A governing body Essay Example for Free

A governing body Essay A governing body is eminent in every populace. Although the governing bodies of the United States and Sweden are both administered by Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches, the role they play in the politics of their respective countries differs greatly. Both countries are subject to laws set forth by age-old constitutions. There is also variance in the number of representative parties for the population of each country. It is important to look at the age of the country and its influence on the government. The period of time in which countries are founded is very important in showing why certain countries have the institutions that they do. The early Swedish government was formed by aristocrats who nominated a king that used his rule to influence religion. This aspect of Sweden’s political history differs from that of the U. S. , which was founded hundreds of years later to be ruled by representation. U. S. Government The United States is the worlds oldest representative democracy. The government is regulated by a system of checks and balances defined by the Constitution. Citizens are subject to three levels of government: federal, state, and local levels; most areas are subject to multiple local governments, such as county or metropolitan governments in addition to municipal government. The federal government is comprised of three branches, which are designed to check and balance one anothers powers. The Legislative branch is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, which makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties, and has the power of making decisions regarding the budget and taxation, also known as â€Å"Power of the Purse. † The Executive branch is comprised of the President, who appoints, with Senate approval, the Cabinet and other officers. The Cabinet administers and enforces federal laws. The president is also Commander-in-Chief of the military. The Judicial branch is the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the President with Senate approval. The Judicial branch interprets laws and can overturn laws they deem unconstitutional. The United States Constitution is the supreme legal document that governs the American system. The document is considered a social contract for the people of the United States, regulating their affairs through government chosen by and populated by the people. All laws and procedures of both state and federal governments are subject to review, and any law ruled by the Judicial branch to be in violation of the Constitution can be overturned. The Constitution can be amended by two methods, both of which require the approval of three-fourths of the states. Officials at all three levels are either elected by voters in a secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Executive and legislative offices are decided by a plurality vote of citizens in their districts. Judicial and cabinet-level offices are nominated by the Executive branch and approved by the Legislature in the federal government and most states, although some state judges are elected by popular vote. American politics is dominated by the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. Members of these two parties hold the majority of elected offices across the country at federal, state, and lower levels. Independent or third party candidates tend to do better in lower-level elections; however, there are currently two independent members of the Senate. Within American political culture, the Republican Party is considered conservative and the Democratic Party is considered liberal. Swedish Politics Information published by Nations Encyclopedia advises Sweden is a constitutional monarchy, of which King Carl XVI Gustaf is currently the head of state, but royal power is limited to official and ceremonial functions. The nations modern legislative body is the Swedish Parliament, also known as Riksdag, with 349 members, which chooses the Prime Minister. The Riksdag holds supreme authority in modern Sweden. The Riksdag is responsible for choosing the Prime Minister, who then appoints the ministers. The legislative power is then shared between the parliament and the Prime Minister-led government. The executive power is exercised by the government, while the Judiciary, unlike that of the United States is independent. Sweden’s judiciary system also lacks the ability to review laws that may be in violation of the constitution. Acts of the parliament and government decrees can be made inapplicable at every level if they are against constitutional laws. Legislation may be initiated by the Cabinet or by members of Parliament. Members are elected on the basis of proportional representation, or full representation versus the plurality voting system used in the U. S. The Constitution of Sweden can be altered by the Riksdag, which requires an absolute majority and two decisions with general elections in between. Since 1932, the Cabinets have been dominated by the Social Democrats. The following political parties currently hold seats in the Riksdag: Social Democrats, Moderates, Centre Party, Liberal People’s Party, Christian Democrats, Left Party, and Greens. There are six other parties, however, they do not currently hold any of the seats of the Riksdag. The six parties are: Swedish Democrats, Feminist Initiative, The Pirate Party, June List, The Health Care Party, and National Democrats. Religious and Cultural Aspects of Government Historicizing the formation of the Swedish government is to review the affects of aristocracy on government and government on religion. In the middle ages, struggle for power between powerful families and Great Men, also known as Stormannen, caused politically unstable situations. Sweden was a kingdom where the king was elected by members of a council of aristocrats; therefore, the throne was not inherited. The presence of powerful Great Men and chiefs meant that the kings influence was often quite limited. His political and fiscal control over the country depended upon support from the aristocracy. During the late Middle Ages political anarchy came about in Sweden. Constant struggle for power between a number of families and the Danish King Kristian II ended in the Bloodbath of Stockholm in the early 1500s. The result of this struggle enabled Gustav Vasa to become king in 1521. The most important reform Gustav Vasa made was the reformation of the Church. â€Å"The king was able to gain political control, as well as control the property of the Church, all Swedes suddenly became Protestants instead of Catholics†(History World, 2007). This made it possible for the king to establish himself, not the Pope, as head of the Church, and also to use the Church as a pedagogic tool on the people according to History World. Because everyone had to attend church on Sundays, the state could reach almost the entire populace with information, propaganda, and a certain amount of education. The Bible was, for instance, translated from Latin to Swedish during this time. This had a positive impact on literacy among the ordinary people. In the United States, the formation of the government was influenced by agenda and innovationists rather than religion or how politics could influence religion. â€Å"Our Founding Fathers were not known to practice Christian orthodoxy†(White House, 2007). Although they supported the free exercise of any religion, they believed there could be dangers in incorporating a religion into the creation of a government to serve all people. Most of them believed in deism and attended Freemasonry lodges. According to John J. Robinson, â€Å"Freemasonry had been a powerful force for religious freedom†(Free Masons, 2007). Freemasons took seriously the principle that men should worship according to their own conscious. Masonry welcomed anyone from any religion or non-religion, as long as they believed in a Supreme Being. Washington, Franklin, Hancock, Hamilton, Lafayette, and many others accepted Freemasonry. According to the Free Masonry Organization, in order to be a Free Mason, one must believe in the existence of a â€Å"Supreme Being,† which includes the â€Å"gods† of Islam, Hinduism, or any other world religion. Although many believe the anti-Biblical and anti-Christian beliefs and practices of this organization are partially hidden beneath an outward appearance of a supposed compatibility with the Christian faith, the organization supports every religion. The influence of a non-uniform Christian society on the U. S. government was probably due to the combinations of cultures and backgrounds of the individuals making up the fairly new society. The compilation of cultures that continues to make up U. S. society varies greatly from those of the Swedish culture at the time their government was developed. Sweden was a very old country; therefore, the majority of the inhabitants had lived there most, if not all, of their lives. The governments of the United States and Sweden both represent their diverse populations through their respective governments. The greatest variance in the way branches operate is in the Judicial system. In the United States, the Judicial System ensures that laws are upheld and amended to meet changing times without going against the Constitution. The Swedish Judicial branch lacks the ability to review laws that may be against their constitution.

