As a federal country, United States government is formed by elected officials at the national and local levels. The elections occur after every four years where the citizens select who they prefer to run their government in all levels. In the United States, the system of government is called representative democracy where citizens elect officials to govern state decisions. Over the years, the elections have been held on the first Tuesday, after the first Monday in November, although elections for other public offices may be held at any convenient time. However, during the 17th century, women from the white community and all the African Americans were not allowed to vote (Westfall, Van, Chambers and Judd 2015). It has taken a series of amendments to the constitution to enable all citizens participate equally in the elections. For the president and vice-president positions, people vote for electors who support their candidate of choice to form the Electoral College. The Electoral College has the mandate to vote for the president and vice-president. The winner of the elections must have a majority of votes of the Electoral College failure to which the president is chosen directly by the House of Representatives where each state represents one vote while the vice-president is chosen by the Senate. For other positions like senators, and mayors, the citizens vote directly for their preferred candidates.
The history of United States politics has indicated that numerous presidents have used threats to exercise more power regardless of the restrictions cited in the constitution. Today, instead of encouraging and promoting independence to its citizens, the United States has further intensified the use of threats and terror to exercise more power over its citizens. This has seen the introduction of dictatorship that has extended to open perpetration of this vice in the country (Davis 2001). The process has been a continued expansion of state power which increases authority to the leaders while leaving the subjects in fear. The country can no longer be termed as a free country governed by the people, but rather a country led through intimidation and whose citizens and properties are owned by the State.
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The predictions on the outcome of elections are always from various angles by different people with regard to presidential candidates in the United States. Most of the issues analyzed to predict the election's outcome include the candidate, debates, and the party supporting the candidate, among other factors. However, according to critical evaluation on the successful presidents over the centuries, it is clear that the performance of the party that holds the White House highly determine whether the citizen will allow the party to continue serving the country through the preferred candidate or if the chance should be given to the opponents (Davis 2001). This means that, if the party in power has served the citizens well, there is a high probability that they will retain it and if they did a poor job, they would lose in the elections. However, critics both from the country and globally have claimed presence of deep-rooted racism in the United States; despite having several cultures in the country, the majority citizens who belong to the white community only prefer candidates from their racial background. For other communities like the African Americans, they consider the candidate's ability to enhance democracy, promote justice and suppress racism (Hillygus 2007). This is how elections have worked in the United States over the past centuries, with two dominant parties which are the Democrats and the Republican. Usually, the elections are between two candidates although sometimes there are independent candidates.
The just concluded elections, where there is a president-elect, Donald Trump to serve for the next four years, has a sizeable number of Americans surprised by the results. Also, there are reactions from all over the world as the elected president was not the preferred candidate for most people in the country and even globally. Moreover, poll projections indicated that the opponent, Hillary Clinton would be the next president of the United States, the results were contrary to what many people expected. The incoming president is said to have no experience in administration, and for him, it was just sought experience when he decided to vie for presidency. Most critics have argued that the win by Donald Trump is as a result of division by race, gender and education among the Americans. The opponent, Hillary Clinton, is said to have lost in the elections due to gender discrimination where woman are seen incapable of exercising power and cannot be trusted with critical matters of the country. This is a reflection of two centuries ago when all women were not allowed to vote in the United States. Their work was to manage the household and take care of the children. It is unfortunate that even after all these time, the Americans still cannot trust women with power.
In 2008 Barack Obama won the elections to become the 44th president of the United States and most importantly, the first African-American to hold this office. His victory signified new hope for America and the whole world. The fact that the Americans did not consider the racial background in electing their president was a huge step towards equality of all races with peaceful co-existence (Hillygus 2007). With a deep history in the black community, it would have been difficult for Barack Obama to gain the attention of the white community; however, his election displayed a significant change in America’s politics. To most citizens, he was a symbol of change, and they trusted him to be fair in his government. Critics suggested that Barack Obama was the right candidate, at the right time to make a history in the United States. Others claimed that there was an economic crisis before the elections took place and voters were ready to try a new approach to the economy through a different president from the usual whites which helped Obama gain an advantage over his opponent even though he was not popular.
My prediction is that the Unites States will have a new president in the next elections. This is based on the analysis of several factors concerning the current president and the decision of the voters by the time of next elections. First, the current president, who has been recently elected is a racist. He did not hide his nature even during his campaign even though he knew it was crucial. This is a clear indication that his government will operate by racism, a vice that the previous president has fought against heavily in his two tenures. Moreover, many people are tired of the segregation and division in the country as it only creates tension and anger between individuals (Westfall, Van, Chambers and Judd 2015). Second, the new president has no experience in administration and hence will encounter a lot of challenges in running the affairs of the country. Any wrong decisions will negatively affect the country while the right decisions will enhance growth and stability in the country. If Donald Trump is not careful on major decisions with huge impacts to the nation, he will not retain power in the next elections. Moreover, if he rules with his racist nature, even the white community will be affected and will not support him in the next elections. Therefore, it is most likely that the United States will have a new president in 2020; there is no certainty on whether a black or white president will be more preferred but all citizens want growth and development in a country with political and economic stability.
Presidential elections in the United States takes place after every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November; the new leaders are expected to serve a maximum of two tenures. Although the American voters participate in the election, they vote for electors who have pledged support for the president and vice-president candidates of a particular party of their choice. These electors form the Electoral College which is in charge of electing the president. The candidates begin their campaign and debates one year before the election date where they go around the country seeking support. To win the elections, a candidate must receive a majority of votes in the Electoral College; however, if there is no winner with majority votes, the House of Representatives is given the mandate to choose the president and the Senate is allowed to choose the vice-president. The presidential elections process follows a typical cycle which begins with primary elections and moves to nominating conventions during which the different parties select their candidate of choice. The candidate also announces a vice-president running mate and both proceeds to the campaigns. During the campaigns, the candidates explain their plans for the citizens and the country and involve in debates on contemporary issues in the country. Finally, during the Election Day, Americans cast their votes for their preferred candidates which are later tallied to determine the candidate of choice to lead the country for the next four years. After the results follows inauguration, which happens every four years in January 20th or 21st in Washington, DC when the President-elect and Vice-President-elect are sworn in and take office.
References
Davis, K. (March 01, 2001). Universal coverage in the United States: Lessons from experience of the 20th century. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 78, 1, 46-58.
Hillygus, D. (August 01, 2007). The dynamics of voter decision making among minor-party supporters: The 2000 presidential election in the United States. Peace Research Abstracts Journal, 44, 4.)
Westfall, J., Van, B. L., Chambers, J. R., & Judd, C. M. (January 01, 2015). Perceiving political polarization in the United States: party identity strength and attitude extremity exacerbate the perceived partisan divide. Perspectives on Psychological Science: a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 10, 2, 145-58.
