Lesson 1 (chapters 1 and 2)
Chapter 1 Outline
I. What Should We Know About American Government?
A. American political system differs from British system
1. President suggests policy, does not determine it
2. Congress alters presidential proposals, does not rubber-stamp them
3. Bureaucracy carries out policies without resistance, not as president or Congress wants
4. Citizens, not legislators, challenge laws
5. Local officials encouraged to follow national policies
B. American versus European politics
1. Schools and police locally controlled, not nationally
2. Candidates nominated in primary, not by party
3. Labor unions less dominant in United States
4. Little socialist influence in United States
5. Greater degree of religious fundamentalism
6. Judges active in formulating public policy
7. President needs treaty approval of Senate
C. American versus European policy
1. Lower tax rate
2. Slower to adopt welfare programs
3. Main industries not "nationalized"
4. Legislative/executive deadlocks more frequent
D. American differences result of two factors
1. Constitutional system (checks and balances)
2. Values of population
E. Differing Systems
1. Presidential
2. Parliamentary
II. The Meanings of Democracy
A. Two "democratic" political systems
1. Direct democracy (New England town meeting)
2. Representative democracy (Republic)
B. Arguments against direct democracy
1. Not feasible for citizens to become informed on all issues
2. Likelihood of "bad decisions"
3. Hard to negotiate compromises (win-lose scenario)
4. Policies approved by opinion polls not favored by most
III. Representative Democracy
A. Required conditions
1. Freedom of speech and press
2. Freedom to organize and petition government
3. Fair access to political resources
4. Respect for rights and opinions of others
5. Belief in the legitimacy of political system
B. Representative democracy: the parliamentary system
1. Power vested in national legislature?centralized
2. Legislature chooses chief executive (majority party)
3. Prime minister and cabinet make important decisions
4. Bureaucracy agent of chief executive
5. Little court interference
6. Party accountable to voters at election time
C. Representative democracy: the presidential system
1. Separately elected legislative and executive branches (separation of powers)
2. Independent judiciary
3. Bureaucratic loyalties divided between legislature and executive
4. National political power
5. Policy acceptability at each stage of policy process
6. Accountability difficult to pinpoint
D. Protecting those in the minority
1. Preserving human rights
2. Liberal democracy
E. Additional terms
1. Government
2. Authority
3. Power
4. Politics
F. Should the United States change to the parliamentary system?
1. Less policy deadlock
2. Better official accountability to voters
3. American system has worked in past and has produced similar policies as in Europe
4. American voters may desire "continuous" influence over policy making instead of just voting every two or four years.
Chapter 2 Outline
I. Liberty?the goal of the American Revolution
A. Views on liberty
1. Americans entitled to liberty as English subjects
2. Liberty threatened by unwritten constitution and human nature
3. Four categories of liberties the colonists felt they were being denied
a) The right to bring cases before truly independent judges
b) The right to be free of British troops in their homes
c) The right to have free trade
d) The right of taxation with direct representation
4. Liberty supported by "higher law" and "natural rights"
5. Declaration of Independence principles should be put into effect in government
6. Lockean influence
! Constitutional GovernmentB. John Adams and the "real" revolution
1. Government by consent, not by tradition
2. Liberty found in written constitutions
3. Rights spelled out
4. Authority in hands of elected representatives
II. Weaknesses of the Confederation
A. Weaknesses: Nation in shambles
1. Only a "League of Friendship"
2. Could not levy taxes or regulate commerce
3. Sovereignty, independence retained by states
4. One vote in Congress for each state
5. Nine of thirteen votes in Congress required for any measure
6. Delegates picked, paid for by legislatures
7. Little money coined by Congress
8. Army small, dependent on state militias
9. Territorial disputes between states
10. No national judicial system
11. All thirteen states? consent necessary for any amendments
B. Meeting at Mount Vernon (1785) and Annapolis Convention (1786) led to Constitutional Convention
1. Washington & Hamilton felt that a stronger central government was needed
2. Fear that states were about to collapse from internal dissention
III. The Constitutional Convention
A. The lessons of experience
1. Founders? objective: revision of Articles to protect life, liberty, and property; no accepted theory guided them
2. Madison saw confederations as too weak while stronger governments trample liberty
3. Shays?s Rebellion fueled concern on weakness of Articles
B. The Framers
1. Who came: men of practical affairs
