Using the current conflict in Iraq, explain why formulating a new democracy is such a difficult endeavor.

First off, the form of government within Iraq now is unstable and indecisive. Yes, there is democratic form, but is it ran efficiently? Do the people of the country truly have a say in governmental matters and are they free to take a stand and choose who their leaders shall be? The form of government which is established within Iraq is not at all that of the United States which is built upon the forms of democracy. The form of government that stands in Iraq now is that which is split and ran by different people in ways that are not effective for the people.

We are able to see the approaches that are being made in the government while U.S. forces are there and the approach in which the Bush Administration is taking. The Bush Administration is pushing a "federal system" which would divide Iraq into regions.
"Kurds already have a largely autonomous entity in northern Iraq with a separate president and parliament. And the Bush administration's new emphasis on "bottom-up" efforts to create a civil society, such as those it has promoted among Sunni tribal leaders in Anbar province, have been seen as a de facto endorsement of a more decentralized approach in Iraq." President Bush stated that he was "encouraged by action on a national security council." "It's an indicator that Iraq's leaders understand the importance of a government of national unity."

Iraq is ran by democracy, but there is no order and safety in which there can be a well-organized government. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich had this to say against the government within Iraq, "The only way for the violence to end is if there is a political coming-together." Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he warned al-Jaafari in "forceful and pointed" comments that if prompt efforts were not made to form a government, "Americans would speak up and speak up very loudly."

Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen expressed that he is concerned with the Iraqi government's ability to fight corruption. He stated that "the Iraqi prime minister has prohibited the Commission on Public Integrity from prosecuting current or former ministers and that the Iraqi criminal code allows ministers to exempt any employee from prosecution." These limitations within the government undermine the commission's ability to take care of corruption. Bowen called corruption “the second insurgency,” placing emphasis on the severity of the problem.

There is political upheaval in Iraq and it is for this reason that formulating a new democracy is such a difficult endeavor. There would be no point to form a new democracy if all that is going to happen is that there will be conflicts and the inability to agree again. Our democracy within the United States rests upon our founders and under God. The fact that we are truly a free people and live according to the governmental form of democracy is reason enough to prove why America has lasted and will last as a country.It is for this reason that we are in fact helping Iraq's government to get back on track. They must follow the requirements of a democracy if they want to plan on having a government based upon democratic ideas.

Compare and contrast the form of democracy practiced in America to communism in Russia during the Cold War period

What was the Cold War? The Cold War was that in which is the term used to describe the previous-World War II struggle which was between the United States and its allies and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and its allies. The Cold War lasted from the mid-1940's until the end of the 1980's. During this time international politics were heavily shaped by the intense rivalry between the two great forms of power and the political ideas they represented. The two political ideas in which these different sides represented were democracy and capitalism for the United States, and communism for the Soviet side.

During the Cold War America found itself in defense of a weak, corrupt and unpopular regime and the American chief criterion was in opposition to Communism, rather than the positive embrace of democracy. "When the Soviet Union made American racism a principle anti-American propaganda theme in the late 1940s, civil rights in America became a terrain upon which an important Cold War ideological battle would be waged." During the Cold War the American Democracy was based upon the idea of equality and the fact that there was a racial segregation the U.S. was put on the chopping block for it was to be the epitome of equality and in fact was not.

The idea that America was attempting to transform the communist Soviet Union yet not completely equal on its own and within its affairs did not look good for those practicing communism were simply looking at America as a country practicing contradiction. When the Soviet Union made American racism a principle anti-American propaganda theme in the late 1940s, civil rights in America became a terrain within which an important Cold War ideological battle would be waged and America's form of democracy was put on the line. After the propaganda made by the Soviet Union there was a study put into action concerning race discrimination within the U.S.

The study argued that concerns about the impact of race discrimination on U.S. foreign relations led presidents from Truman through Johnson to pursue civil rights reform as part of their broader Cold War strategies. "While foreign affairs was only one of the factors motivating civil rights reform during these years, it was a crucial factor that helps us to understand why a period of domestic repression - the Cold War - was also a period during which some civil rights reform would take hold."(Mary L. Dudziak)

Within the Soviet Union the government is formed by the Communist Party. The people within a communist country do not have the right to form their own political parties and do not enjoy the right of assembly, of speech and of the press. Since these two systems of government are completely opposed to one another, there is little room for compromise between the United States and the Soviet Union.

"If there is one big lesson of the Cold War, it is that unilateral military intervention does not work to anyone's advantage, while open borders, cultural intervention, and fair economic exchange benefit all."

Deconde,Alexander. Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy. Simon and Shuster,2002

Dudziak L. Mary. Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy. Princeton University Press, 2000.

May T. Elaine. Homeward Bound:American Families in the Cold War Era. Basic Books,1999

Which person do you think is most responsible for the form of government America now enjoys?

The man who I believe is most responsible for the form of government that America now enjoys is Thomas Jefferson.The reason in which Jefferson may seem as the best candidate to be responsible for our government we enjoy today is because he was the author of the Declaration of Independence, and "was this nation's greatest champion of representative democracy and the rights of man"
Thomas Jefferson was what early Americans looked at as the epitome of that whom was spokesman on the founding principles of American self-government.

"I know my own principles to be pure and therefore am not ashamed of them. On the contrary, I wish them known and therefore willingly express them to everyone. They are the same I have acted on from the year 1775 to this day, and are the same, I am sure, with those of the great body of the American people."

Thomas Jefferson knew what, when, and how to let the American people feel safe and confident in their leaders especially within the government and body of people as a whole. He was not only a statesman and politician, but through his seminal writings, political documents firmly based on the philosophical doctrine of the law of nature. He once declared that "the British Parliament has no right to exercise authority over us." It would be this statement that brought him to the Declaration of Independence.

"The essential principles of our Government... form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty and safety." --1st Inaugural Address, 1801.

Within the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was sure to write that which ensures the freedom, the liberty, and the safety of all citizens. This is also the reason in which I believe he is the man responsible for the government in which we enjoy today. He was consistent with the fact of restoring liberty and freedom to all citizens which are two ideas that are grounded into our government and society as Americans today. Within the Declaration of Independence Jefferson summarized the philosophy of freedom and liberty into "self-evident truths" and sent a list of complaints against the King in order to justify before the world the breaking of relationship between the colonies and the mother country.

"He left a long train of accomplishments in the public arena, many of which frame our way of life as Americans."

To this day Americans strive to fulfill the aspirations of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson inspired the American people to realize that they deserved a fair, equal, and free society and style of life. How does this apply to the government we enjoy in America today? Much is the same. The way in which we have carried on equality, a free society, and the pursuit of happiness within society we have also carried on the tradition in which Jefferson established and placed an importance upon. The foundations within our country's government were established by Thomas Jefferson.

"All men are created equal and have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." (Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence)

Without the influence of Thomas Jefferson within our country our government would not be as strong, free, and equal as it is today. Thomas Jefferson was the founding father to our self-government. His tenacity and hard work were vital in the creation and growth within our government today. The government in which we enjoy today is free, equal, and full of opportunities. Without Thomas Jefferson the government would be nothing in which that it is today.


Beilenson,Nick. Thomas Jefferson:His Words and Vision. Peter Pauper,Inc: 1998

Holmes,Jerry. Thomas Jefferson:A Chronology of HIs Thoughts. Rowman and Littlefield: United States, 2002