美国的社会制度Alice Z. Chen Essay #3: The Government of the United States: America is a democratic country, its’ people have the right to freedom of election, as well as the right to express their own opinions. Every four years a new President is elected, and one need only be an American citizen to vote. Many countries envy the American democratic system, because in their country the people do not have as many rights. For instance, China is not a country with many parties, it only has the Communist party. The people must observe the policy the Communist party dictates, they do not have the right to choose who leads their country. In the United States, there are three branches of the government that are responsible or the formulation of American policy: the court system, the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the Executive Branch. The goal of dividing power amongst these three branches is to prevent any one department from gaining control of the entire country. Thus the President cannot act in a self-serving manner, and any policy decision must be discussed and approved by all three branches before being accepted. Since it is the American people who elect the representatives of each of the three branches, it is reasonable to assume that the government is representative of the majority. But our electoral system is not perfect, and it’s imperfections became evident in the most recent Presidential election and the election four years ago. One of the problems of the United State's democratic system is that not all U.S. citizens exercise their right to vote. There are some who are simply not concerned with political issues, so they do not bother to go to the polls on Election Day. There are others who are concerned, but believe that their vote does not count, that whether they vote or not the results of the election will be the same so they do not eagerly participate. There are still others who work or go to school far from home, who cannot return to their election district to vote. Even when these people remember to apply for an absentee ballot, if they do not receive it early enough or do not receive it all, they lose their opportunity to vote. I have many classmates who live far away who encountered this very problem. There are others who, although they are in their election district, are still unable to vote come Election Day. I have a classmate who went home to Ohio to vote, but the voting machine was broken, so she had to stand online for six hours. She said that northern Ohio is predominantly Democratic, due to the large number of steel factories. Steel workers are among the greatest victims of Bush’s policies. But when they show up to the polls, and find that the machines are broken, that they must wait on line in some places for up to nine hours, many forfeit their right because they simply do not have the time (they must work, make a living, feed their children). Southern Ohio is predominantly Republican, and they had no such problems. Another problem of the American democratic system is that there are only two major parties with very divergent platforms, but each voter must choose one to represent him or herself. If a citizen is not very wealthy, and places a lot of importance on job security and health care issues, then it would logically follow that he would be a democratic supporter. But if, at the same time, he is a socially and morally conservative, or is a devout Christian, then he ought to support the Republican party. So then doesn’t itbecome very hard for him to choose? There are many Asian-American immigrants who find themselves in this situation, for them there is no one party that accurately represents their interests. If they want to vote at all, they must choose between the two. This two-party system and their divergent platforms have resulted in an America divided. In the recent Presidential election, we have witnessed the stark division between the coasts and the center of the country. The America that Bush now presides over is a divided country. There are many who not only disrespect him, but who outright despise him. A country in wartime should not rely upon a President who does not even have the support of his own people. Currently, all three branches of government are in the hands of the Republicans, so Bush and his party members can make policy decisions and the Democrats will not be able to stop them. Over the past four years, we have already lost many civil liberties: gays no longer have the right to get married, women cannot choose to have abortions, the rich have been granted tax cuts at the expense of jobs and health insurance for the poor, the environment has been polluted by big companies, stem-cell research has been halted, etc. Four years from now, where will we be? Although Bush cannot serve another term, who knows how much damage he can cause in the meantime? Throughout American history, there has never been a more generally disliked President. Knowing this, how could he possibly have been re-elected? This speaks to a need to reform our electoral system. Perhaps the electoral college system needs to be revised to better reflect the voters voices. Take New York state, for example. Hypothetically, if there were 52% who voted Democratic, and 48% who voted Republican, all of New York’s 31 electoral votes would belong to the Democrats. Then the 48% who voted Republican might as well not have voted at all. If the electoral system more accurately represented the people’s choices, 16 electoral votes should have gone to the Democrats and 15 to the Republicans. This is only a suggestion, the greater problem cannot be so easily resolved, but we must actively search for ways to improve our electoral system. Although America’s government is far from perfect, it is not bad. But under Bush’s leadership, the American people feel that their civil liberties have been violated. This is simply not acceptable in a democratic country. We must work together to protect that which defines our national identity – democracy and freedom.陈早 Essay #3: 美国的社会制度: 美国是一个民主的国家， 人民有自由选举， 言论的权利。