Life: The Personal Experience :: essays research papers

Life: The Personal Experience   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Who would have thought that a night out with a church group could turn into a deadly accident? En route to a spring break camp, one of our van was hit by a 18 wheelers' truck; creating a night we wouldn't forget.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The story began with a trip to summer retreat. It was ticket to bring me back to reality, and also tickets for some people to heaven. We loaded our luggage into the back of the vans, and we headed off toward our destination. It is about one or one and half hour later, one of our van stop at the stop sign, when the driver of that van saw no car was coming, (some blind spot cover the area that the driver can't see) he step the paddles and drive off, but a on coming truck was driving too fast and didn't saw one of our van, it crushes the van into three different pieces, everyone in our van saw it happened and everyone is shocked of that terrible scene. Few minutes later, the cops and the ambulances quickly arrived. We heard the loud noise come from the police and ask us to help them, we quickly got off the van and helping the fire fighters and the cops to pull people out of that vans, I saw lot of our church friend got burned to death and some other just crushed by Small pieces. Everyone is in tears including the police and fire fighters. After the rescue, we find out most of people in that van died, but some in serious condition. After that accident, I learned that life is meaningless, and learned that we should help others while we can. My goal was to let God into my life. It was one of the most relaxing and peaceful things I have ever done. Because we all inspired by God, he helps us when we really needed him. He brings us out of the nightmare that no one will ever forget. We gather all our church friend in a small meeting every Friday, every time we meet, we would have small group meetings and share anything that came to mind. We prayed for people to find God in their life, and for everything that needed assistance. We also planned the prayer service, meal plans, and chores for the next day. We saw God comes in our life and helps us while we have trouble of doing some stuff that we just cannot understand. He gives us power to think and solve the problem successively.

