POLITICS – YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW 1
Politics – Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Question1
Freedomof Speech
This civil liberty is recognized in America andduly protected by the First Amendment to the United StatesConstitution. Coming to force in 1791, this form of civil libertyensures that the citizens of America get the right to expressthemselves and at the same give others opportunity to expressthemselves without the involvement of the government (House, 2015).Under this civil liberty, there are different kinds of speeches thatare protected and those that are not protected by the constitution.Some that are not protected include defamation or false statements,use of words that are deemed fighting words, child pornography oreven obscene languages.
EqualProtection
This kind of civil liberty recognizes that nostate shall form rules that uplift others in the society more thanthe rest. That no state shall have rules that are deemed to bediscriminatory in nature. In most cases, inequalities in a widesubject and can either be deliberate or not. Therefore through equalprotection, the governments both federal and state have a mandate tocome up with policies that ensure no disparity exist in the races(House 2015). Through this, individuals have a right to vote theyare equal based on gender or even sexual orientation. Through thistype of liberty, there has been the introduction of the affirmativeaction that ensures that all the groups in the society are treatedequally. Thus, through the affirmative action, the different groupsdefined by gender, race or other factors are treated equally.Therefore, this addresses the issues such as those that affect theindividuals belonging to a given group being given preference overthe individuals in other groups. Thus, affirmative action bringssanity to the institutions as it remains as a tiebreaker. Through it,certain groups are allocated certain quotas that end up in benefitinga given group and ultimately putting it on par with the other groups.
Question2
Coverage of the Watergate scandal by WashingtonPost reporters in the known account referred to as All thePresident’s Men had effects on the government’s public officers.This scandal ensured fall of a President and denting the faith ofAmericans in their government. Additionally, the scandal also taintedthe image of public servants. The public service sector of thegovernment was fully marred with distrust. The coverage by theWashington Post and the other media exposed the corruption that waswithin the administration of Nixon. After the coverage of thepost-Watergate scandal, most of the potential leaders shunnedpolitics as they did not want to be linked with the shames anddisgraces of campaigns and elections. Notably, the public remainedskeptical and had the long prevalent pessimistic attitude.
The9/11 Attacks on the Security Agencies
After the 9/11 attacks, different sections ofthe media reported the event. Notably, the media employed framing inits reporting hence making other parts of the news seem moreimportant than others (McCombs, 2013). . In framing, the blame wasput on the security agencies including CIA, FBI in regards to theircompetence. The public opinion and trust levels on the securityagencies reduced as it was felt that the security agencies could nolonger offer a solution to the problems. The trust in government toprotect its citizenry also reduced. The event totally changed thelandscape of the operations of the various security agencies with thedomestic spying and security getting intensive after the attacks. Themedia showed pictures of the events that were traumatizing to theAmerican populace. The country vowed never to be brought down near toits feet again. The workings and operations of the security agenciesbecome more intensified. This was to ensure that the security of theAmerican people is not compromised at all, and the borders areprotected at all times.
Question3
Crimeand Capital Punishment
The Democrats and the Republicans differregarding crime and capital punishment. The Republicans tend toprefer harsher penalties when individuals commit a crime.Additionally, the are for the capital punishment as they feel thatthrough it individuals get to be well disciplined. On the other hand,Democrats appear to be progressive in their views, and they believethat crimes need to be addressed from the causative point rather thanpunishment. They believe that crimes ought to have lighter penalties.A case in point is an individual selling drug, who according toRepublicans should get strict penalties while Democrats believe theyshould get light penalties and go through rehabilitation.
SocialIssues
The American populace is diverse, and the bestthing is to accommodate the divergent practices and views.Nonetheless, the Americans differ on how to go about it as far as thepolitical alignments are concerned. The Republicans are conservativein social matters while Democrats often are progressive in theirthoughts (Campbell & Monson, 2008). Republicans, for instance,oppose issues to do with gay marriage and promote marriage between aman and a woman while Democrats tend to favor gay marriage andabortion. The stands have effects in the integration of thecommunity. The difference stands are also questions of ethics as theRepublicans tend to think that it is not ethical to promote gaymarriage.
References
Campbell, D.E., & Monson, J. Q. (2008). The Religion Card Gay Marriage andthe 2004 Presidential Election. PublicOpinion Quarterly, 72(3),399-419.
House, F.(2015). Freedomin the World 2015: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and CivilLiberties.Rowman & Littlefield.
McCombs, M.(2013). Settingthe agenda: The mass media and public opinion.John Wiley & Sons.