Two Faces of Power

We have seen countries around the world going to wars because of power. Power decides who controls what and who. What happens if the controlled do not want to be controlled?  If power is properly distributed and there is no abuse of power then a society cannot have that arise from mismanagement of power.

In the article “Two Faces of Power” Peter Bachrachand and Morton S. Baratz the multiple faces of power. The authors discuss that sociologists, scholars, and political scientists share different views of power distribution. While most sociologists believe that power is very centralized, scholars and other people argue that power is widely spread. In this paper Bachrachand and Baratz are arguing that power has two faces. In a simple example, the two authors point out that sometimes people just look that is ruling and making decisions but they do not look at the source of the power.

We can cite the revolutions that having taking place in the Arab world as a great example of this scenario. Their leaders became so powerful such that they thought they were irreplaceable and they were ruling with absolute authority. However, once people got tired the started uprising in order to change their society. In this case we see also that ordinary people are the source of power and they can change power holders to their favor. Bachrachand and Baratz finish the argument by saying that people need to study power without taking sides and they propose that a new model for studying power be developed. In this model researchers and scholars have to be neutral.    

What is America?” in the book What I Saw in America, by British writer G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

When we are to travel or go on a long journey to a new place where we have never been before, we normally create our own imaginations about what we think that place will be like. We create these imaginations based on what we have heard, read, or watched on television. Usually when we get to the place the feeling is always different. We sometimes find better things than what we expected, sometimes when we put higher expectations we end up being disappointed if we find less appealing environments or setting.

 In the book what I saw in America, G. K. Chesterton gives his narrative on what he imagined about America and what his experience was before, during, and after his American visit. In this paragraph we only focus in the chapter “What is America”. In this chapter Chesterton discusses what he thinks about America and the American people. "As he writes, I have found the American people the politest people in the world (4). Chesterton goes on to discuss that American constitution is founded on creed and that Americans are patriotic and they love their country".

 Despite all these, Chesterton is quick to point out that America is a country of tolerance as it accepts people from all over the world. America teaches its new people to love America just as their own home. From this reading I was deeply touched by the following quote; It is the experience of men that always returns to the equality of men…  is when men have seen and suffered much and come at the end of more elaborate experiments, that they see men as men under an equal light of death and daily laughter  (18). I feel like Chesterton is saying that people will mistreat, oppress, and dehumanize other people until they undergo the same mistreatment, and this is when they come to their senses that all people are supposed to be treated equally and with dignity.

Despite Negativity, Americans Mixed on Ideal Role of Government

In the article “Despite Negativity, Americans Mixed on Ideal Role of Government”,

 Frank Newport discusses American government and what Americans think about their government. In this article Newport tries to answer two simple questions; what is the role of the government, and how big should our government be? What makes Newport’s article compelling and interesting is that he avoids putting his personal opinions in it and he tries to stay as objective as possible. He draws his supporting points for his assertions and discussions from social research findings on what majority of Americans think and feel.

Looking at this article we can see that people's perceptions about the government are based on where they stand on the political spectrum. For example, in this article the author writes that conservatives favor less government on the other hand liberals favor a more robust government.  

“There are clear philosophical and ideological differences in views of the government that create the dynamic tension that exists in any democratic system, with conservatives generally favoring less government and liberals favoring more government”. He writes.

Now is it wrong that Americans have different views as to how the government should operate? The answer is no. In a democracy people are allowed to express their views as to how their government should be run. If people feel like their present government is not working as they had hoped when they voted it into power, the people are given another chance to elect a different government that stand for their views. In the long run, majority of Americans want a government that that protects its citizens.

In my opinion I believe that Government has to step in and help its citizens out. What is the role of a government if it cannot help its citizens? For instance let us look at the economic crisis that we experienced between 2006 and 2009. Many people lost their jobs and homes. Now should we say the government should not have helped any of those that lost their property during that period? As a progressive society people that lost everything deserve to be assisted. We cannot allow having a government that is not active.