Forms of Government (With Examples)

Section 1: Forms of Government

Governments consist of the established laws and administrative bodies that offer the guidance on the correlations among the citizens of various states and the relationships that exist amid societies and foreigners. The establishments have the mandate to formulate and implement decisions and policies to the members of a society and their maintenance as well as achievements of certain policies. Therefore, this section will analyze the various forms of government as well as offer relevant examples.

Communism

Communism is a form of government that consists of the nation planning and governing the country’s economy. It is also characterized by a single party, which most often is authoritative in nature, clinging to the power. The rules and regulations that govern the state are carried out in a manner that eliminates private property possession. States that are governed under this form of governance also go through various claims of progressing towards a higher social order whereby all property and goods are communally shared among the members of society (Benoit 12). Examples of countries that are communist in our modern era include the Republic of Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea and China to name but a few.

Marxist

This is a form of governance that is characterized by the desire to move from a capitalist form of governance into a socialist one. Indeed, this form of governance was championed by Karl Marx who was a 19^th-century economist and philosopher. In his writings about this type of administration, he viewed that the struggles that workers go through are progressions from the chronology of man’s past forces that could later create a class struggle amid members of society with the capitalists, which could lead to a classless society. As such, Marxism society is a kind of society that does not exercise distinctions that stem from social order or class categorization.

Socialism

This refers to a form of government under which all forms of goods distribution, planning, and production is authorized and controlled by a central government. The central government supposedly works towards achieving a labor and goods distribution system that is just and observes equality and fairness. In essence, nations that are administered in this form of governance have turned out to be under a dictatorship in that the leading elite controls the members of society. Finland and Belgium are examples of socialist countries today.     

Monarchy

This is a form of governance characterized by a supreme power in the hands of an emperor who governs the land for a lifetime. They also have the right to bestow the ruling right to the next monarch in the familial order. Monarchs can either be individual rulers or a sovereign that comprises of a king, queen, and prince, who is the next in the line of leadership. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a superb example of a nation that practices this form of administration.  

Republic

This is a form of governance where a state is viewed as a public matter as opposed to the matter of private concern or possession of those in power. Under this governance strategy, individuals heading the various public offices are elected and at times, nominated. Power is not hereditary, which is a factor indicating that the person in power is not a monarch. An example of a country under this form of government is the Republic of Kenya.

Dictatorship and Totalitarianism

On the one hand, dictatorship refers to the form of government where the head of state or a small group of the elite holds absolute rule and power. They are not controlled or restricted by any law or constitution, while any opposition is not allowed. In this form of governance, the head of state maintains the control of all the operations of the administration. On the other hand, totalitarianism governments work towards gaining control of all the economic and political aspects of the land they rule (Benoit 13). The belief system of the members of such a society, their attitudes, and values are also dictated and controlled by the government. An example of a totalitarianism government is Iraq and the Cuba, where people are not allowed to have freedoms of speech, press, or even religious beliefs.

Tyranny

In this form of government, all power resides within a tyrant or a group of people who are dominant within a society. These groups can be distinguished by educational attainments, royalty, or military control, and financial statuses. The tyrant led governments are usually oppressive. Unlike the monarchies, tyrants do not have to be necessarily linked by blood. Examples are the Soviet Union and Venezuela (Benoit 37).

Anarchy 

This is a form of regime that does not have any established government. It is founded upon the idea that the state is unnecessary and is the source of all evils that world societies experience. Although anarchism governance views states as undesirable and hence opposes authority, it does not support hierarchical setups, including the state systems. Japan in the 1720 was a nation that practiced an anarchist form of governance.

Section 2: Historical Documents

On 23^rd January 2017, the 115^th Congress introduced a bill referred to as the Choices in Education Act of 2017. The authors of this bill have highlighted the need to give reduced control to the education department of America in giving bursaries. They have stressed that the funding be issued only to the specific states that meet the criteria (Congressional Research Service). The bill is aimed at instituting a voucher strategy that will ensure that every state allocates block funding to the local agencies. Indeed, this allocation should be based on the total number of pupils that meet the allocation criteria. The bill puts forward that for a state to qualify for the grants, they ought to comply with the set requirements while ensuring that parents take their children to a public or private elementary or secondary school within the locality. In addition, the bill revokes that schools must meet a certain standard of nutrition in the food programs.

