The American Form of Government

Wimp.com provides us with a clip asserting government structures, such as monarchy, oligarchy, democracy, republic, and anarchy. They assert that there is no true monarchy, as every monarch or individual ruler relies on support and bureaucracy and thus qualifies as an oligarchy. It can be argued however, that monarchs do have the final word at their will and the bureaucracy is their extended arm. They further conclude that Anarchy can only be a temporary solution that will soon give birth to a power hungry group which will put an end to anarchy; therefore anarchy does not qualify as a societal structure according to the clip. Supporters of Anarchy will most likely reject such claim, and it can be said that the only consistent variable in this universe is change. Governments and societal structures rise and fall, history books can account for that. Interestingly enough, the only government structure which has yet to appear in its truest form, is treated like a government structure in the clip; democracy. While wimp.com points out the flaws in each system, especially for democracy, it emphasizes the benefits of a republic as it is found in the United States; minimal government intervention based on the usage of laws is supposed to ensure maximum freedom.

Freedom however, is subjective. A socialist might argue that a republic offers the possibility of freedom, but no guarantee; the mentality of “survival of the fittest” allows one to exploit the other. This in turn creates social inequality, the root of all societal problems according to Karl Marx. A socialist society on the other hand may offer less “freedom”, though it ensures the freedoms it does offer.

Slow decision making and resistance to change is a conservative trademark. Although it can be very effective and beneficial to keep a cool head, it can also be a major disadvantage. The threat of global climate changes or long term sustainability concerns, for example, leave capitalist conservatives rather unimpressed; they oppose the change to a green economy while half of the world is waiting for the US to wake up and act. Instead, republican capitalists invest time and money to portray adverse environmental effects and the limitation of resources as a scam and resist the costly necessary changes. After all, their success and wealth has emerged from the fossil fueled capitalistic economy.

Another feature of the republic is its supposed effectiveness. Great nations, that favored a republic system, have emerged throughout history; the Roman Empire for instance and now the US. However, the Roman Empire fell and last weeks Newsweek’s title story read, ““HOW GREAT POWERS FALL…STEEP DEBT, SLOW GROWTH, AND HIGH SPENDING KILL EMPIRES – AND AMERICA COULD BE NEXT”(December 7, 2009). A republic will not save a nation from failure either.
In truth, it is not the political system that matters; it is the mentality and ideology of the people that drives it. Every system can be abused, and corruption as well as deceit can be found anywhere; even in a republic.