CAN PUBLIC TRUST IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY BE RESTORED?
by
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Finding # 1: Political Survival and Political Freedom
The two major “National” Party Organizations have the professional resources, major voter mobilization capability and the financial connections necessary to win elections. Candidates and Elected Officials must align with one of these two Parties if they want a reasonable chance to survive as a politician, especially at the federal and state levels. These two Parties, having virtually all of Congress as their members, form two conduits that exist for possible reciprocal influence between Congress and Special Interest Groups, PACs, and Corporations. Parties have the organization and resources to act as clearinghouse for contributions and expenditures, maintain an accounting of obligations and assure maximum advantage is taken of campaign laws. Although Parties are the vehicle of maximum influence in Congress, Special Interest Groups, PACs and Corporations can directly approach committees or even individuals in Congress to influence policy in exchange for campaign support. Campaign finance reform has been ineffective in terms of limiting campaign funds to a reasonable level which would provide a more level playing field. It is unlikely that campaign finance reform will ever be effective, seeing how creative the parties, Special Interest Groups, PACs and Corporations are in developing new loopholes.
In this environment, Candidates know all too well that the necessity of accepting campaign support means they will have to play the game according to the rules. Once elected, Elected Officials perform their elected duties as a partisan, without total individual freedom, supporting the Party agendas, especially those associated with Special Interest Groups, PACs, and Corporations. This loss of individual freedom is evident with gross Congressional partisan voting.
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About the Book
There is a documented growing lack of trust in our government, a representative democracy, precipitated by a myriad of convoluted issues. Fortunately, there still is a general acceptance of perceived political wrong doings because Americans are patriotic, and believe their Democratic government is the best in the world. The general consensus is that this is the best we can do, given the characteristics of human nature, and the complexity/inertia of our Political System. An unfortunate aspect of this growing lack of trust is the awareness by our young people, who desperately need to believe in their country’s leaders; that they do the right things for the right reasons.
The above growing dilemma has inspired a study to ascertain if the above consensus is valid or is there a resolution to the on-going Public concerns? If there are solutions, are they easily understood and realizable, and why haven’t they been corrected by our Elected Officials? Can Public trust in American Politics be restored?
This book is unique in providing a clear basis or platform for the Public and Congress to address the underlying causes and respective implied solutions for the growing lack of trust in our government. It will be seen that these underlying causes are internal to our Political System where the required changes will impact those making the changes, Elected Officials. Therefore, it is imperative that the Public be informed and responsive.
About the Author
This question never occurred to me until a publisher asked me what unique capabilities, background and motivation brought me to this point. The bulk of my background was involved with systems analysis, development and implementation of state-of-the-art test systems in the aerospace industry. Looking at a global picture and performing a top-down systems analysis is key to success and optimization of complex systems. At the outset, I had no idea where this study was headed but I have felt for years that our Political System needed optimization and there was no mechanism external to the three Branches addressing concerns of the public. It soon became apparent that most of these concerns are internal Political System issues which are unlikely to be resolved because the changes impact those that are in position to make those changes.
Of all the intelligent people in this country, especially those expert in political science, why me? First, the great majority of Americans are apathetic and/or believe that we have the best government in the world, it has problems but it’s the best that can be done given the characteristics of human nature in politics. When there is an obvious issue, a typical response from the public is the rationalization, “that’s politics”. Second, many of the few remaining Americans believe we are in a constant state of evolution and the Political System will improve automatically. Third, it is highly improbable that this study would be performed by politicians or other political science experts. Being immersed in a complex political system and the large number of interrelated complicated issues makes it very difficult to look at the system from an outside vantage point. In fact, one publisher made this point to me. Forth, this leaves a few people that believe that solutions do exist, but they probably will never be articulated or implemented. At the outset, the solutions implied by the study were unknown to me and now they are obvious. However the implementation will require the support of the media and many Americans.
A necessary personal characteristic for spending close to 2000 hours on this particular work was perseverance. Just prior to this endeavor, I had completed submitting a second patent in the art field; I am an oil painter. In other words, there are many other things to do that are less frustrating than writing a book on this subject. Needless to say, my family and friends did not support working on a futile project destined for disappointment. The last personal attribute to “why me” is my ability to intensely focus on problems for long durations; a characteristic of an “A” personality and many migraine headaches. In conclusion, the concern for my children and all the young people of this country has motivated me to utilize these unique abilities.