Another historical document written by the U.S National Archives and Records Administration studied the manner in which soldiers were trained during the World War 1 Centennial. According to this article, the department established more than 30 camps all over America to equip the National Guard soldiers with sufficient skills required in warfare. They were trained on various things, including the required discipline, weapon expertise, and proficiency, and basic drill as well as the importance of being physically fit (The US National Archives and Records Administration 1).  

Section 3: Federalism

            Some people have wondered how it is possible to move from one state to another without the need of having a passport while they will need a new driving license. They also fail to get the reason as to why they can use the same currency in all states, but not at a similar limit. Another thing that surprises most individuals is why they have to pay state taxes as well as the federal taxes. Federalism refers to a form of government where there are distinctions of powers and authority amid two equivalent administrative levels of governance with statuses that are at par. The founders of this school of governance thought that there was need to split the control and power amid the national governments and the state governments. This was based on the explanation that governments observing this kind of rule are neither total nationals nor entirely federal.

            In coining this form of governance, the initiators were responding to two main things, including the rule of the British administration and the Articles of Confederation (Ushistory.org 1). The British authority has been a unitary model of a system whereby the rule and power is determined by the central government, which in this case is London. Although there are local administrations in the land, the powers of the localized governance are only those that are bestowed to them by the British Parliament. In other words, the British national administration is supreme and has the mandate to give or restrain power to the local administration.

            The Confederation article described an opposing point of view in that it comprises of a weaker central administration as compared to the state administration. In other words, in a confederation system, the state administration is the supreme power that grants authority to the national government. Federalism was created to reduce the disadvantages that arise as a result of the two systems of governance. In nations that practice federalism, rule, and power are mutually distributed between the state and the national governments. Canada and United States are examples of the federal states (Smith 3).   

Section 4: Finance /Budget

Federal Reserve

Also known as the Fed or the Federal Reserve system, the Federal Reserve was founded by the United States Congress with the aim of providing the state with a more flexible, benign, and a more stable fiscal system in the year 1913 when President Woodrow was in office. Prior to the creation of this monetary system, the United States did not have a formal set-up for researching and implementing policies that are concerned with the fiscal system (Axilrod, 28). Although the Federal Reserve is an autonomous entity, it lay open to the reviews of the Congress.

            The Federation Reserve is overseen by an administrative agency that is known as the Board of Governors based in Washington. The board has seven individuals who are appointed by the president, who serve a total of fourteen terms individually. Upon presidential appointments, the Senate reaffirms the members of the board. The Federal Reserve plays four important roles, including directing the United States’ fiscal policy through the induction of cash and credit situations in the US economy. The other role of this institution is to control and regulate all important financial institutions not only to protect the rights of credit consumers but also to ensure that the state banking systems and institutions observe soundness and safety. The institution also has a role to sustain the stability of the US monetary systems, while assessing the risks that can be brought about by the international commercial markets. Above all, the Federal Reserve offers financial services to the American administration.

Free Market

            Free market refers to an economic system that is characterized by prices being determined by uncontrolled rivalry that occurs between private corporates. Under this kind of economy, the government does not impose rules, regulations, and restrictions to people buying and selling goods and services. People in the marketplace are the determinant factors of the products to be produced, the manufacturing locations, people who consume the products, and the prices at which the services and goods will be sold (Kates 48). All these are based on the demand and supply of commodities. In our contemporary society, there is no state that practices a purely free market. Indeed, this is because, in the world, there is a level of decisions, rules, and regulations that govern the marketplace. For example, many nations prohibit the manufacturer from being a monopoly, pricing goods below the costs, and polluting the environment and atmosphere during the production and selling processes.

National Debt

            The aspect refers to the total amount of money that a central government owes corporates, financial institutions, and other countries to meet the government expenditures that surpass the taxation revenues. These debts comprise internal and external debts, which entails national creditors and foreign creditors respectively. National debt can be divided into three segments that include the funded debt, floating debt, and the unfunded debt. The floating debt refers to the money that a government borrows from the Treasury or the central bank to cater for advances. The funded debt refers to the debt taken on short term that has been converted into a long-term debt. Additionally, the unfunded debt is the debt derived from saving certificates and premium bonds as well as savings bonds and securities that can be reimbursed in the nations’ foreign exchange. In the United States, for example, the issue of the national debt has been subjected to controversy. For almost half a decade, the budget deficits have been more than a trillion dollars, which is a fact that has pushed the annual national debt to almost 100 percent of the GDP (Wessel 43).  

