Assignment 1: Politics – Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Politics – Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Student’s Name
University Affiliation
Politics – Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
a) Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott started on the first day of December 1955. The Boycott began four days after an African-American woman, Rosa Parks, declined to give her seat for a white man while boarding a Montgomery Bus (Gitlin, 2013). She was arrested and fined which prompted all blacks in Montgomery to boycott using public buses. This incident lasted for 381 days, and it is considered as a pivotal civil rights protest to dispute segregated sitting on public buses. The US Supreme Court banned racial segregation in the transit system in Montgomery, Alabama.
Civil rights movements have waged a protracted struggle to eradicate racial discrimination in the society. The Montgomery bus boycott instigated fruitful racial relations between the whites and the blacks. The American Society is multi-ethnic and therefore calls for peaceful coexistence between dwellers. Societal development is dependent on the collective responsibility of the existing population in the quest to achieve political, social and economic development.
B) Selma to Montgomery March
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) planned a mass protest from Selma to Montgomery in the quest to protect the voting rights of the black population. The March 1965 incident received support from most Americans, and President Johnson addressed the Marchers. Later in August, the US Congress passed the Voting Rights Act that was a relief to all the black voters.

The Act reassures that every American citizen who has attained the voting age limit, 21 years, is given an opportunity to vote (Combs, 2013).
Voting is a democratic right where Americans can elect leaders of their choice. This allows citizens to have a voice in state and federal issues by choosing leaders who air their concerns to the respective authorities. The vote of each American determines the choice of leaders.
A) US Presidential Election Polls are misleading
The US Media mislead Americans on who would win the 2016 Presidential elections. Trump’s victory was met with hostility as thousands of Hillary’s supporters took to the streets to protest. According to National Online polls, Hillary Clinton led in electoral votes in the primarily contested states. The Real Clear Politics polls suggested that Clinton would gather more electoral votes in most of the hotly contested States. Only four among the 40 polls conducted by Real Clear Politics suggested that Trump would win the presidential bid (“Election 2016 Presidential Polls | RealClearPolitics”, 2016). Most Americans, pollsters, political analysts and the entire world had high hopes that Clinton would win the election and the news about Trump’s victory were unanticipated.
The media is a very powerful tool for relaying information and emancipating the masses. However, the American media has been inundated with inaccuracy and bias. United State is a very powerful nation that receives global media attention. Disseminating biased information denotes corrupt media that does not deserve the attention of the Americans. US media has been criticized for its inefficiency to disseminate unbiased and truthful information.
B) Propaganda on Pakistan
A 1998 Washington post by Washington Post read that “From all over the world, Muslims are happy that Pakistan has this capability” (Moore & Khan, 1998). The US government used the media to make Pakistan feared and threatened. The real intentions were not to hail them for their technology but was an opportunity to turn the world against Pakistan. In the quest of publicizing the issue, the media linked Pakistan with America’s enemies such as Libya, Iran, and Iraq.
America has had sour relations with Muslim nations in their quest to bar them from investing in nuclear technology due to terrorist threats. The media is subject to manipulation by the government and other influential parties in the US. Being an influential force of communication, the media has caught the eyes of most Americans especially those who blindly believes on what they watch on TV or read on papers.
A) Domestic and Foreign Policy
Democrats emphasize the need to have various government social programs aimed at ensuring that all citizens have access to basic benefits such as healthcare and education. President Obama will be remembered for approving the Affordable Care Act which ensures that all Americans receive quality care at affordable costs. Republicans place emphasis on the elimination of unnecessary legislative policies and introduction of new domestic policies geared towards uplifting the economy (Fried, 2008). Democrats aim at bettering on the current policies while Republicans advocate for a complete change in the current governing system.
The US has remained as one of the World’s most powerful nation but is facing fierce competition from fast-growing economies such as China and Japan. Some have blamed the ruling government due to its reluctance to open ties with the West and the Asian Economies. This might have instigated Americans to seek a change in administration by bestowing Trump presidency. Europe has also made attempts to invite the president-elect to economic forums. This is clear proof that Donald Trump is on the verge of strengthening American ties with European nations and other interested parties.
B) Campaign Finance Reform
Democrats will always raise large amounts of money for the campaign as compared to Republicans. It has been politicized that politicians who raise most funds during campaigns are likely to win elections. Clinton raised 1.3 billion US Dollars while her Republican rival, Trump, raised 795 million US Dollars for the presidential campaign (Narayanswamy, Cameron, & Gold, 2016). Democrats have continuously proposed for a campaign finance reform which the Republicans have always opposed. Democrats will, therefore, try to get more money into politics while their Republican counterparts want to get money out of politics (Post & Lessig, 2014).
We must acknowledge that money is the cause of corruption in the society and specifically in the political arena. Republican therefore argue that the constitution guarantees freedom of expression and therefore question the operation of the Democrats claiming that their activities corruption in America.
References
Election 2016 Presidential Polls | RealClearPolitics. (2016). Www2.realclearpolitics.com.
Retrieved 17 November 2016, from HYPERLINK “http://www2.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/president/” http://www2.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/president/
Fried, J. (2008). Democrats and Republicans–rhetoric and reality: Comparing the voters in
statistics and anecdotes. New York: Algora Pub.
Gitlin, M. (2013). The Montgomery Bus Boycott: A History Perspectives Book. Cherry Lake.
Combs, B. H. (2013). From Selma to Montgomery: the long march to freedom. Routledge.
Moore, M. & Khan, K. (1998). PAKISTANI A-TESTS SEEN AS ‘TRIUMPH FOR ISLAM’.
The Washington Post. Retrieved from HYPERLINK “https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1998/06/15/pakistani-a-tests-seen-as-triumph-for-islam/2640ce13-a201-4f57-a57c-c8d0a741059a/” https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1998/06/15/pakistani-a-tests-seen-as-triumph-for-islam/2640ce13-a201-4f57-a57c-c8d0a741059a/
Narayanswamy, A., Cameron, D., & Gold, M. (2016). 2016 Campaign Election Finance. The
Washington Post. Retrieved from HYPERLINK “https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-election/campaign-finance/” https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-election/campaign-finance/
Post, R., & Lessig, L. (2014). Citizens Divided: Campaign Finance Reform and the
Constitution (Vol. 14). Harvard University Press.