Can One Government Encompass 300 Million Americans?

Before jumping to conclusions, consider this: This country is made up of 300 million Americans of vastly differing lifestyles. We all live different lives based on our wealth, skin color, historical identities, the states we come from, the people we encounter, the jobs we hold. With all these identities, its impossible for one government to satisfy the needs and wants of everyone. Just the same, the government is surely always working for someone, but never everyone. This begs the question, can the government ever be able or designed to work for everyone? Perhaps, maybe one day someone will come up with a catch-all solution. For now, the way our government operates on large issues such as immigration to small local issues will always leave someone out. So therefore the question, “Does Government Work?” is far more subjective and situational.

Perhaps the freshest example in our minds would be the electoral college. As of late many people disagree with the electoral system in this country. Its inability to include all 300 million Americans in the voting procedure has lead many to say that in this aspect, the government isn’t working. On the other hand, the systems proponents say that there is no possible system to encompass every single American’s opinions and ideas. While it still may not be the best system, to this group, our government is working. The issue is here is representation. Like many issues of government stem from, being properly considered in the decisions of this country is of the highest.

And so the two party system was born. In a majority rule democracy, one side will win and one side will lose. To make sure we win often and are properly represented we congregate with others to strengthen our positions and achieve the goals we desire. Yet, once again, the question arises, does this system of government work? Like the root question, the answer isn’t just yes or no. If you find yourself on the winning side of most political issues, sure the government works for you. Yet, for the many that don’t win, maybe this form of government isn’t working to properly represent its people.

In a country of 300 million people and governments of far fewer servants, someone’s wants and needs are always bound to be left out. The nature of our systems deems it so. The needs of the many over the needs of the few. Is there any effective way to reform our governments to serve the needs of everyone? Let me know what you think about our system and the way it selects issues to attend to and issues to ignore.

8 Responses to "Can One Government Encompass 300 Million Americans?"

Esteban Lara says:

September 7, 2017 at 10:07 pm

Interesting argument. Democracy by definition means that at some point you will have to vote in order to make a decision. In a direct democracy you vote on every issue individually and make the decision yourself, and in a representative democracy you vote to elect people to represent you and vote on every singular decision themselves. In both cases, one side is doomed to lose and the other is going to win. In a way, the electoral college is a result of representative democracy. The members of the electoral college are elected by the legislators of the particular state they are representing and, therefore, elected by the people of that state. The United States is too big to have a direct democracy so this is a good as it can possibly get (as far as democracy goes). If one is to try and reform the government to take away the power from the hands of the many, and organize it so that everyone is looked out after equally, then it wouldn’t be possible in a democracy.
1. Ernest McGowen says:
  
  September 18, 2017 at 3:43 pm
  
  Actually, the party nominee that won the state selects the electors, they are not technically voted on. Virginia Republicans get no say on the electors Hillary Clinton sent to the electoral college.
Kevin Todd says:

September 8, 2017 at 11:51 am

I agree and too think the government works for most people but not all of people. Sure if you are living happily and getting through life at ease with little economic stress this form of government is working. If you are on the other end of the stick then it is obvious it isn’t. I think this is a big question being considered in our present day because of who is in office and how this man handles things. It is clear “our leader” of this country does not represent America as a whole as he condones actions and speaks his thoughts that many disagree with. However, I think it is extremely tough for any president to represent all of our country’s behalf due to the amount of citizens we have. I think there is a lot of blame on the president and only him that come along with tons of complaints too. Although I do not support Trump in any way I do not think he is the sole problem. Nearly half of Americans did not vote. They were aware who was running and what type of a man Trump is, they could have voiced their opinion by filling out a ballot. I’m sure if the citizens who didn’t vote actually voted there might have been a different outcome and eventually that would show who the true candidate is for our country. I’m aware of the majority rule but I think if more Americans voiced their opinion we could find a candidate who will best represent us. I don’t think there is a specific way our government can be reformed but I do think the way our officials being elected can.
Grace Miller says:

September 9, 2017 at 10:02 pm

I disagree that a government can’t satisfy the needs of all of it’s people because every human being has the same basic rights, needs, and wants. I find issues with the question “does government work?” because it seems like there is no common understanding or definition of what the government working actually looks like. However, I think it’s very easy to prove that no government does not express the best interests of a country, especially one committed to protecting the rights of its citizens and promoting equality (in theory). I think using the electoral college as an example of how our government is failing its people is a slightly misleading argument. I personally believe the electoral college is a very outdated system, but it’s original intentions were to prevent a tyrannous government at a time when the majority of the population would never get a chance to meet or even hear the presidential candidates. With the explosion of news media, and the blazing campaign trails candidates embark on, the worry of a candidate pulling the wool over the eyes of the entire country is much less likely.