Government Spending and Personal budget

            Government expenditure also referred to as the state spending or government spending is an umbrella terminology referring to all the investments, transfers, and consumption of money that is made by a state to meet the individual and combined societal needs. On the one hand, the goods and services acquired by a state that direct the communities the consumption expenditure. On the other hand, those goods and services acquired with the intention of creating benefits in the near future are referred to as the administration gross capital formation (Peterson 164). In contrast to the government expenditure, a personal budget refers to a homemade financial strategy that defines the manner in which individuals are going to spend, save, and make debt repayments. In order to come up with a clear allocation strategy of personal income, it is imperative to consider the amounts of personal debt and the past expenditures.

Section 5: Mayor of Fresno and Governor of California

            In California, the forms of government are described by the manner in which the executive and legislative authority and powers are distributed in the city hall. As such, California has four main forms of government, including the council manager who is also known as the city manager, the mayor council, the decentralized government and the commission form of administration. The mayor of California heads the largest cities. Under the mayoral council, a mayor is elected who serves as the principal of the managerial branch. In fact, the mayor adopts powers similar to that of the governor in that they have the mandate to exercise their powers to remove a subordinate from office, to vet a proposed bill, and can also present the city’s budget.

Currently, the Mayor of Fresno is known as Lee Brand, who was brought up in Fresno and studied in the city. He is the 25^th mayor of this city.

The governor of California is the head of the state government. The responsibilities of the governor include making addresses regarding the state of the California to the legislature and ensuring that the state’s budget is submitted. In addition, he oversees the laws that govern the California state and ensures that they are enforced. The Californian governor is also the commander in chief of the military forces within the state (Heirdorn, 8). The governor of this state is elected through a popular ballot. They are allowed to serve for two terms with each term taking four years. However, there are various reasons that can necessitate the removal of the governor from office despite having taken an oath of allegiance. The methods of removing a governor from office before the term is over may include impeachment and through a voting by the state senate. As of now, there have been 39 governors in the state of California, with Jerry Brown being the current governor.       

Section 6: Executive Orders

             They refer to the legitimately binding documents that are issued by the leaders of states to the FAAs (Federal Administration Agencies) (Peters and Woolley 1). By issuing these documents, the head of state acts as the chief principal of the Executive Branch. Executive Orders are used to influence and direct the federal agencies and their respective bureaucrats in their processes of executing the laws and policies that have been established by Congress. Executive orders are official declaration and statements given by the head of state regarding the manner in which federal agencies oversee and control their resources. Although the president issues them, executive orders are subjected to the review of the judiciary just like legislative statutes. Indeed, executive orders have a huge impact on matters that concern the internal administration.    

Section 7: Judges

            In the United States, judges supervise and control the court proceedings either as a board or as an individual. However, their functions, powers, training, and methods used in their appointment are widely variable across jurisdictions. A state judge is nominated by senators who represent the party of the president through a senatorial courtesy tradition. State judges usually serve at the American District courts. Their main role is to follow the proceedings of general jurisdiction in that they listen to all court cases that have not been chosen by the federal judges. Their other mandate is to formulate and interpret a state law, which is a factor that helps the state judges to not only retain the power but to ascertain that the national administration does not become so influential.

            In contrast to the aforementioned state judges, federal juries are settled upon by the leader of a distinct state. According to the United States’ Constitution, federal judges are supposed to be reaffirmed and confirmed by the Senate. When the American Constitution was being made, some people thought that giving it more power would threaten to jeopardize the people’s independence as well as that of the state. In an attempt to fight back this fear, a federal court was set up. In this case, the court system can only follow court proceedings only under certain circumstances (Hogan 193). Indeed, this move is referred to as the limited jurisdiction of the federal courts. Owing to the fact that federal courts can only listen to some cases, it then follows that federal judges only listen to the specific cases that include federal questions and involve the diversity of citizenship.   

