Essay --

Lynn, Laurence E, Jr. 2013. â€Å"America’s ‘Broken Government’: What Would James Madison Say?† Administration and Society 45.5 (July): 610–624. In the article â€Å"America’s ‘Broken Government’: What Would James Madison Say?† the author Laurence E. Lynn Jr. provides the reader with important facts about the establishment of American government and what can be done to fix its brokenness. His viewpoint is that the government is not broken, but that the people who govern are broken by not maintaining a â€Å"perfect union† or â€Å"domestic tranquility.† (611) The author’s viewpoint is based on James Madison’s contribution to the Constitution. The foundation that the Constitution was created upon has not changed; however, the way it is utilized is affected our nation. James Madison envisioned that basic governing structures, virtues, and inherent fairness for everyone would ensure that liberty and justice were sustained; however, the author states that neither competence nor virtue is certain. (613, 623) In order to provide an insight to the mindset of James Madison’s vision for the Constitution’s use in American government, Lynn uses excerpts from the Federalist to show the reader how Madison incorporated an â€Å"institutional design† to structure and guide the separated powers of our government as well as the checks and balances used to maintain order. (614) This approach made sense because the included excerpts showed that the structure of government has remained true. The author states that issues with the government arise due to the rival interests of our elected officials. He describes this as being â€Å"grid-locked† and states that the parties involved within our governing body become divided by these â€Å"id eological and interest-based† conflicts. The... ...te. These methods help him to effectively compile pertinent information from leadership literature in order to provide the reader with an article that successfully brings the ideals of leadership together. Overall, the author does a great job of providing the reader with a better understanding of how each leadership could be implemented, the advantages of each style, and what concerns may arise from a particular leadership style. Van Wart’s article serves â€Å"to provide a frame for what is constant in leadership and what is new in leadership.† This article would be beneficial for those who are â€Å"aspiring to leadership† or someone who currently holds a leadership role. (553) Van Wart inclusion of a chart makes this information easy to share at a short leadership meeting and may enlighten someone in an administrative position on how to be a more effective leader.