Problem of Democracy Midterm

definitions of politics

The process of determining who gets what, when & how” (Lasswell)

What we contest and cooperate over: what we think is of common

concern (Heywood & Chin)

Who gets what? Says who?” (Wolff)

positive political theory

Accurately reflecting power and the way things are.

Who holds power?

normative political theory

Authority and legitimacy with a value judgment.

Who should have power/authority over us?

American Political Thought

“the study of how power and authority have been both wielded and justified within the United States over the length and breadth of its history” (Kersch, p. 1).

▪ Positive and normative theories

▪ Theories are contestable

▪ Texts are our ‘raw materials’

divine right to rule

The idea that there is someone appointed by a deity (a god) to rule over the people (hereditary monarchy)

possess absolute power and act in the will of God

Modern Political Thought

• Men are unique individuals with natural rights & ability to reason

• Each individual gets to govern themselves.

• Governments get power from the people and the consent of the governed (people give up autonomy for security)

• Locke’s natural rights

Social Contract Theory

An agreement by the people living in a society to live under the power of the government

• consent of the governed

• gov provides security but has limited power

• punished or revolt if social contract is violated

Reason for America’s Creation

• desire for political and religious freedom (due to spread of Protestantism)

• new opportunities

• grievances with King Henry

American Exceptionalism

• America is unique in its opportunity to ‘start over’ in a ‘new

world’ (blank slate)

▪ Experiment in the ‘state of nature’ & social contract

▪ ‘City on a Hill’

▪ Divine purpose, blessed by god, etc.

(Lockean) Liberalism

• political authority derived from the will of the sovereign

• social contract creates a gov that protects natural rights

• purpose of gov is to protect individuals rights

• value productivity and labor + religious freedom and toleration

• separate public and private spheres

Civic Republicanism

• focuses on the communal nature of man (the common good)

• high value on virtue (self-denial and self-discipline benefit others)

• Government can and does serve a moral purpose & has positive

goals to achieve for the benefit of society

Ascriptive Americanism (Roger Smith)

▪ Americans have long determined who does and does not count as ‘American’ based on different traits and characteristics

▪ At various times, some groups are denied rights and responsibilities of American citizenship

▪ Argument: These denials of citizenship preclude America from fitting into the liberalism or civic republicanism.

Creedal Nationalism

• Aims to refute claims of ascriptive Americanism

• America is a nation committed to foundational principles (liberty, equality, democracy)

• Americanism is an ‘open and inviting form of civic membership’ that is ‘defined by a willingness to fully commit oneself (and perhaps give one’s life to defend)

Critique: if you don’t ascribe to this ‘real Americanism’ you are ‘un-American’

Themes in American Political Thought

▪ Liberty

▪ Equality

▪ Democracy

▪ Justice

▪ Exclusion

▪ Representation

John Winthrop

• Puritan background

• Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony

• decided that aristocratic church members are the ones with rights

• His colony needs to sign a covenant with God

Benjamin Franklin

• Jack of all trades (scientist, inventor, politician, theorist, founding father)

• believes in the separation of church and state + freedom of thought/speech

• doesn’t think property owners are the only people who should be able to vote

• self improvement + virtue (common good) + work ethic!

• liberty = autonomy

Preamble to the Constitution

Written BY the people FOR the people

Role of Theology and Economy in Colonial Thought/Development

▪ Protestant Reformation Effects

• Theological diversity

• Different denominations in different colonies

▪ Colonies also have economic investors & opportunists looking to grow their wealth

▪ Each colony starts developing own ‘personality’ or culture

Massachusetts Bay + Winthrop

▪ No divine right of ruler, but colonial endeavor is divinely blessed.

• Moral mission of the American colonial venture.

• Obedience to God, obedience to Governor, blessings of prosperity

• City on a Hill”

▪ Crisis (economic, moral, political) a sign of disobedience.

Roger Williams + Rhode Island

• Established Rhode Island after being kicked out of Massachusetts Bay because he didn’t adhere to their religious beliefs

• Rhode Island has religious toleration

• humanity can reason (can’t force someone to violate conscious)

• society must protect religious and political diversity (dissents)

Dissent as American Tradition

▪ Belief only comes through our ability to reason, not through the threat of violence or exclusion.

▪ Determine our own beliefs through our own ability to observe and reason.