Section 8: Media Bias

This is a phenomenon that occurs when the media channels air news in a one-sided and partial manner. In other words, it is the perceived prejudice that exists between the news producers and journalists during the airing and selection of stories. This practical limitation to neutrality in the mass media industry comprises of the incapacity of media correspondents to air all available facts and stories. Moreover, the impact of various governments that may be intended to conceal or change information can lead to mad media bias. Burma and North Korea are examples of areas that have experienced media bias that result4d from this scenario.    Another factor that can create media biases include the ownership of media or news sources, the tastes and preferences of the projected audience, and pressurization of the advertisers as well as the manner in which media staffs are selected. 

            There are various types of media bias, including media omission and selection as well as placement to name but a few. Media criticism refers to the act in which the media is assessed and criticized. A bias that occurs through omission typically refers to the media, skipping a certain side of the story as opposed to reporting news objectively. Bias through omission is usually witnessed in political news coverage. An example of this type of bias is when the media stations air stories related to politics from one point of view while not putting into considerations the ideas and aspects of other political perspectives. An example of a scenario where media bias was witnessed was during the presidential campaign of the United States. The CNN had been labeled as a media station that was prejudiced, a factor that saw it being nicknamed as the Clinton News Network (Groseclose 38).

            Bias through the selection and placement occurs when the media stations fails to cover the sources that give opposing points of view intentionally, or regularly report the news that give credence to the political side they support. Additionally, media prejudice by placement happens when news channels place stories that correspond to their news agenda while leaving or burying those that have contrary points of view. There is a major difference between this kind of media bias and the selection bias. The selection bias occurs when media coverage concentrates on stories from one point of view. Placement, on the other hand, is characterized by media outlets airing the various outlooks, but there is a highlighted viewpoint that receives less print space and time as compared to the side they support. Another example of media bias in the United States happens when the media channels put more emphasis on a certain point of view in a manner that is likely to contravene the ethics and standards of journalism profession. In an attempt to combat media bias in America, various groups referred to as watchdogs have been formed with the aim of acquiring the facts and points of views that might be overlooked by media channels (Groseclose 57).

Section 9: Opinion Polls

            This is a research survey that involves questionnaires and interviews aimed at determining the number of individuals that support or oppose a certain aspect of the society. In fact, opinion polls are research techniques applied to the members of the public to canvass their opinions on a wide range of issues, including the political and social matters. It is a frequent strategy that is used to foretell the results of an election. It is imperative to note that polls occur in different forms. Benchmark poll is a form of polling that is mostly taken during the initial setup of campaigns. Under normal circumstances, benchmark polling is done before contestants make public their proposal for vying for a position. However, there are instances when it is carried out immediately after the announcement of holding a public office is done, thus giving room to raise resources.

            Brushfire refers to a type of polling that occurs shortly after tracking has been done, and just before the benchmark begins. Its main objective is to figure out the stiffness and rivalry of the competition and the resources that are going to be utilized during the campaign. Tracking polls refer to poll surveys that are done at a certain interval either weekly or monthly. The recent tracking data discards the previous one (Huckshorn and Robert 180). In entrance polling, a group of people is allowed to cast votes just before the general public takes their part in an election. This method of polling is more or less similar to opinion polls, especially in the manner that questionnaires are drafted.  

            Push poll and straw polls are other forms of sampling and polling. During a political push poll, the candidate tries to persuade or alter the general views of the voters. It entails the collection of large amounts of data and giving response to the data without carrying out any analysis. In other words, it is a propaganda that is aimed at undermining the democratic processes. Straw polls refer to a polling that is performed without any binding results. Straw polls exchange ideas within large factions of people and can perform an impromptu poll to find out if there is sufficient support of their ideas.

Section 10: Political Parties

            This is a group of individuals who form an alliance and contest for elections to embrace rule and power in the government. The formed alliance then formulates some policies and hence elects officials who will implement the policies. Political parties settle on some proposed programs and strategies with the intentions of advancing mutual benefits while promoting the interests of supporters. This means that when a political party chooses candidates for office, various issues that affect the members of the general public for instance education, natural catastrophes, and war, as well as taxes, are discussed. In a country that practices democracy, the members of the general public have a right to either agree with the person offered by the political party or express their dissatisfaction through voting for the candidate they feel most appropriate. Therefore, political parties offer opportunities for voters to identify the most suitable candidate with ease. It is important to note that there is no maximum limit of the number of individuals a political party can hold. As such, it is possible to have political parties with small numbers of individuals as well as large ones with more than a million members.

