2000 and 2016 United States presidential election, Donald Trump in 2016. Leonhardt points out that in one branch of the federal government—the Supreme Court—conservative legal decisions "both sweeping and, according to polls, unpopular" were delivered in 2022, what is likely the beginning of a reshaping of "American politics for years, if not decades" to come by the court's "Republican appointees". This is despite the fact that the president appoints the nominees, and that presidential candidates of the Democratic Party have won the popular vote in seven out of eight last elections (from 1992-2020). In the 2020 U.S. Senate, "50 Democratic senators effectively represent 186 million Americans, while the 50 Republican senators effectively represent 145 million". Explanations include: * geographical sorting by ideology. "Parts of the country granted outsize power by the Constitution" (i.e. less populated states), formerly voted more or less similarly to the large states and urban areas that were granted less power. Thus "the small-state bonus" giving disproportionate power in "the Senate and Electoral College had only a limited effect on national results". This is no longer the case. Rural areas are more uniformly conservative and urban areas liberal. More important is "the winner-take-all nature of the Electoral College" (all states except Maine and Nebraska), which gives greater bias to Republicans. * faster population growth of large (population) states than small states. The state with the largest population in 1790 was Virginia with approximately 13 times as many residents as the smallest (Delaware). Today, "California, which consistently votes for liberal candidates statewide, "has 68 times as many residents as Wyoming; 53 times as many as Alaska; and at least 20 times as many as another 11 states". When a candidate wins a statewide election in California (or New York) by a landslide, these large numbers of popular votes mean nothing in the tally of Electoral College votes or Senate seats. * while the House of Representatives would seem to have "a more equitable system for allocating political power"—dividing the country "into 435 districts, each with a broadly similar number of people" (760,000 as of 2022)—Leonhardt argues two features distort his equity: ** gerrymandering, i.e. the drawing of district boundaries by State legislatures for partisan advantage, something Republicans have been "more forceful" about in recent years. ** the phenomenon of "wasted votes", whereby the increasing concentration of Democratic voters in large metro areas means Democrats often win elections in these districts by "Landslide victory, landslides", leading to the overall nationwide proportion of votes for Democrats significantly less than the proportion of seats for Democrats in the House.Oligarchy
Some views suggest that the political structure of the United States is in many respects an oligarchy, where a small economic elite overwhelmingly dominate policy and law.Sevcik, J.C. (April 16, 2014Gerrymandering
Gerrymandering is the practice of shaping the boundaries of electoral districts for partisan advantage—those boundaries being reviewed and usually changed after every United States census, i.e. every ten years. Gerrymandering involves what's commonly called "cracking and packing". * "Cracking" is the process of moving the boundaries of districts to spreads opposition voters thinly enough across many districts so that they constitute a safe margin below 50%. most districts dilute their power. are moved to of voters by moving the . Cracking spreads opposition voters thinly across many districts to dilute their power. * "Packing" is the process of concentrating opposition voters in one or more (but always a minority of) districts, to "waste" opposition votes. Used almost since the founding of the United States (the term was coined in 1810 after a review ofIn 2010, Republicans—in an effort to control the drawing of congressional maps—forged a campaign to win majorities in as many state legislatures as possible. It was wildly successful, giving them control over the drawing of 213 congressional districts. The redrawing of maps that followed produced some of the most extreme gerrymanders in history. In battleground Pennsylvania, for example, the congressional map gave Republicans a virtual lock on 13 of the state's 18 congressional districts, even in elections where Democrats won the majority of the statewide congressional vote.Attempts to appeal to the Supreme Court to disallow gerrymandering in cases such as ''Vieth v. Jubelirer'' in 2004 and its passing up of "numerous opportunities" in 2017 and 2018 "to decide upon the constitutional legality or illegality of gerrymandering" has "emboldened ever more partisan gerrymandering". In addition to giving one party power beyond its popular support, gerrymandering has been criticized for weakening the political power of minority voters by concentrated them into district(s) (though this process can also help ensure the election of a representative of the same race).