There are definitely issues with our system of government, however I believe there are issues with every government. With the majority of the citizens needs being met, in theory, I don’t see a better form of government than ours working for our country. There is also no question in my mind that government does, in fact, work.
Jackson Krase says:

September 10, 2017 at 10:47 am

In a nation where the body politic is so diverse and eclectic, it is impossible to fully satisfy the wants and needs of every individual citizen in the United States. Therefore, I find the question you posed regarding whether the government will one day be designed to work for everyone unrealistic because there will always be many sides to a policy decision.
However, I do believe that there is an issue of underrepresentation of low-income earners within the political system of the U.S. The influence and power that economic elites and interest groups wield largely overshadows the wants and needs of average American citizens. Thus, I think the more pressing issue is how to ensure that our representative democracy, which is designed to represent the needs of the individual citizen, can be more including of the overall citizen body. Obviously, there isn’t a cure-all solution but an important step would be to restrict the power of lobbyists and their ability to shape legislation. Many American citizens hold the belief that the government cares more about serving the wants of corporations than they do in helping the majority of the population. It is from this that business has a uniquely commanding role in American politics.
Another important area that needs to be addressed is also the overwhelming caucasian majority within the United States Congress. Despite the 115th Congress being the most diverse in history, only one-in-five voting members are an ethnic or racial minority. This ties into your question of how the U.S. government can represent its 323 million population? With Congress being disproportionate in its representation of the American population, it is important that our country’s minority population be accounted for in these institutions.
Lilly Alemayehu says:

September 10, 2017 at 4:43 pm

This reflection made me think about the concept of the social contract. The social contract states that the only reason humans create governments is to protect their rights and liberties. The role of government is not only to protect right and liberties but put limitations on those rights and liberties in order to ensure that the rights and liberties of one person don’t impede upon those of another. Therefore, the majority has an ability to dictate the rights and liberties that we enjoy based on their influence on our political system. This begs the question, are the rights and liberties of minorities really being protected if they aren’t being included in the process of defining rights and liberties? Furthermore, if their rights aren’t being protected or represented in a fair manner, is the social contract collapsing in those areas?
Reid Chenault says:

September 10, 2017 at 11:21 pm

I think this is a very interesting point that is concerning to nearly every American. When it comes to representing 300 million people clearly it is impossible, however the representative democracy is set up so that every eligible citizen is able to vote on the important issues. There are many Americans in this country who could care less about the works of the government and the way they run the country. As Dahl said in previous readings, these are the “apolitical” citizens. These people simply would not know what is best for this country because they are uneducated. As we have also discussed in class, what the people want might not always be optimal for the country. I believe the government does a good job, for the most part, in identifying the best interest of the people. As stated in your argument, someone is always going to be left out of the majority, so I agree that there should be some way to account for the minority groups in this country as they are continuously growing larger and larger.
Yanbin Zhang says:

September 19, 2017 at 11:18 pm

When we approach to the issue that wether the government could encompass 3 million of American people, the answer would inevitably seem disappointed. The current government could not achieve this ultimate goal of democracy —— to have every one concerned and heard while making the public policy. But this could not lead to the conclusion that the government is not working.
To illustrate this point of view, one important factor would be emphasized again, that the U.S is a large country with “ great number of citizens and extent of territory”. Along with the human nature stated by Madison which tend to be divided into groups by certain common interests or opinions, the diverse groups of people would exist permanently. But ,to some extent, it is actually a good thing to have more people to be heard. Because no one is always belong to one single group. The identity of every citizen varies upon issues. Even if one American Born Chinese dentist is treated unfairly in one particular issue of the racial group, this guy would still be benefited of high payment from his job as a dentist. So the way that the government encompass everyone is not to take everyone’s every views into decision making, but to take care of every person at least in some issues of his or her interests. Furthermore, the political resource is not cumulative in modern America, so those class of people holding political resources are still unable to make the government more beneficial to them.
Another consideration is important. If we view this issue with a different standard of evaluation, it would show a different result. To have every person heard in politics is the ultimate goal of government, but it needs a prerequisite ——— to have a stable and defendable domestic society. Without that, all other issues are just prattle. America is the most long-lasting democracy with one continuous government system in the world. This is no doubt an incredible achievement of America. Such sustainable political system create the room to work on other social, liberal issues. At this point, the American government is doing great. And even if the government is unable to satisfy everyone on all the issues, it is working out the collective goods for most of people like the better standard of living, better environment, access to education, right of property and speech. American government is dong better than most countries on the collective goods of people.

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