            The political parties that exist in our modern world did not exist until the late 1600s. The founders of democracy, who were the ancient Greeks, did not have a political party that is structured in the manner which the modern political parties are constructed. The governing body of the ancient Romans had only two groups known as the Plebeians and the Patricians. While the Plebeians were people from the affluent elites, Patricians were people from humble backgrounds. Despite the fact that these two factions of people were allowed to mingle, there were times when they engaged in voting processes as parties, especially in issues that pertained the general populace. After the fall of Rome in 476 AD, most nations, including Europe had little involvement in politics, which implies that there were no factual political parties other than a group of people who supported noble families. Political parties are known to have evolved to what they are today as representative congresses gained influence and power.

            The founding fathers of America did not have a partisan America in mind. It was not until the political controversies of the 1790s when individuals contested on the range at which the federal government exercised her power that the democratic-republic party and the federalized emerged. Although political parties stopped existing for a while during the epoch of good feelings (1816), they were revived a decade later and formed the modern Democratic Party and the Republican Party (Shefter 3).

            The current political parties play various roles, including the selection of the candidate who will run for the political office and checking other political parties from taking absolute rule and power, especially those that do not hold popularity in Congress. This is achieved through criticizing the actions of the government publicly. Another role of political parties is to inform on various issues and policies that are formulated by the opposite parties. In fact, the public criticism and dialogues helps the citizens to understand the issues at hand and other options for resolving them. The final role of political parties in the United States is to reshape the government. State legislatures and Congress are arranged according to their party affiliations. The parties’ legislative representatives support the position and viewpoint of their party, especially when formulating policies and potential law. In fact, almost all candidates vie for public positions under party brands that form the basis of their behavior once they assume the public office.      

Section 11: Interest Groups

            Interest groups refer to voluntary associations of individuals who join with the aim of defending a certain interest. Move On is a United States’ interest group that progressively advocates for public policy. It was founded in 1998 when individuals joined hands to respond to the impeachment of the President of America at the time. President Bill Clinton was being impeached by the American House of Representatives (Grossmann and Matthew 19). The main idea behind the creation of this interest group was to dissuade the Congress from holding impeachment of the President. Although this was not achieved at the time, the group has had numerous achievements, including raising large amounts of money to support their political candidate. Move On interest group’s main advertisement methods include emailing, conservative media formats, social media, and other publicity strategies such as bumper stickers, road signs, and billboards. The main achievement of this interest group has been its ability to combine Internet activism with real-time political activism. The group is primarily funded by contributions from its members across the United States.   

Tides Foundation

The tides foundation was founded in 1976. This is an organization that is basically concerned about promoting the public policy through various areas including nature and environment and human rights as well as in issues related to employment and labor. Their motto is to increase the speed of bringing about change in the American society. The organization also engages with other innovative partners in their attempt to solve the toughest issues and problems that are faced by the American public of our contemporary times. Their performance strategy involves smart risk-taking, mutual respect, and empathy. The interest group engages with individuals whose lives and welfare are affected and can only work with the community to bring about societal transformation. Not only does the interest group work with the American society, but it crosses boundaries while emphasizing mutual learning and strong rapport and collaborations.

The Center for American Progress

This is an American based interest group that is dedicated to improving the welfare and living standards of the members of the general public. The interest group is an autonomous nonpartisan learning establishment that strives to ensure that the lives of the American society are improved through advanced ideologies and action. Its main areas of operation that relate to human lives include renewable energy, provision of quality education, health and wellness, and national security as well as economic advancement. The organization was founded in response to Bush’s presidential win in the millennium electoral processes and the ensuing voting of majorities in the two chambers of Congress from the Republican in the next two years. Philanthropist George believed that the success of Republicans was basically due to their greater infrastructure and media biased coverage. As a result, he sought to establish a pro-democrat movement that would pawn the conservative means of transferring information. The interest group is funded by a wide range of sources, including individual philanthropists, corporations, and labor unions as well as foundations.  