Increase in polarization
Since the 1970s, the United States has grown more polarized, with rapid increases in polarization during the 2000s onwards. The polarization has been both ideological (differences between the policy positions) and affective (i.e. a dislike and distrust of opposing political groups), than comparable democracies. Polarization among U.S. legislators is asymmetric, as it has primarily been driven by a substantial rightward shift among congressional Republican Party (United States), Republicans, alongside a much smaller leftward shift among congressional Democratic Party (United States), Democrats. New Democrats advocated for neoliberalism, neoliberal policies including financial deregulation and free trade, which is seen to have shifted the Democratic Party rightwards on economic issues. However, since the early 2010s, the party has shifted significantly to the left on social, cultural, and religious issues. According to the Pew Research Center, members of both parties who have unfavorable opinions of the opposing party have doubled since 1994, while those who have very unfavorable opinions of the opposing party are at record highs as of 2022.Concerns about refusal to accept defeat
Many commentators and scholars (such as David Leonhardt) have expressed alarm at the "growing movement inside one of the country's two major parties—the Republican Party—to refuse to accept defeat in an election". In a survey by journalists (of the Washington Post) less than two months before the 2022 congressional election, a "majority of Republicans" in "important battleground" election campaigns, refused "to say they will accept the November election outcome". Six key Senate and gubernatorial Republican party nominees refused to commit to accepting the results of the November election: Blake Masters in Arizona, J.D. Vance in Ohio, Rep. Ted Budd in North Carolina, Kelly Tshibaka in Alaska, Tudor Dixon in Michigan and Geoff Diehl in Massachusetts. While the claim by a losing candidate that they won "despite clear evidence he lost", may have start with Donald Trump after his loss in 2020, during primaries leading up to the November 2022 general election, "candidates across the country have refused to concede—even in races that are not remotely close". The trend has been manifest in the violent January 6 United States Capitol attack, January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol to prevent the certification of Joseph Biden as president, the hundreds of elected Republican officials throughout the United States that the 2020 presidential election was "rigged", some of whom "are running for statewide offices that would oversee future elections, potentially putting them in position to overturn an election in 2024 or beyond". According to Yascha Mounk, "There is the possibility, for the first time in American history, that a legitimately elected president will not be able to take office". In part the phenomenon is international, democracies are struggling in other parts of the world led by the forces of "digital media, cultural change and economic stagnation in affluent countries". Leonhardt states that "many experts point out that it is still not clear how the country will escape a larger crisis, such as an overturned election, at some point in the coming decade."Deterioration of other norms
Abandonment of campaign debates
In the 2022 elections observers have noted lack of participation in debates between candidates, and in the "retail politicking" that has been a political "cliché ... for generations" in American politics: pressing the flesh at "diners and state fairs ... town-hall-style meetings ... where citizens get to question their elected leaders and those running to replace them". Replacing these are "safer spaces" for candidates, "partisan news outlets, fund-raisers with supporters, friendly local crowds," as the number of competitive House of Representative districts and "swing voters" grows smaller, and candidates concentrate on mobilizing the party loyalists rather than appealing to undecided voters (appeals touching on compromise and bipartisanship angering party hardliners). Observers see a danger in candidatesAvoiding those tougher interactions cuts down on the opportunities for candidates' characters and limitations to be revealed, and for elected officials to be held accountable to those who elected them. For the politicians, it creates an artificial environment where their positions appear uniformly popular and opposing views are angrily denounced, making compromise seem risky.
Other norms
Under the campaign and presidency of Donald Trump, observers (such as political scientist Brendan Nyhan) noted some erosion of political norms and ethics * acceptable background for high level officials. (Jeff Sessions was rejected by the U.S. Senate in 1986 for a federal judgeship because his history on racial issues was considered to be disqualifying, but served as U.S. attorney general from February 9, 2017 to November 7, 2018. * intolerance of criticism. "Trump Threatens White House Protesters With 'Vicious Dogs' and 'Ominous Weapons'" * tolerance for conflicts of interest in government. Public officials who are also a businessmen (Donald Trump) accepting money for their business (Trump hotel in Washington) from foreign governments with interests before the United States. ("The Trump hotel in Washington is pitching foreign diplomats on its services, which might violate a clause of the U.S. Constitution that is supposed to ensure that foreign governments can't buy favor with federal officials.") *partisan abuse of power. After a Democratic candidate for governor won, Republican majorities in the legislatures of North Carolina, and Wisconsin voted in 2018 to "strip the legitimate powers of newly elected Democratic governors" while the "defeated or outgoing Republican incumbents are still around to sign the bills". * Applying the rule of "Because we can". Announce on February 13, 2016, you will not allow hearings on a Democratic nominee (Merrick Garland) for the Supreme Court (Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell), maintaining it was too close to the November 8, 2016 election (almost nine months away), and would deny the American people a "voice" in the selection of the next justice. Four years later, with a Republican now president, hold a ceremony for the nomination of a conservative justice for Supreme Court (Amy Coney Barrett) on September 26, 2020, a little more than one month (38 days) before Election Day, now claiming "I think it's very important that we have nine Justices" (Mitch McConnell).Suggested reforms
Electing Supreme Court justices
With an implementation of Term limits in the United States, term limits and holding elections for Supreme court, Supreme Court justices the United States could simply solve the contentious battle for when Supreme Court members unexpectedly die. Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937, Packing the Supreme Court proposals would fade away if an election was going to decide the outcome. Thirty-three states already elect their state supreme courts. William Watkins Jr. a constitutional scholar from the Independent Institute on National Public Radio stated his proposal for 8 to 10 year one time term limits, he also said justices are suppose to be like umpires calling balls and strikes in the game but are acting more like Coach (sport), coaches tinkering with starting lineups, and calling Hit and run (baseball), hit and runs. Local district attorneys and Sheriffs in the United States, county sheriffs are elected and so could Supreme Court justices. The United States Senate use to be appointed by State legislature (United States), state legislatures before the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, 17th Amendment was passed in 1913 for them to be elected. A Second Constitutional Convention of the United States, second constitutional convention of the states to Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, amend the Constitution could be a way for this reform to proceed.Term limits for congress
Term limits for Congressmen, members of Congress was a movement that gained a lot of traction in the early 1990s. 23 State Governments passed legislation that term limited US Congress representatives from each respective state. A Supreme court decisions, Supreme Court decision U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton in 1995 invalidated those 23 states term limits for their US representatives. Newt Gingrich's Contract with America promised legislation in the first 100 days for a Article Five of the United States Constitution, constitutional amendment for term limits. The Term Limits Constitutional Amendment bill did not pass the 2/3 majority to move the bill forward and only passed with a simple majority of 227-204. It would have limited the House and Senate to 12 years total, six terms in the House, and two terms in the Senate.See also
* Ethnocultural politics in the United States * Foreign relations of the United States * Gun politics in the United States * Initiatives and referendums in the United States * Political ideologies in the United States * Politics of the Southern United StatesNotes
References
Further reading
* ''The Almanac of American Politics 2022'' (2022) details on members of Congress, and the governors: their records and election results; also state and district politics; revised every two years since 1975External links
* ; Official party websites: