The USA is Politically Exceptional essays

The USA is Politically Exceptional essays "Though often regarded as the leading liberal Democracy in the world, the USA is in fact politically ' exceptional' from other countries." Christian democracy, free democracy and liberal democracy are all terms, which have been used by George W bush to highlight the values, which the United States, and its allies are determined to protect. Since September 11th our democratic rights have been championed by the US as the lynchpin of our civil societies. Describing the US as the leading liberal democracy in the world is to say that it leads Britain, France and Germanyas the other liberal democracies of note. So what common features unite these systems under the banner of liberal democracy? " Liberal democratic states are characterised by constitutional government, a system of checks and balances among major institutions, fair and regular elections, a democratic franchise, a competitive party system, the protection of individual rights and civil liberties and so forth."[ii] It is not universally accepted that the USis a liberal democracy, "Libertyand democracy have been persistent influences over the course of American history and politics, but they are always in dynamic tension with each other."[iii] However if we accept the criteria laid out by Heywood then the US and the leading European nations are indeed liberal democracies, so what marks the US out as the leader? It is not in a political dimension that the USleads the field but in economics. As is often said ' If Americasneezes, the whole world catches a cold'. The US leads the world in its foreign policy. It has the most powerful army and the biggest nuclear arsenal to protect the most powerful and biggest economy. Some theorists suppose that isolationism and the intervention in World War 2 has all been a policy of economic protectionism. Whilst any modern terrorist threat cannot be understated, many observers have misgivings over the direction of USforeign Policy. Cli...