Sociology Now, Census Update

States barred non-Whites from becoming citizens well into the 1930s), educational

restrictions (a high school diploma or the equivalent), and age limits (no one over 40)

(Aileinikoff and Klusmeyer, 2001; Castles and Davidson, 2000). A number of coun-

tries do not permit naturalization (though you can become a permanent resident), and

a few “holdout” countries like Japan do not even recognize the right of citizenship by

virtue of being born there. Citizens must be of Japanese ancestry (Tarumoto, 2003).

The Political System of

the United States

In the American political system, citizens are protected as individuals from the exer-

cise of arbitrary control by the government, but individual citizens have little impact

on changing the system. Individuals must band together at every level—local, state,

and national—to hope to sway policies. And even then, it is only through one’s elected

representatives that change can be accomplished. The system is so large and complex

that organized bureaucratic political parties dominate the political landscape.

Political parties are groups that band together to petition for political changes

and to support candidates to elected office. Most of the world’s democracies have

many parties: Germany has 6, Japan 7, France 19, Italy 30, and Argentina 49. Usu-

ally, however, only two or at most three dominate in parliament or congress. British

elected officials traditionally belong to either the Labour Party or the Conservative

Party; there are many other parties, but the most successful, the Liberal Democrats,

occupy only 9.6 percent of the seats in Parliament.

American Political Parties

The United States was founded on a two-party system:The Federalists, led by Alexan-

der Hamilton, distrusted the newly enfranchised populace and argued for a strong,

468 CHAPTER 14POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Before 1900

New

Zealand

1900–1919

Australia, Denmark,

Finland, Norway,

Iceland, Soviet Union,

Canada, Austria,

Germany, The Netherlands,

Poland, Sweden,

Luxembourg,

Czechoslovakia

1920s

United States,

Ireland, Britain,

Ecuador

1930s

South Africa, Spain,

Sri Lanka, Portugal,

Thailand, Brazil,

Cuba, Costa Rica,

Philippines

1950s

El Salvador, Ghana,

India, Nepal,

Greece, Mexico,

Columbia, Nicaragua,

Egypt, Pakistan,

Senegal, Lebanon,

Morocco

1940s

Indonesia,

Dominican Republic,

Uruguay, France,

Hungary, Italy,

Japan, Vietnam,

Yugoslavia, Bolivia,

Albania, Romania,

Panama, Argentina,

Venezuela, Israel,

Korea, China, Chile

1960s

Algeria, Iran,

Kenya, Libya,

Sudan, Zambia,

Afghanistan,

Guatemala

1970s

Nigeria,

Peru,

Zimbabwe

FIGURE 14.1The Year in Which Women Achieved the Right to Vote on

an Equal Basis with Men

Source:Adapted from Lisa Tuttle, Encyclopedia of Feminism,1986.