The History of Politics and Government in the United States

Running head : The History of Politics and Government

The History of Politics and Government in the United States

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The History of Politics and Government in the United States

Introduction

Politics and the government of the United States have a long history owing to the fact that their story covers a very long period of time which was witness to the multifarious changes that the American government underwent (McLaughlin , 1936

The history of politics and government of the United States can be understood by looking

at the country 's constitutional history , which spans over two centuries of changes (McLaughlin , 1936 . The vastness of the has been commented on by McLaughlin , who said that when viewed in its entirety , constitutional history is of almost limitless extent because the historical account must include the underlying social and industrial changes and movements which occur alongside constitutional adjustments (McLaughlin , 1936

In addition , institutional forms are considered to be products of long growth , and while they are more distinctly noticed in American colonies much of their developments are traceable in English history (McLaughlin 1936 . For example , various terms and constitutional provisions found in the American Constitution can only be completely understood when viewed in the context of English constitutional history , such as common law trial by jury , and bill of attainder (McLaughlin , 1936 . This means that it is almost impossible to determine with accuracy the precise beginnings of American political history (McLaughlin , 1936

Nevertheless , the best starting point in understanding the political and governmental history of the United States would be the events leading to the 18th century , right before the Federal Convention met in Philadelphia in 1787 (McLaughlin , 1936

The Beginnings of American Politics and Government

McLaughlin outlines that there are basically two thoroughfares that may be traversed in to understand the three decades prior to 1788 (1936 . The first one is concerned with the development of principles of limited government . This movement puts a premium on placing safeguards to protect individual liberty . Thus , the products are legally limited governments that had state constitutions . This movement marked the start of the United States as a body politic (McLaughlin , 1936

The second thoroughfare refers to the events that led the United States to assume a particular form of government , which is a federal government . The United States as a federal state happened with the adoption of the federal Constitution (McLaughlin , 1936

The political concept of Federalism means that the political power of the government is ultimately placed in the hands of the people (Demkin 2003 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy . Prior to the adoption by the United States of this particular form of government , federalism was virtually unknown as a political . It is interesting to note that present times have shown that many states have similarly adopted the federal form of government , following the United States ' lead (McLaughlin , 1936

Federalism is characterized by a distribution of essential powers of sovereign authority among governments (McLaughlin , 1936 . This means that within...