Criminal Justice Wedding Cake

The criminal justice wedding cake is a diagram to show the importance of a crime and where it would be categorized. There are four layers on the cake that signify each of the major types of crimes: (1) misdemeanors, (2) less serious felonies, (3) serious felonies, and (4) celebrated cases. Also, the size of these layers depends on the importance of the crimes, with misdemeanors being the largest and at the bottom and the celebrated cases being at the top and the smallest layer. The bottom and largest layer of the criminal justice wedding cake pertains to the misdemeanors.A misdemeanor is a lesser crime and the person being punished is given either a fine or a few days of imprisonment depending on the type of crime committed. Misdemeanors range from a number of different things from a possession charge to a minor traffic violation, like a hit and run accident with another person’s vehicle. But it depends upon the state that these offenses are listed as misdemeanors. The next la yer would consist of the less serious felonies. These are usually committed by first time offenders.Some of the cases include small robberies of a low dollar value with no weapons involved or something as simple as a fight that ended with assault charges. Most of the time, depending on the severance of the case, these felonies are not dealt with like they should be. The punishments for these types of cases are things like probation or home incarceration. The third layer of the criminal justice wedding cake would include the more serious felonies. Some of these crimes would consist of murders, high dollar robberies that involved weapons, such as bank heists or home invasions, or a probation violation.These felonies are taken very seriously and they often require a minimum sentence of at least one year in prison. At the very top of the cake rests the celebrated cases. These cases are the high-profile cases and they attract a lot of media attention. The people involved in them can incl ude someone famous, or very wealthy, like OJ Simpson, Martha Stewart, and Lindsey Lohan. Celebrated cases can also be someone unknown who committed a very wrongful crime like a serial killer, or simply because they attract the media.

Teen Suicide Research Essay - 3330 Words

Teenage suicide is a major issue in today’s society; suicide is the intentional taking of one’s own life and is a momentous issue that should be addressed as quickly as possible. Teen suicide has been the topic of numerous news headlines; yet, it still continues to have a detrimental effect on today’s youth. In the United States, suicide is currently the eighth leading cause of death for Americans, and for young adults between the ages of 15 and 24, suicide is the third leading cause of death. This is extremely startling due to the fact that teen suicide is one of the most preventable forms of death. There are quite a number of allegories and misguided common beliefs that surround the subject of teenage suicide. An example is that people†¦show more content†¦It is apparent that bullying has become a serious problem in today’s society. It affects people of all ages, and the results of bullying can be disastrous and devastating; suicide is just one of many examples of a consequence of bullying. We need to all come together and think of a plan that can help stop bullying. People don’t understand how terrible it feels to get bullied until it happens to them. We are the ones doing the bullying, whether it’s directly or indirectly, so it is up to us to put an end to it. As previously shown, there are quite a number of myths surrounding the topic of teenage suicide; when the myths are addressed and made clear, it is easier for people to get a better understanding of teen suicide and how to deal with it. Many people have come to believe that you cannot tell when someone is contemplating suicide. They also usually believe that suicide cannot be prevented and assume that every person that commits or has contemplated committing suicide was suffering from some form of depression. I know that I was one of these people before I began researching the topic of teenage suicide. These are common beliefs that are easy to accept a s true; however, just because they are common beliefs, it does not mean they are necessarily correct. People contemplating suicide usually always show warning signs of what they are planning. They typically give some type of warning that they are going to commit suicide before theyShow MoreRelatedThe Epidemic of Teen Suicide in America Essay1156 Words   |  5 Pages   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Every year, thousands of youth die in the United States, not by cancer, car accidents, and other diseases, but by their own hand. These people make the choice that they want to die and they take their own life. Suicide, the term given to the act of killing oneself, is the third leading cause of death among people that are 15 to 25 years of age. It is estimated that 500,000 teenagers try to kill themselves during the course of one year. 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