每四年选举一次总统， 只要是美国公民就可以投票。 许多国家都羡慕美国的民主制度， 因为在他们自己国家人民没有这样的权利。 比如说， 中国就不是一个多党派的国家， 只有共产党。 人们必须遵守共产党制定的政策， 他们没有权利选择本国的最高领导人。 制定美国政策的有三个部门：法院， 众议院和参议院， 以及行政部门。 同时有这三个部门的目的是为了防止其中一个部门控制整个国家。 这样， 总统就不能为所欲为， 任何一个决定都必须经过三个部门的讨论和同意。 由于这些部门的代表都是美国人民选举出来的， 他们就应该代表大多数人民的心声。 可是我们的选举制度不完善， 在刚刚结束的总统选举和四年前的选举中就发生了一些问题。 美国的民主制度的问题自一是， 并不是每一个公民都参加选举。 有一些人不关心政治问题， 选举日不参与投票。 有的人关心， 但是觉得自己这一票并不重要， 他们投还是不投结果都一样， 因此就不积极参加。 还有些人在外地工作或学习， 不能够赶回自己的选举区投票。 尽管他们记得申请邮寄投票， 如果没按时收到或没收到， 他们就失去了投票的机会。 我有很多外地的同学都遇到了这种情况。 还有些人就是在选举区也没机会投票。

我有一个同学会俄亥尔州去投票， 可是选举机器坏了， 害得她等了六个小时。 她说北俄亥尔州是民主党的， 因为那儿有很多钢铁工厂， 工人成了布什的最大受害者。 可是当他们到投票地点去时， 发现机器坏了， 有些地方甚至要等九个小时， 很多人就放弃了因为没有那么多时间 （必须打工， 赚钱， 照顾孩子）。南俄亥尔州是共和党的天下， 却没发生这种问题。 美国民主制度的另一个问题是只有主要的两个党派， 他们的观点是不一致的， 而你必须选一个作为你的代表。 假如你不太富有， 注重工作和健康保险， 按道理来说你应该是支持民主党的。 可是你如果同时又思想很保守， 注重道德观念， 或有特别的宗教信仰， 按道理来说你就应该回头共和党一票。 这样不就很为难吗？ 有很多亚洲移民都是这种处境， 对他们来说没有一个完美的党派可以代表他们的利益。 他们如果想投票就必须选一边。这两种党派和他们不同的观点使美国人民分成了两个派别。 在最近的总统选举结果中， 我们就能看出来美国的东西岸和中部有明显的区别。 现在布什要领导的美国不是一个团结的国家。 有很多人不但不尊敬布什， 而且抵制他。 一个国家在战争期间不应该依靠一个这么不得人心的总统。

现在国家的三个制定政策的部门中， 共和党代表都占了多数， 布什和他的党员们想做什么决定， 民主党也无法阻止。 在过去的四年中， 我们已经失去了很多人权：同性恋不能结婚， 妇女不能选择堕胎，富有的人的税越来越低可是穷人却失去了工作和健康保险，环境被大公司污染， 茎细胞科研停止等等。四年后， 我们有将怎样呢？虽然布什不可能再连任了，可是谁知道在这四年中又会有什么新的灾难？ 在美国民主制度的历史上，再也没有一比布什更被抵制的总统。既然是这样，他为什么还能连任呢？这说明了我们的选举制度需要修正。 也许选票的统计方法要如实反映投票人数的比例。就拿纽约州来说，如果52%选民主党，48%选共和党，按现在的规定，纽约的31个选票人都归民主党。那么纽约的48%的公民就等于白投了票。如果如实反映，16票应该归民主党，15票归共和党。 这只是一个建议，大问题没那么容易解决，但是我们必须寻找更好的选举办法。美国的社会制度不完美，但是已经不错了。可是在布什的领导之下，美国人民觉得他们的人权受到了侵犯。在这种民主的国家里，这样的事是不应该发生的。我们得共同努力来维护这个国家的精华—民主与自由。相关文档： HYPERLINK "/list/美国的社会制度/" 美国的社会制度 HYPERLINK "/list/美国社会制度的起源/" 美国社会制度的起源 HYPERLINK "/list/美国社会制度的演变/" 美国社会制度的演变 HYPERLINK "/list/美国社会制度/" 美国社会制度 HYPERLINK "/list/美国基本社会制度/" 美国基本社会制度 HYPERLINK "/list/中国的社会制度/" 中国的社会制度 HYPERLINK "/list/社会制度的特征/" 社会制度的特征 HYPERLINK "/list/我国的社会制度/" 我国的社会制度 HYPERLINK "/list/社会制度的构成/" 社会制度的构成 HYPERLINK "/list/社会制度的功能/" 社会制度的功能更多相关文档请访问： HYPERLINK "/" /