Political dynasties are anti-American and anti-democracy
Loading ...What is a similarity between Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton, and John Quincy Adams? They are all members of so called “political dynasties”. Political dynasties are families which are involved in politics who consistently win political office. The U.S. has had many political dynasties in its time. Most notably, the Adams family, the Clinton family, the Kennedy family and of course the Bush family, among others.
Jeb Bush is running for president, just as his father George H.W. as well as his older brother George Walker did. Hillary Rodham Clinton is also running, she is the wife of former president Bill Clinton. Although many members of these political families are popular with the public, they are bad for the United States.
Bush and Clinton have been under heat recently, talking about them being members of these dynasties. Much of the concerns raised are concerns of Jeb being too similar to his controversial brother. The idea of Hillary being part of a dynasty raises more controversy on political dynasties in American Politics.
Political dynasties gain power mostly from name recognition. People are comfortable with familiar things and when people are familiar with at least one name within all the others running they will be drawn towards that. The recognition could also go the other way. Someone might be qualified, but their relative disliked. Despite the fact that some with a recognizable name will succeed based only upon their relative’s actions.
The name recognition may very well lead to unqualified candidates running for president. Many uneducated voters may vote for someone just because of the name, rather than the qualifications. This can obviously be very dangerous as someone unqualified could get into office much easier, as long as they have the right name. Political dynasties are very un-American, as our democracy spawned from anti monarchical sentiments, which often times were dynastic in the practice of succession.
One of the main concerns of Bush’s campaign is he may be too similar to his family when he gets into office. George W. Bush is a very controversial figure in U.S. politics, as he spearheaded the invasion of both Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 2000’s. In regards to the invasion of Iraq Jeb stated, “the mission was accomplished in 2009.” Jeb has defended his brother’s foreign policy decisions, which are disliked by much of the general public.
This raises a valid concern as close relatives tend to think very similar to each other. This eventually leads into a lack of diverse views on an issue in the White House, as one view on a topic may be the wrong one for the country. Most often relatives tend to have similar political views, for example John Adams and John Q. Adams both had similar views of a strong central government.
About half of the lives of sophomores, juniors and seniors have been during the both Clinton and Bush presidencies. The Clinton and Bush presidencies have taken up 20 years, a 8.4 percent of the nation’s history. All of the United States’ Republicans following Ronald Reagan have been Bushs, albeit there have only been two. A Clinton has been in office continuously between 1993-2013.
The amount of time just two families have occupied the White House is ridiculous. Too much power is allowed to be given to dynastic families, whom are elected the leaders of the most powerful country in the world only because they have a good name. The changing of surnames in the U.S. presidencies is essential to maintain a more true democracy. One of democracy’s main purposes is to give the power to the people, rather than a select few.
Many presidents have been part of political dynasties, such as the Adams, the Bushes, the Clintons, the Kennedys and the Roosevelts, Franklin D. Roosevelt was related to 11 other presidents, and his wife. Dynasties as a whole are frankly antiquated, and they have no place in modern society. Examples such as Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy are considered among the best of presidents.
Despite some good presidents, political dynasties give unfair advantages to those competing in election and go against American and democratic ideals. Vote for whomever you believe to be the best choice, not someone with a name that you have simply heard of before and have no clue about their political platform.
Charlie Skaret is a Podcast Editor for the Pony Express newspaper. In his free time he participates in the band program at SAHS, including Concert Wind...
Alex Serier • Jan 6, 2016 at 10:29 pm
I really liked this idea about poltical dynastys and I had personally not heard it before. The language was very well done I thought it flowed nicely and you stayed on the topic and really gave nice information that was easy to understand and well constructed sentences.
Adam Sutcliffe • Jan 6, 2016 at 9:11 pm
This article brought up some very interesting points in regard to the dynasties that some families hold in American politics, and revealed a viewpoint that most people haven’t really stopped to consider before. The connection between modern dynasties of the Bushes and Clintons and previous ones of the Kennedies and the Adams helped to drive home the power of these dynasties, and how they may affect our future politics.
Christopher Gilleo • Jan 6, 2016 at 8:18 am
The sentence structure and pace are very well done. The topic is interesting and actually grabbed my attention. Charlie’s opinion is clear, but not overbearing. The “attention getter” is very enticing, as it seems like the beginning to a bad joke. There does not seem to be very many quotes, but that may be part of the article structure.
Great Job!
Kaitlin Bloom • Dec 31, 2015 at 2:04 am
This was a really unique way to go about writing this article, and it was really original and well written. The angle was very creative and the entire story was very intellectual. There was a ton of information, but it was written in a way that very clearly presented everything the reader would need to know to fully understand the history and politics behind political dynasties. The opinion aspect of this article was made very clear from the beginning, but was explained from an unbiased perspective. Anyone could benefit from reading this, but particularly anyone who plans on voting in the 2016 presidential election. Finally, the grammar was flawless.