about political science

In the United States, there is a scheme of geographical representation in Congress. The elected officials are assigned to geographical districts. Other parliamentary democracies can allocate legislative seats based on the proportion of popular votes earned by different political parties.

The scheme appears to prune off problems of gerrymandering based on the proportional distribution of the Congress in different areas. The voting districts are grouped into service-specific results in this case. Because of the legislature’s fragmentation, a majority can be able to comfortably enact legislation. The proportional party representation does well in eliminating one kind of waste as well as other abuses. Additionally, regional representation enhances the potential for pork-barrel politics. Special funding interests are approved to keep functions of the government going.

Democracy limits on representations. Elected leaders and their appointees get responsible to their constituents. This system gets rid of corrupt leaders. The revolution to Arabic spring leaves the corrupt leaders deposed. The rooting out of corruption runs through the low-level bureaucrats.

Question 4

Government Accountability Office is a branch of the legislature, in the federal government. It is a congressional watchdog that examines the means by which the taxpayer’s money is spent. Its roots date back from the First World War. The Congress sought an elaboration on government spending.

The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 obligated the president to issue a federal budget on an annual basis. The initial stages of GAO were characterized by voucher auditing through reviewing of payment and purchases documents by several clerks.

After the Second World War, GAO started doing more detailed financial audits. These allowed for a detailed examination of government efficiency in its operation. In the 1960s, GAO began doing performance audits which are done to date. It has the primary intention of evaluating government programs and ensuring that they meet their objectives. It reviews most of the day-to-day government operations. Research by the GAO is extensive and involves comparison in figures from year to year in an annual report.

Question 5

Some situations call for cheating from the social psychological perspective. One such occasion is just before Normandy invasion. Also called operation overload, Normandy invasion is the allied invasion that took place in Western Europe in the year 1944 during the Second World War (Lusted, 2014). Sun Tzu asserted that “all warfare is based on cheating” (Yuen, 2014). This is geared towards toying the enemies to deceive them and using the spies underground in a bid to win their strategies (Yuen, 2014). The deceptive practices which can be debated openly and consented in advance are the ones that will be justified.

Question 6

Rational decision-making model is based on the logic of optimal choice in an organization. It is meant to maximize the value of an organization. In this case, when an individual is confronted with some quantifiable alternative options to choose from, he/she has to outweigh the choices based on possible consequences. The system of preferences permits the individual to rank the consequence and choose the best alternative. This decision is alternative based.

The Poliheuristic Theory is another model that follows two steps. The decision makers are conscious of both cognitive and environmental constraints. Political consequences are also put into consideration. Decision makers follow two stages, whereby the heuristic model is used in the first stage. This reduces the complexities in the second stage. Once the choice has been split into acceptable alternatives, the process proceeds to the second stage. Here, the decision maker uses analytical tools to make the best decision that minimizes risk (Mintz, 2016).

Question 7

American media conglomerates are significant players in the economy. The press evolved through a long history of freedom. It operated even during the 21st century. Its freedom was a crucial factor in the formation of the US republic. Roughly two years after its ratification by the US constitution, the press saw strict protection.

From its independence, the press has been operating without fear. It enjoyed a great deal of freedom and coverage in coverage of the government issues. Today, you cannot mention the unfolding of the press without mentioning the Art of Watchdog.

Question 8

Although some of the organizations are politically driven, others seem ideological in performance. Most importantly is the fact that most of them play a significant role in oversight of government-run operations. They do so by what is called organized civil society, one of the best form of citizens’ participation. Interesting awareness campaigns like ”porker of the year” awards put the government operations in the limelight.

The Brady Campaign, among other campaigns, protects the public. Catalyzed by various NGOs, the campaigns are geared towards criticizing, publicizing and defeating government actions that tend to threaten public safety.

Various organizations have been put forward to play the integral role efficiently. ACLU, for instance, is involved in mobilizing its constituents to rally against various violations of the Bill of Rights. The National Rifle Association takes a keen interest in the way government initiatives that tend to violate Second Amendment values.

Question 9

The Federal Inspectors General system uncovers fraud and misconduct in the federal agencies leads to units that are underfunded. They are poorly staffed. Contrary to the public thoughts, they are not independent. Most of the inspectors are not appointed by the president and not subject to hearings of Senate confirmations.

The agency heads appoint the inspectors. In many cases, the inspectors are deprived of their duty while the agency heads do the bulk of the work. The agency heads have at times retaliated against the inspectors over unfavorable reports by denying promotion to the members of staff. At times, they cut funding to staff members

Question 10

Fraud waste abuse and corruption (FWAC) is different from street crime. FWAC is in itself wide. The best way to understand it is through examining its constituents. Fraud is the intentional deception that is perpetrated by a person(s) geared towards to benefit the person performing it. Waste is either intentional or unintentional. It is a thoughtless expenditure or consumption of resources that end up mismanaging the resource in question. Abuse, on the other hand, is the excessive use of something in a manner that contradicts its legal use. Corruption is the alteration of integrity in carrying out legal acts (Feldman & Eichenthal, 2014).

Street crime is a loose term that is used to refer to actions that are against legal code. There are various types of street crime. Some appear to be violent while others are not. Most crimes that are violent will tend to harm the body. They are committed against the will of the victim. This crime emanates from choice theory, which upholds the belief that individuals commit a crime as a result of personal choice.

A difference, therefore, exists between the FWAC and street crime. FWAC emanates from an organization or within the government. Street crime, on the other hand, is any criminal offense that originates from the public.

References

Feldman, D.L., & Eichenthal, D.R. (2014). The art of the watchdog: Fighting fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption in government. New York: State University of New York Press.

Lusted, M.A. (2014). D-Day: The normandy invasion (Multi-Use Hosted eBook). New York: ABDO Digital.

Mintz, A. (2016). Integrating cognitive and rational theories of foreign policy decision making. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US.

Yuen, D.M.C. (2014). Deciphering Sun Tzu: How to read ”The art of war”. New York: Oxford University Press.