2. Intent to write an entirely new constitution
3. Agreement: liberty must be preserved, government based on consent of governed, separation of powers
4. Only twelve of the thirteen states were present
IV. The challenge: Popular Government Can Lead to Tyranny as Easily as to Anarchy
A. Issues to be addressed
1. The consent of the governed
2. Separation of powers
3. The role of the National Government
4. The role of the states
B. The Virginia Plan
1. Design for a true national government
2. Two houses in legislature
3. Two key features of the plan
a) National legislature with supreme powers
b) One house elected directly by the people
C. The New Jersey Plan
1. Sought to amend rather than replace the Articles
2. Unicameral legislature?each state had one vote
3. Protected small states? interests
D. The Great (Connecticut) Compromise: reconciling small and large states
1. House of Representatives based on population?elected by people (large states dominate)
2. Senate of two members per state and chosen by state legislatures (small states dominate)
3. The creation of the Electoral College in selecting a president
4. New spirit of accommodation after compromise
5. Committee of Detail completed draft (see CHAPTER BOX)
V. The Constitution and Democracy
A. Founders did not intend to create pure democracy
1. Physical impossibility in a vast country
2. Mistrust of popular passions
3. Intent instead to create a republic with a system of representation
B. Popular rule only one element of the new government
1. State legislators to elect senators
2. Electors to choose president
3. Two kinds of majorities: voters and states
4. Judicial review another limitation
5. Amendment process (see CHAPTER BOX)
C. Key principles
1. Separation of powers between branches
2. Federalism (state/national division)
3. Checks and balances to share powers, not separate them (see CHAPTER BOX)
D. Government and human nature
1. Madisonian view: cultivation of virtue would require a government too strong, too dangerous; self-interest should be freely pursued
2. Separation of power harnesses ambition
3. Federalism divides power by promoting "factions" and encouraging competition
VI. The Constitution and Liberty
A. Issue in state conventions was liberty, not democracy
B. The Antifederalist view
1. Liberty could be secure only in small republics
a) In big republics national government would be distant from people
b) Strong national government would use its powers to annihilate state functions
2. There should be many more restrictions on government and authority in states
3. Madison?s response: personal liberty safest in large ("extended") republics (
a) Coalitions likely more moderate there
b) National government
4. Reasons for the absence of a bill of rights
a) Most states had bills of rights
b) Intent to limit federal government to specific powers
c) Constitution already contained many protections (see CHAPTER BOX)
C. Need for a bill of rights
1. Ratification impossible without one
2. Promise by key leaders to obtain one
3. Bitter ratification narrowly successful
VII. The Constitution and Slavery
! some were slave owners themselvesA. Slavery not directly mentioned
B. Slavery indirectly mentioned three times in relation to representation
C. Apparent hypocrisy of Declaration signers
D. Necessity of Compromise: otherwise no ratification
1. Sixty percent of slaves counted for representation (3/5th Compromise)
2. No slavery legislation possible before 1808
3. Escaped slaves to be returned to masters
E. Legacy: Civil War, continuing problems
VIII. Political Ideals or Economic Interests?
! 1913 bookA. Beard?s interpretation
1. Dominant economic interests produced Constitution
2. Lesser interest: real property (land)
3. Wealthy urban and commercial classes had advantages over farmers, debtors, and masses in ratification struggle
B. Critique of Beard
1. Economic interests of 1787 complex and diverse
2. Did not follow neat class lines in support of Constitution
IX. Liberty and Equality
A. Founding Fathers and the end of social inequalities
1. Madison and Jefferson: citizens naturally differed in ability
2. Government should not create "unnatural" inequality
B. Contemporary feeling that government must restrain economic inequalities
1. Inequalities can be legally prohibited
2. To some, liberty and equality are in conflict
3. To Framers, political privilege was the worst inequality; today, differences in wealth is focal point of discussion
X. A Recipe for Moderation
A. U.S. system of government allows for moderate change in policy
B. British system of government permits bold or dramatic action
The purpose of this course is to give students an in-depth understanding of American government, the American political system, California Government and to reinforce for each citizen to understand how government impacts the student and how each citizen can impact the government. We cover the foundations of American government, governmental structure and processes, and the American political system as it pertains to affecting public policy.
