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Reflection Paper The concepts learnt from this week’s materials 1. The growth of US Government Today, the government of the US has grown to the level where it can affect the lives of the people. The government can enact laws and regulations that directly impacts on the lives of the citizens. Despite the growth in the government, citizens are still divided into two groups. One group supports most of the actions of the government while the other disagrees with most of the undertakings of the government. This division materialized in 2013 when there was a total shutdown of the government due to highly divergent views. There are various factors that have contributed to the growth of government. They include; physical expansion of the US as well as the growth of the population. The complex nature of the society, as well as the challenging problems faced in the society, have also contributed to the growth of the government. The growth in government has brought about various consequences other than the effects on the lives of people. These include; establishment of an entire occupational sector, increased the likelihood of conflicting public policies, as well as an increase in the time taken to make policies among others. 2. Federalism The government of the United States is based on this principle. This principle allows various units to share power. The citizens of United States are subjected to city laws, county laws, state laws and government laws. The power in the United States has been divided between the federal government and the non-federal government. This mode of governance was framed in the constitution after noticing that the state had too much power. The Constitution of the United States gives broad powers to the federal government but not to the state governments. However, the constitution emphasizes what the states can’t do. 3. Policy making process influencers The government: The government can sponsor bills to parliament to be debated and adopted. The government can also develop executive laws and regulations to help govern the country. There are so many regulations and regulation bodies that have been created by the federal government. The public: The opinion of the public is always required in the process of policy making. The public can participate in the discussions surrounding policies being developed. The input of the public is often considered when developing policies. There are instances where the policies being made must go through a referendum. In these instances, it is the public who take part in voting for or against such policies. Interest groups: These may include the specific people who the policy will affect. The interested parties may also be private companies, non-governmental organizations, professionals (like doctors, teachers, nurses, etc.), civil rights groups, religious groups, and special needs groups among others. These interested parties contribute by bringing on board their expertise to inform the process of policy making. All these parties involved can initiate the process of policy-making by sponsoring bills. They can also offer their support to policies that have been sponsored by other groups. Similarly, they are allowed to disagree with the policies. There are many cases where the policy-making process has failed or delayed because one of the parties was not in support of the policy. 4. Lobbying Lobbying is also another concept that was covered. This entails promotion of policy agenda. The concerned stakeholders are brought on board to support certain policies. For instance, the health care practitioners can be lobbied to propose various policies that can be used to develop or improve healthcare conditions. Lobbying entails hiring qualified professionals to argue specific clauses in decision-making forums like the Congress. This technique is usually controversial and has often been challenged by citizens. Lobbying is present in all levels of government of United States. When correctly executed, it can have positive influence on the policy-making process. The main aim of the lobby groups is often to influence the perception of other individuals or parties who are against a particular ideology. The act of lobbying is a money-intensive undertaking, as these individuals and parties who do the lobbying are highly compensated for their efforts. The most important concept introduced, and why Federalism was the most important concept introduced. All the other concepts revolve around federalism concept. For instance, it is through federalism principle that different parties have been empowered to contribute to the policy-making process. It is through power sharing that the public as well as interested parties get involved in the policy-making process. Another reason is that the growth of the government of the United States can be associated with the principle of federalism. These are just a few other concepts that stem out of the main concept of federalism. The government of the United States is based on this principle of federalism. It would be difficult to discuss the government without laying emphasis on the system of governance which is federalism. This also makes this to be the most important concept in last week’s class. How the legal concept/principle affect the organizational leadership environment? Just like in the governance of the country, the principle of federalism has influenced how the leaderships of various organizations are structured. In most organizations, the leadership I divided into different classes. Just like in federalism where there is the top federal government, other organizations are also lead by top management. Most organizations have been departmentalized. For instance, in business organizations, the overall head may be the CEO, but there are other departmental heads like the Marketing Executive, the Chief Financial officer, human resource manager, and administration among others. These other leaders have been given the power to run these departments. They are in-charge of making departmental decisions. For instance, the HR manager may be allowed to hire and fire employees. The powers of the departmental heads are also limited, and they report to the overall management. In federalism, there are certain powers that the county governments are not given. Similarly, the departmental heads cannot perform certain functions. For instance, the Chief Financial Officer may not be allowed to make an investment decision, ad yet they are in charge of making investment projections. When drafting organizational policies, just like in federalism, the leadership of the organization must bring on board the views of other stakeholders. The stakeholders, in this case, are the employees. The employees’ views must be considered when developing policies. And just like in federalism, the process of policy making may drag or fail when the views of the concerned parties are divergent. Was there a topic discussed that you did not understand? The topics were comprehensively covered and I have no issue with any of them. Additionally, the notes given assisted in improving my understanding of the topics covered last week.

Reference CHAPTER 2 ORG578.pdf