What Is a Citizen’s Relationship to Government?

            The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns government and the relationship between citizens and government. The authors of my textbook We The People define government as the “institutions and procedures through which a territory and its people are ruled” (Ginsberg et al., 2021, p. 5). Governments range in size from the local town meeting to the enormous establishments that run nations. According to the authors, thousands of governments have existed, but few have lasted a long time.

            The government of the United States of America was established by the Constitution and has been stable for more than 230 years. This government is built on the core values of liberty, equality, and democracy. Americans embrace all three values, but the values mean different things to different people. An example is the way that both Democrats and Republicans claim that they are “protecting democracy,” while they practice the value in opposing ways.

            We group these conflicts and struggles in the meaning of the three values, as well as leadership, structure, and government policies, under the term politics. The authors define politics as “conflict over the leadership, structure, and policies of government” (Ginsberg et al., 2021, p. 5).

            There are two important questions that should be asked in defining governments: Who governs? And how much control does the government have? The authors gave three types of governments to show who governs: autocracy (“a form of government in which a single individual – a king, queen, or dictator – rules”), oligarchy (“a form of government in which a small group – landowners, military officers, or wealthy merchants – controls most of the governing decisions”), and democracy (“a system of rule that permits citizens to play a significant part in the governmental process, usually through the election of key public officials”) (Ginsberg et al., 2021, pp. 5-6).

            The authors discussed three different forms of government to show the distinction in how much control a government has. Constitutional government (sometimes called liberal) is defined by the authors as “a system of rule in which formal and effective limits are placed on the powers of the government” (Ginsberg et al., 2021, p. 7). This form of government is found in the United States and several other nations.

            Authoritarian government is defined by the authors as “a system of rule in which the government recognizes no formal limits but may nevertheless be restrained by the power of other social institutions” (Ginsberg et al., 2021, p. 7). This form of government is found in Latin America, Asia, and Africa.

            Totalitarian government is defined by the government as “a system of rule in which the government recognizes no formal limits on its power and seeks to absorb or eliminate other social institutions that might challenge it” (Ginsberg et al., 2021, p. 7). This form of government was found in the Soviet Union (Joseph Stalin) and Nazi Germany (Hitler) and is found today in North Korea. These governments try to control everything in their country, including political, economic, and social life.

            The Constitution of the United States places limits on what the government can do and how they can do it. The authors wrote the following:

Americans have the good fortune to live in a nation in which limits are placed on what governments can do and how they can do it. By one measure, 52 percent of the global population lives in democracies, but only 14 percent enjoy true liberal democracy with free and fair elections, the rule of law, and constraints on the executive (president or prime minister); 38 percent live in more limited democracies” (Ginsberg et al., 2021, p. 7).

            The Founding Fathers of the United States created a government based on principles, and these principles define the individual liberty that Americans enjoy today and as outlined in the Bill of Rights (freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of conscience, and freedom from arbitrary search and seizure). However, the Founders did not want a strict democracy. There were restrictions as to who could vote (white male property owners) and who could hold office. They wanted to restrict these privileges to the white middle and upper classes. History shows that the right to vote was first extended to all males, then to all females, and finally to all adults eighteen years old and older.

            When the authors wrote the word politics, they referred to “conflicts over who the government’s leadership is, how the government is organized, or what its policies are” (Ginsberg et al., 2021, p. 8). Those determining these issues are said to have political power. There are numerous ways in which Americans can participate in government, such as “voting, donating money, signing petitions, attending political meetings, tweeting and commenting online, sending emails to officials, lobbying legislators, working on a campaign, and participating in protest marches and even violent demonstrations” (Ginsberg et al., 2021, p. 8).

            The federal government in the United States is a representative democracy or republic, which the authors define as “a system of government in which the populace selects representatives, who play a significant role in governmental decision-making” (Ginsberg et al., 2021, p. 8). Americans vote for representatives, but we do not vote directly on legislation.

            The government on the state and local level may be a direct democracy, defined as “a system of rule that permits citizens to vote directly on laws and policies” (Ginsberg et al., 2021, p. 8). When citizens vote on initiatives and referenda, we are participating in a direct democracy.

In 2020, 128 referenda appeared on state ballots, often dealing with hot-button issues, including measures in 6 states legalizing medical or recreational marijuana, in 12 states affecting taxes, in 2 states regarding abortion access and funding, and in 14 states regarding elections policies such as redistricting, voting requirements, and campaign finance (Ginsberg et al., 2021, p. 8).

            The closer the government is to the people, the more opportunity the people have to influence the decisions made by the government. We have more influence in our city governments and school boards than in our state governments, and more influence in our state governments than in the federal government.