Governance in America Federal Government

Governance in America

Federal government should take the lead in issues that affect the country. As stipulated in Article I, Sec. 8 of the American constitution and subsequent amendments to the Article I, issues pertaining to defense, war prosecution, prosecution, peace, foreign relations, foreign commerce, and interstate commerce are the prerogative of the federal government. The 21st century world suffers from many trivialities including nuclear war threats. Modern economies heavily rely on interstate trade and international trade. No viable trade can be undertaken without peace and tranquility. Stronger foreign relations are pivotal for international trade. All these cannot be actualized without the involvement of the federal government. It has to be remembered that it is the federal government of the United States that signs trade treaties on behalf of the American people.

Problems that bedevil American economy like the trade imbalances can only be adequately addressed by the federal government. Other than issues to do with peace, war prosecution, foreign relations, and foreign commerce, the constitution also mandates the federal government to protect American citizen's constitutional rights like the rights to vote and outlawing any form of slavery. Issues pertaining to voting have evoked emotive debates since the inception of the independent United States. There was widespread violence especially in the south where the African-Americans were not allowed to vote. Such touchy issues cannot be left in the hands of any institution other than the federal government. The federal government also engages in copyright protection, establishing federal courts inferior to the SCOTUS, coining money, establishing post offices and posts roads, and establishing a national set of universal weights and measures.

The federal government, in order to effectively carry out its constitutional mandates, has to engage in taxation. All these are crucial responsibilities that impact lives of Americans directly and cannot be entrusted to state or national governments (Anonymous, 2011).

If Congress were to refer certain issues to a vote of the people, it might put civil rights issues to the vote. It is no doubt that direct democracy enhances majority tyranny as civil rights issues spiral out of control. For the past thirty years, public opinion has been sought on issues that touch on housing and public accommodation for racial minorities, school desegregation, rights of the gays, English language laws, and HIV / AIDS policies. Citizens have over the past years grown weary of politicians and their brand of politics and are therefore increasingly sidestepping their representative system by putting their own laws to popular vote. Their recent resolve to come up with ballot initiatives to bar government from passing legislations that prohibit discrimination on basis of sexual orientation is a pointer on what the future holds for civil rights legislations (Gamble, 1997).

Widespread same sex marriage can have devastating effects on the American culture. American laws were written based on certain world views and to be precise, the Judeo-Christian world-view. This is clearly depicted in laws that touch on marriage. Marriage, according to this world-view, is supposed to be a sacred union between a man and a wife. The Judeo-Christian world-view on marriage underscores the uniqueness of marriage. In fact, it posits that marriage is the foundation of civilization itself. It is an emotional, physical, and spiritual union between a man and a wife. In marriage, one becomes complete. The physical nature of marriage is epitomized through procreation. Marriage, based on the Judeo-Christian world view, is the cornerstone of moral and social border. You would imagine what would happen when men were allowed to freely marry men and women-women. The physical nature of marriage would be historical as there would be no procreation.