The USA is Politically Exceptional
"Though often regarded as the leading liberal Democracy in the world, the USA is in fact politically ' exceptional' from other countries."Christian democracy, free democracy and liberal democracy are all terms, which have been used by George W bush to highlight the values, which the United States, and its allies are determined to protect. Since September 11th our democratic rights have been championed by the US as the lynchpin of our civil societies.Describing the US as the leading liberal democracy in the world is to say that it leads Britain, France and Germanyas the other liberal democracies of note. So what common features unite these systems under the banner of liberal democracy?" Liberal democratic states are characterised by constitutional government, a system of checks and balances among major institutions, fair and regular elections, a democratic franchise, a competitive party system, the protection of individual rights and civil liberties and so forth."[ii]It is not universally accepted that the USis a liberal democracy,"Libertyand democracy have been persistent influences over the course of American history and politics, but they are always in dynamic tension with each other."[iii]
So as the US leads the other liberal democracies, all possessing the same distinguishing features, what, if anything, other than its leadership, marks it out as exceptional?The US constitution is at the very heart of the nations politics and values. The USis certainly economically exceptional and this has certain implications for its political role, particularly the fact that in USpolitics (as well as society) money talks. There is a school of thought in the US known as Messianism, " Messianism, the belief in Americasexceptional world role. The process of centralisation has created what Grodzin describes as ' marble cake federalism' but this is not the same as the centralized federalism seen in Germany. " What goes on in their state and their county, on the other hand affects them more directly. Non-constitutional law and local government were still the prerogative of the state. It is in the constitution that the origins of the exceptional political nature of the UScan be found. "[iv]In the modern world it is increasingly difficult to separate politics and economics. It has the most powerful army and the biggest nuclear arsenal to protect the most powerful and biggest economy. The state legislature is responsible for policy differences over many issues such as capital punishment. Money buys media exposure, media exposure gains votes. It can certainly lay claim to exceptionalism but that case is hard to prove. The US leads the world in its foreign policy. The USeconomy is the most powerful in the world and its economic position bears heavily on its politics. France has a president and the German post of Chancellor is very similar.
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Acceptance Essays
