does anyone else think the american system of govt is corrupt?

Question

I'm Australian and hav lived in usa twice. i think it is corrupt how the Pres can appoint any random as his secretaries. and how the US congress is sooooooooo big, 700 members or something? surely not all of them are ethical beings. How many of them are paid off by the tobacco/drug/whatever industry? who could keep track of all those congressmen and senators.

another thing do u hav much to do with congress? i get the feeling they don't do much. in ausralia the Prime Minister is also a member of parliment and thus is answerable to the oppositon which we actually hav, u seem to hav no oppositon.

I'm not saying ur system sucks entirely, it has good intentions but they hav just been abit corrupted. i know i'm gonna get a torrent of abuse from americans, i'm not just critacising i would like to know wat u think.

to me if you had a proper oppositon party and the pres was part of parliment then u wouldn't hav had as many problems, like the unpopulaur iraq war.

Answer 1

Unfortunately there is room for corruption and there are some who find the gate. We do have opposition which tends to keep some of it in check. Presently we have two parties that have almost totally opposite ideas of how the country should be run. (Democrat & republican) When one party has the majority of votes they try to push their ideas through. The opposing party tries to prevent such and the process continues. yes, there are people called "Lobbyists" who exert influence on our elected officials with money and gifts and promises. It was not supposed to be that way but the practice has crept in. Once in awhile one party manages to get some laws passed that make it illegal to accept reward from corporations but to date there aren't enough of them. Each party is afraid of the other getting the upper hand in this so the system changes slowly.

Our senate has two persons from each of the fifty states who sit in the senate and attempt to fulfill the wishes of the people in their state.

The house of representatives has persons based on the population of the respective state. So the number of representatives from any one state can change if the population shifts. Presently there are 432 representatives.

Each state has elections to decide which persons will go to the federal government and represent them.

So really there is some balance as each party jockeys to keep ahead of the other.

Answer 2

I think the biggest problem is the money in campaigns and the lack of accountability by the president. This is directed at all administrations, but especially the current one.

On the first point, I personally think we should do away with paid political advertising for/against candidates on television, and instead publicly fund televised debates so that the networks still get their election year dinari. Incumbent candidates should not be able to accept campaign funds until the year of the election - otherwise its just bribe money for votes. Other forms of advertising could be used, just not television.

On the second point, I would LOVE to see a constitutional amendment requiring the president to appear before Congress (or a smaller subset of Senate and House representatives) monthly for "question time" like they have in Britain. Even better if congress got to yell like they do in London (order, Order!) during prime minister's question time!!!

Answer 3

The sadder part to this issue is the fact that a large majority of the american populace has no concept of what you are saying. They either have no clue about other political systems in other countries and therefore do not understand your system you described, or that the various US political representatives are persistently lobbied by various private and commercial groups and consequently influenced, or plainly just don't care because they feel a sense of powerlessness against the system, or . . . this list can go on and on and on. If you really step back and look at the state of affairs in the US and who is really running things, it's a frightening prospect, because it's no longer the commmon citizens voices being heard. The voices with the financial backing, the social ties, the medias attention are now calling the shots . . . the constitution is becoming more and more of just an old piece of paper and nobody that it represents is recognizing it . . .

Answer 4

its a great system, and it works well when we actually have people in office that care about the majority instead the minority. That's what we have going on today. the only people being represented are the rich corporate elite. that's why you see all of this fighting between the Dems and the Republicans. Us Dems see whats going on behind the scenes. the working republicans think they belong to the minority and don't see their rights being stripped away before their very eyes.

Answer 5

All politicians are corrupt, all over the world. The U.S. government, when compared to other countries, is far less corrupt because of the consequences, if and when caught.

Answer 6

i do believe you might be a member of
a mosque in australia.

australia has 15 million people,
the u.s has 300 million people.
your system is as mine.
we are just much , much
more populated.

hence your post doesn't make any sense at all!

Answer 7

America doesn't have a govt.

There are actually 2 sections(continents), North and South..

The U.S. Govt. has much corruption disguised as electoral process.

Answer 8

all governments are corrupt, ours no more or less than the average.

Answer 9

it is the best democratic system of the world

Answer 10

There is corruption in all things