Final Essays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Final Essays - Essay Example Jesse Ventura didn’t talk down to people like Nader did, nor did he have the boring, stifling personality that Ross Perot projected. Ross Perot, it might be said, had some advantages over Ventura. He shared Ventura’s style of â€Å"straight talk† which appealed to a lot of Americans. With his Southern drawl and antebellum charm, Ross Perot was somewhat of an interesting character, especially due to the fact that he liked showing a lot of visuals (i.e., charts) whilst speaking. Perot also appeared more â€Å"serious† about life than Ventura, who most people might not have taken seriously because of his celebrity. Nader possessed the advantage over Ventura in that, he seemed like a more â€Å"serious† candidate, and a well-educated one at that. Ralph Nader is most famous for his exposure of hot dogs not having met FDA standards. Trained in both economics and green living, Nader cares about organizations like PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of A nimals). These three candidacies show us that the likelihood of a third party in America—even if it were moderately strong—is not enough to defeat the two main parties of Democrat and Republican that are in place. Independent party candidates are not usually serious in scope, and thus, they undermine themselves. 2. E.E. Schattschnieder says "democracy without political parties is impossible." Is he correct? Why? (250 words) Democracy, as Schattschneider said, would probably most likely be impossible without political parties. Indeed, â€Å"†¦E.E. Schattschneider sought to redefine democracy and popular control of government by formulating a concept that has since become known as the ‘doctrine of responsible party government.’†1 Basically, without political parties, the best way that the government would be described is total anarchy. There would be complete chaos without political parties because it would be â€Å"every man for himself.† To be more politically correct, one could also say it would also be â€Å"every woman for herself.† Indeed, political parties in a democracy serve to help checks and balances stay in effect. The fact that there are two opposing political parties is ideal in the sense that one party can check the other by not allowing certain actions to happen based on the way the parties vote strategically in both houses of Congress—the Senate and the House. On the other hand, one of the disadvantages is not necessarily with not having parties, but with having two parties only—which many times makes politics in the United States a polarizing, partisan, all-out, knock-down, dragged-out war. Both political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, equally believe in their opinions. The problem is that many times, neither side wants to make concessions in order to get deals made and laws passed because both sides always have scruples when it comes to getting their particular leg islation passed. To this end, it is hoped that in the future both sides collaborate. 3. According to "Toward a More Responsible Party System All Over Again" is there a need to re-conceptualize and restructure our party system to establish programmatic-based political parties, disciplined parties, and party responsibility? (270 words) There is a dire need in the United States to definitely re-conceptualize and restructure the existing party system in this country. All types of parties should be considered as long as they only serve to help people and espouse a noteworthy cause or group of