Media Research Center

This is a conventional media supervisory body interest group that is based in America and ran by Brent Bozell. Founded in 1987, the interest group is aimed at proving the widely contested notion that there exists media bias with regard to liberals and indeed, the American media undermines the conservative societal values through conducting scientific research. The main goal of this research institute is to ensure that the news media observes parity and a sense of responsibility in their coverage. In America, there has long been a belief that the state media outlet is liberally biased and that this media bias has caused the American populace experience inadequate understanding of the critical social and political issues. This interest group tries to neutralize the effect of the media bias on the United States’ political scene. The funding of this party is derived from the support given by various foundations, including Olin, Castle Rock, Bradley, and Carthage among others.  

Heritage Foundation

This is an American based interest group that conducts research and activism on topics that concern social and political strategies and policies. It was founded in 1973 and has since then taken a leading role in the conservative activism. In fact, it has made significant contributions to the United States, especially in the policy making processes. To date, the Heritage Foundation is considered to be one of the leading conservative interest group in the United States. This interest group has had major initiatives from the time it was launched all through to the recent times when President Trump was sworn into the office. For instance, during President Reagan’s regime, Heritage Foundation emphasized on the need to develop ballistic missiles to ensure the safety and security of the United States’ dwellers. The organization also influenced the formulation of foreign and domestic policies during the reign of President Bush. Additionally, Heritage Foundation played a key role after last year’s presidential win through a reshaping of Donald Trump’s transition group.

Human Events

This is a conservative interest group that was created in 1944 by Felix Morley. Since becoming a digital-specified publication back in 2013, Human Events group has become the leading online site for not only providing news to the internet users but also for analysis as well as annotations and commentaries from a conservative point of view. The interest group has gained support from various key leaders, including President Reagan, who cited it as a must read for any leader with the intentions of moving from being a liberal Democrat to a conservative. The group is involved with both domestic and foreign affairs. For instance, it supported the involvement of the American army in Vietnam and supported the apartheid that existed in South African  

Media Matters

This is a non-profit interest group that is internet based. The firm is dedicated to conducting studies on data that aired by the media outlets in America. Media Matters monitors, analyzes, and adjusts any conservative fabrication in all areas of mass media, including radio, cable, broadcast, and in print, as well as news, passed through the web. The interest group was founded by George Soros in 2004 and is funded through donations from other foundations such as the MoveOn foundation. The main reason this interest group was founded was to recognize the conservative organizations and politicians while funding them to realize the objectives and interests of the organization that concern the general public. The interest group is known for its progressive criticism of media outlets and journalists who are conservative. An example of this organization’s aggressive involvement was during the confrontation on the Fox News broadcasting station.

Weather Underground

Weatherman, also known as the Weather Underground organization or simply the Weather Ground was a radical group based in the United States in the late 1960s to the early 1970s. Initially, it was formed as a group of students that supported democratic societies. Their objective was to form an underground revolutionary political party in order to overthrow the American government of the time and then establish an authoritarianism and dictatorship forms of leadership. The name of this organization was derived from the lyric “You do not require a weatherman to realize the way in which the wind blows”… which was composed by Bob Dylan in one of his famous lyric known as the Subterranean Homesick Blues. The leadership positions of this faction were categorized as anti-imperialist, black, feminist rhetoric and conducted numerous campaigns that involved bombings back in the mid-1970s. They even dared to issue a declaration of warfare against the government of the United States after transforming from the weatherman to the Weatherman Underground Organization. The organization is known to have disintegrated following the peace accord that was signed by America and Vietnam in 1973, which marked the beginning of the decline of the remnants of weatherman.

Reorganizing For America

This was a community interest group that was initiated by the Democratic National Committee after President Barrack Obama was sworn in. The main objective of this faction was to marshal supporters for President Obama’s healthcare reform. This group is known to have played a key role in the presidential race of 2010 that saw President Obama inaugurated for a second term. It was then that the interest group was restructured to the current Organizing for Action and went back to its earlier mission, which was to bring together individuals who would support the agendas of the president. The Obama care, also known as the health care reform was the major achievement of this group. The organization has also delivered logistical support to various local groups through holding educative campaigns with members of the community, sponsoring house parties and events, providing people with talk platforms, and aggressively being involved in the social media on various social and political agendas.         

