Responsible Party Government
The Responsible Party Government theory and Santa Claus have one thing in common; everyone wishes them to be real. The Responsible Party Government theory is an unrealistic idea, but a super ideal that should be considered in government. The Responsible Party Government is a party centered concept of running a government in a sensible way. Political parties that have a clear, coherent policy, that is carryout when in power. Political campaigns with a clear choice to analyze, and judged by an electorate that holds the party responsible in the next election (Class Notes). The Responsible Party Government model is an ideal way to participate in a democracy but one that we will not be seen in our modern government. …show more content…
One was the passage of The Affordable Healthcare Act and the Contract to America. In the Contract to America, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich created a signed pact of specific policies to support and implement (Brewer 2012, 355). It had the characteristics of a clear, precise policy as defined by a Responsible Party Government. Next was to be the responsibility of the voters to accept or reject their achievements in the next election. Even though, they were legislatively successful bringing all the policies to a vote, the voters failed to reward them in the following election. The 1996 election saw a narrowing of the majority’s margin (Brewer 2012, 357). The rejection of voter’s support was caused by the decline in public opinion won resulting from a budgeting battles and shutting down government operations. Voter’s refused the responsibility of reviewing the execution of the policy promises (Brewer 2012, 355). Critics would argue too that it failed to meet the definition, because it seemed more leader strong than party strong in composition (Brewer 2012, 341). In this case a successful legislative plan existed, but does not meet the Responsible Party Government …show more content…
The Democrat Party controlled both Houses of Congress and the Executive Office with high approval ratings in 2008 ( (Brewer 2012, 341). A unified government with a distinct policy agenda would seem to be a classic example of Responsible Party Government. However, the expectations of less gridlock and more legislation were from classic (Brewer 2012, 344). Party leadership was strong, but party strength was fragmented on the subject of the the healthcare bill. . Millions of dollars of pork spending were added, with a tremendous Presidential campaign effort and additional time required to narrowly pass the law (Brewer 2012, 340). This long hard historical fought battle was victories in the end, but was not the voters did not compensate the party in the following election. Both examples had clearly defined policies and the voters judged both in the following election cycle without considering the policy