Close Up At The US Government

The United States has an extremely prestigious government. The U.S. Constitution has the government divided into three different branches which consist of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. The U.S. is currently ran by President Barack Obama. According to the class text, Sociology, politics in our nation can be considered individualism. Under the belief of individualism, it guarantees freedom from undue government interference. Feel free to visit  http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/286303/individualism for excess information on individualism in America.
Obviously in the U.S. a big example of social classes consist of low, middle, and high class. The U.S. government has grown to be a welfare state which is a system of government programs that provide benefits to the population such as medical care or social security. Many low class individuals rely on this welfare system to provide food, clothing, and shelter for themselves. There are many different opinions about the welfare state that the U.S. is in. It really all depends on where one ranks on the political spectrum which ranges from extremely liberal to extremely conservative. For example, economically, liberals would want the government to reduce inequality by taxing the rich more and giving more benefits to the poor while conservatives would appreciate allowing market forces to have more freedom which would produce more jobs.


Protestor Concepcion in front
of the White House



Close Up members and I in
front of the White House

Two years ago during my junior year of high school, nine other students and I had the privilege to spend a week in Washington DC as apart of the Close Up program. This trip opened up my eyes to all new aspects of government because I was able to sit in on a state representative debate, see all the clutter and hectic surroundings of the white house, meet a couple of Illinois politicians, Jan Schakowsky and Dick Durbin, and even act as a student lobbyist in a special interest group discussing Obamacare with other Close Up students and staff. Being able to view the white house and all Washington D.C. offers "close up" was truly amazing. I was never into politics or learning about the government or anything, but after this trip I learned so many different obstacles and aspects about the government. I even witnessed a protestor outside of the U.S. Senate building who was yelling and the cops were in the process of arresting him so I guess I was able to see all different views of the government. It was an amazing opportunity that will be cherished for a lifetime and really opened my eyes to experiencing the reality of individualism and welfare state.

Here is a link that will inform of the three branches of the U.S. government and what they each consist of: http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/federal.shtml.