FreedomWorks

This organization was coined from a conservative political faction known as the Citizens for a Sound Economy. It is based in Washington, D.C. and is concerned with the common people, the American Constitution, and limited administration. Although the organization does not have a particular interest, it works towards meeting the interests of the American society, especially in matters pertaining to the political realm. Not only does the group train volunteers and offers assistance during political campaigns, but also encourages volunteers to interact with other members of society and their administrative agents. This organization is largely sponsored by the oil industry and from other corporates such as the AT&T and Verizon. Other bodies that fund this group include all the foundations that are sponsored by Scaife family.

Citizens for Self-Governance

This is a right-wing political based group that has ties with the EricO’keefe faction that is currently doing a campaign in favor of amending Article V of the American Constitution. This non-profit and non-partisan group is committed to ensuring that the members of the American populations are equipped with sufficient knowledge. As such, the group organizes and supports educational programs in applied civics. It is founded upon the ideology that, if enabled, humanity has the capability to self-governance. Through various conventional projects, this group strives to increase public awareness while providing the resources needed to arrive at a milieu where individuals will be in a position to govern themselves. The funding of this faction has remained anonymous despite some organizations indicating that they have been making donations to the group.  

National Review

This group was founded in 1955 by conservatives who believed that the rights of the American people was somewhat unorganized and involved the collection of people with diverse philosophies who did not have time to listen to the voices of American society. It was established as a semi-monthly publication that focused on political, cultural, and social affairs. Since the time it was established, National Review has played a very important role in shaping the conservatism ideology of the people of America. Not only has it helped to delineate its boundaries but also has gone a long way in promoting the United States’ right and fusionism. The group has also developed online sites where digital versions of the magazine are uploaded. In addition, National Review has a National review Institute that was launched in 1991.

Section 12: Voting Processes, Ballots

            As aforementioned, the United States is a federal country that comprises national officials also known as federal officials, local officials, and state officials. The president is usually elected through the process of Electoral College from both national and state levels (Gagne 48). On the other hand, members of the Congress and federal legislature are also directly elected by voters in every state. The voting process entails registering with the Electoral College. Every state is allocated a certain figure of electors that is established upon its entire number of representatives in the Congress. Every elector is allowed to cast one vote. Owing to the fact that there are 538 electoral votes, the person that gets more than 270 votes is said to have won the elections.

            A ballot refers to a device that is used to cast votes during an election process. It can be a small piece of paper or a small ball that is used in the recording the person that each voter has decided on. Every person on the electoral roll uses a single ballot, which is a factor indicating that ballots cannot be shared. During governmental voting processes, preprinted ballots are utilized in order to protect and maintain the privacy and secrecy of votes. In order to qualify to participate in a voting process, one must have attained the age of eighteen. The second step involves the acquisition of a poll card that signifies that one has been registered for the selections. When the date of the election has come, individuals go to their respective polling stations and are issued with a ballot paper after confirmation of registration by the residing poll clerks. The process ends by marking the spaces alongside the person that one intends to vote for and putting the ballot paper into the provided ballot box.   

Conclusion

Whether we like it or not, we cannot escape politics as they affect our day-to-day lives either directly or indirectly. Politics is a term that is defined as the manner in which effects of power, distribution of resources, and exercise exists or is distributed in various levels of our society. This is squarely based upon the kind of governance that exists in a country, which differs significantly in the form and method it is applied as well as the person in power. Although there are various forms of governance, most of them have similarities or have similar backgrounds. People experience politics in various arenas of livelihood; for instance, in the accessibility to resources, in international relations, in the government’s policies and strategies, and in our places of work as well as our families. Understanding the different forms of governance and the manner in which they affect our lives is essential for peaceful coexistence and obligation as well as meaningful political participation by citizens of distinct countries.   

 

Works Cited

Ann O’M. Bowman and Richard C. Kearney, State and Local Government: The Essentials (2008).

Benoit, Peter. Forms of Government.  2014. Print

Grossmann, Matt, and Matthew Grossmann. The Not-so-Special Interests: Interest Groups, Public Representation, and American Governance. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2012. Internet resource. Pp 19

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