The Political System in America

The American political system has its strengths - the elected leaders represent the will of the people and spend their full time in communicating with their voters and considering legislation and policies that govern the future of their country.

It has several weaknesses, that are outline by President Obama in his State of the Union address to Congress on 27 January 2010. These weaknesses are:

- gridlock, i.e. inability to govern effectively due to the separation of powers and difficulty in getting tough decisions to be taken
- power of the lobbyist in influencing the decisions by the members of Congress
- elected leaders spend too much time worrying about getting re-elected, rather than in governing

I hope that with the right leadership, these issues can be addressed and that the system can be made to operate more efficiently. It is better than an autocratic system that is adopted in many other countries. All the best to America in overcoming these challenges and setting a good example to other countries.

Tan Kin Lian