Politics has been defined by Harold Lasswell as "Who gets what, where, how and when". I like James Carville?s definition from the Greek word "poli" which means "many" and "ticks" which are "little blood sucking insects." J Government is necessary because whenever two or more people get together to do something for their mutual benefit, some decisions must be made and very often someone must exercise authority and power.
Democracy first started out in Ancient Greece where they practiced a form of direct democracy. Rome developed a republican form of government. A republic is a form of government where representatives debate and vote on issues before the state.
Human nature, as understood by the founders, was at the base of the ideals mentioned in the Constitution. John Locke had written about "Natural rights" of life, liberty and property and Thomas Jefferson had used Locke?s ideas in the Declaration of Independence.
Before the American Revolution, the thirteen colonies existed autonomously with England. For all intents and purposes, they had separate governments sanctioned by the British, separate economies, separate money, and separate laws.
Prior to the revolution, the colonies form the First Continental Congress to work out the problems that existed with the British government and the King. When that didn?t work, they formed the Second Continental Congress which approved the Declaration of Independence (please refer in your book to Appendix pages 1-3). The Declaration of Independence was a statement of philosophy but also a list of reasons. The Continental Congress formed our wartime government. This body issued paper dollars to pay for the costs of the war.
After the Revolution was successful and the British surrendered unconditionally at Yorktown, the Americans had to formally develop a sovereign government. Each state sent representatives to meet and they came up with the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation spelled out in greater detail the relationship between the theoretical states, but no real power was given to the national government. States had their own military, money, and tariffs.
From 1781 till 1787, the U.S. had economic problems because contracts were not enforced across state lines, goods were taxed crossing state lines, and money was different in each state devaluing the paper dollars paid to Veterans and suppliers during the Revolution. Shays Rebellion highlighted the problems of a weak national government so the Philadelphia Convention was agreed to in order to rewrite the Articles of Confederation.
The real problems with the Constitution centered on which jurisdiction had most of the power: the states or the federal government. Those who wanted a strong national government were called the Federalists, and the states-rights folks were called anti-federalists. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was attended by most of the states, in the form of delegates that were chosen by state legislatures. The delegates were charged with the task of repairing the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation. What we ended up with was a whole new document- the Constitution of the United States of America.
The Constitution (appendix A4 thru A21) itself reflected the principles of democratic government including: consent of the governed, popular consent, majority rule, minority rights, separation of powers, and what later came to be known as federalism- states rights. The structure of the national government was divided into three branches with checks and balances to limit the power of government.
The biggest issue was how to construct the legislative branch. The Virginia plan gave more power to the big states and the New Jersey Plan kept power equal among states, which the small states liked. The Connecticut Compromise came up with a little of both plans: Congress consisted of two houses (bicameral): the Senate (upper house) which would be equal per state with two Senators, and the House of Representatives which would be based on population with more representatives for states with big populations. Please review Article I of the Constitution.
Article II of the Constitution outlines the Executive Branch - the office of the President. The job has changed since the Constitution was written. Many of those changes are due to the fact that we are a superpower and some changes are due to technology such as communications, computers, and military technology.
Article III governs the Judicial Branch to adjudicate the laws which Congress makes and the President must administer. The Supreme Court, in "Marbury vs Madison", took on the power of "judicial review" which is still at issue today.
The Constitution, in Article IV, establishes parameters for the states to govern. The Constitution, in Articles V thru VII, sets procedures for citizenship, elections, the powers of the three branches of government, and the process to amend the Constitution.
Please review the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in your appendix and be prepared to refer to those documents throughout this course.
Discussion Question
Article IV and federalism allow the states some freedom to experiment with democracy. One of the aspects of direct democracy in the State of California is the initiative and referendum. What do you think of the Propositions that passed this past Nov 2nd, 2010? Pick one or two and discuss them. The website for info is: http://voterguide.ss.ca.gov/ Post your comments to the Lesson 1 discussion area
Quiz
Don't forget to take Lesson 1 Quiz by clicking on the quiz button below.
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