Assignment 1
The federalist papers comprise 85 essays intended to ratify the constitution. These papers highlighted some of the roles and proposed structures of the government. Additionally, they evaluated some of the expected implications of political constitutions to the governance of the republic. The essays were meant to provide a meaningful and satisfactory answer to the critics of the proposed constitution while seeking the support of the people of New York. The authors were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. The papers are essential in the current political environment because they provide solutions to the conflicts between government agencies without compromising the unity of the American states.
Federalist paper 10 evaluates the importance of the union in controlling the consequences of factions (Hamilton, Madison, Jay, & Pole, 2005). The author maintains that factions are inevitable in any political process. However, he claims that the constitution offers solutions to deal with the effects of factions. The paper proposes a large republic to a smaller one. Federalist Paper 51 evaluates the checks and balances that should be introduced to regulate and balance the structure of the government. The author argues that despite emphasizing a powerful executive that is elected by the people, the other arms of the government must be independent to a certain degree. Federalist paper 78 evaluates the importance of an independent judiciary in the country. The author focuses on the meaning of judicial review and the significance of the judicial branch of government. He proposes an independent judicial branch that appoints judges on life-term tenures to avoid the possible interferences from political factions.
Federalist paper 10 can be applied to convince some of the southern states against breaking away from the union. Paper 51 can be used to regulate the powers of the executive in some sensitive matters affecting the citizens while paper 78 can be used to strengthen the independence of the courts in making legal interpretations of the constitution. Federalist paper 51 has had the most significant impact because it has regulated the functions of the Congress, the judiciary, and the executives. The paper has provided guidelines that regulate the powers of each branch of government.
Assignment 2
Policy networks represent the features of dependencies, processes, and institutions. According to Stich and Miller (2008), the networks address the relationships and the interdependencies between actors and institutions. Policies are formulated to address the interests and interactions of different actors. Although the actors have different bargaining powers, policies are established according to the resources contributed to the policy formulation process. The agreement between different actors establishes patterns that are used to create lasting relationships. The sustainable patterns form the independent institutions that regulate and observe the agreement terms between actors.
The highway system has dominated over other forms of freight systems in the freight transportation policy. Some of the actors in this network are the government, freight owners, private and public investors, and the communities. According to the definition of policy networks, the actors are interdependent based on the resources submitted in the policy formulation process. Additionally, the institutions that have been formed to regulate the interests of the actors and to observe the implementation of the policy agreements are the freight transportation subsystem and the advocacy coalition framework that has an independent role in the analysis of a public policy process.
The organization that is involved in this policy network is the transportation authority organization that evaluates the activities and the operations of all freight systems in the country. The freight policy was established in favor of the highway system because of some hierarchical belief systems that undermined the sustainability of the institutions. The hierarchical systems comprise deep-rooted ontological and normative beliefs, binding political values, and policy-level positions (Stich & Miller, 2008). Democratic governance offers the actors and the institutions the power of participation in the evaluation or assessment of policy outcomes.
In fact, democratic governance increases the interdependence levels among the actors by providing rights of access based on an equal representation or resource contribution. The complexity of policy networks necessitates the adoption of appropriate regulations to govern the relationships between actors. Democratic governments provide the appropriate environments for the sharing of resources and mapping the contributions of every actor as expected in the policy agreements. In the freight transportation policy, democratic governance focuses on the appropriate political values that sustain coalitions or agreements.
Policy networks comprise a hybrid arrangement of actors and institutions that are brought together by shared interests and goals. However, the varying degrees of interest from the actors establish hierarchical attributes that map the position of every actor in the process agreements. The networks incorporate different institutional frameworks for sustainability. However, sustainability requires not only the active participation of institutions but also regular evaluation of agreements, according to the original interests of parties. The dominance of some actors in the policy process is influenced by the resource inputs that are essential to any governance. The networks form a highly differentiated polity consisting of experts and independent committees that establish democratic governance. Democratic governance focuses on the allocation of resources based on the interests of parties. Similarly, policy networks focus on establishing a balance between the interests of parties and the resources contributed during the policy formulation processes.
References
Hamilton, A., Madison, J., Jay, J., & Pole, J. R. (2005). The federalist. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing.
Stich, B., & Miller, C. R. (2008). Using the advocacy coalition framework to understand freight transportation policy change. Public Works Management & Policy, 13(1), 62-74.