▪ Must allow for freedom of thought (1st Amendment rights)

First Great Awakening

• more religious diversity in colonies and less homogeneity

• more introspection, reflection, and reasoning

• more focus on sharing beliefs with others and trying to convince others though reasoning/conversation

Events leading up to the Revolution

• French and Indian War (Britain and France)- Britain tries to recoup war expenses through the American Colonies

• Stamp Act- tax on all paper documents in the colonies (taxation without representation and being denied a social contract and natural rights)

• Continental Congress- deliberation and organization on shared discontent with British government

Rights Consciousness

▪ Political dissent based on violations of:

• Individual sovereignty

• Consent of the governed

• Representation

▪ Widespread conversations about & demands for natural rights that are being denied

Thomas Paine

▪ Anonymously writes/publishes pamphlet Common Sense in 1776

▪ Argues that dissolving ties with Britain (declaring independence) is only option for colonies.

Common Sense

▪ British Constitution is inaccessible (cannot evaluate compliance with social contract)

▪ Rights of the people in America being violated by a government on the other side of Atlantic Ocean.

▪ Security provided by Britain is for preservation of their economic/political interests, not colonists’ rights/interests.

▪ No representation of colonies in Parliament.

▪ To protect our rights, we need something new that is written down and can be held accountable by the people.

Declaration of Independence

• purpose of gov: to secure the rights of the people

• source of sovereignty comes from the people (consent of the governed)

• protect life, liberty, and property/pursuit of happiness

John Adams “Thoughts on Government”

• Purpose of gov: social happiness; happiness to the greatest number of people in the greatest degree

• Foundation of most governments is fear but it should be virtue

• Institutions that provide happiness and virtue: republic, multiple branches, rotation of office, militia, and public education

Articles of Confederation

• one branch of gov that’s weak

• each state has one vote

• laws need supermajority to pass (9) and amendments need all 13

• no power to enforce laws, raise taxes, establish a currency, etc

Reason for the Philadelphia Convention

to address the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and design a government structure capable of sustaining the nation

Madison’s Virginia Plan

3 kinds of changes:

• transfer complete authority over taxes, commerce, and economic policy to national gov

• minimize the state govs role in choosing national policy makers

• proportional representation in both chambers (lower house elected by people and upper chosen by lower house)

(3 branches of gov, proportional rep, and strong legislative branch)

Main Opponents of Madison

• Connecticut/Roger Sherman

• New Jersey/William Patterson-

• New Hampshire

• Delaware (2)

• Maryland (1)

New Jersey Plan

• keep the unicameral legislature

• each state have equal representation

• give federal gov the power to raise revenue, regulate commerce, and enforce laws (addresses Articles weaknesses)

• plural executive

• appoint federal judiciary to resolve disputes

Connecticut Compromise

• establishes bicameral legislature (House + Senate)

  • House = to population and Senate = representation

• House initiates revenue bills and represent the people directly

• Senate serve as a deliberative body

Changes made to the Virginia Plan

• split representation in legislative branch

• origination and supremacy clause

• decrease house districts

The Constitution Basics

• Separation of Powers

  • legislative: makes laws

  • executive: enforces laws

  • judicial: interprets laws

• checks and balances

• federalism

• amendments can be made with 2/3 vote

• House represents the population of the state and Senate has equal representation

Slavery in the Constitution

• 3/5ths clause

• preservation of the slave trade

• fugitive slave clause: escaped slaves must be returned to their owners even if they escaped to a free state

Federalists

• Supported the ratification of the Constitution

• Stronger national government

• more national powers

• different national institutions

Anti-federalists

• wanted a bill of rights and state autonomy

• concerned with lack of protection of rights from the national government and that the presidency could become a monarchy

• weren’t necessarily on board with the Constitution without Bill of Rights

Hamiltonian Vision

• strong national government

• strong president

• government should help develop commercial economy

  • trade, business, development, etc

  • national banks, tariffs, assumption of state debts, credit, etc

Jeffersonian View

• skeptical of strong national gov, president, and commerce

• desires an agricultural society

  • instills virtue in citizens

  • helps preserve values of Revolution

  • prevents elitism and corruption of people, society, and gov institutions

The Federalist Papers

• 85 essays written and published from 1787-1788

• Support the ratification of the Constitution

• Written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay

• describe benefits of maintaining the Union between the states

• demonstrate how/why the Articles were weak and broken

• explain why the Constitution was the best option for preserving the Union and revolution ideals

Federalist 10

• defines factions: groups of citizens united by a common interest or passion

• the problem of factions: inevitable but could dominate or oppress others

• 2 ways to control factions:

  • remove their causes: but this would destroy liberty and everyone would have the same opinions

  • control their effects: design a government structure that prevents factions from being too powerful

• need a large republic instead of a direct democracy

Federalist 39

• Constitution promotes federalism (state and national govs work together)

• power comes from the people

• powers are delegated/shared between state and national

• representatives elected by the people

Federalist 51

• separation of powers

• checks and balances

• ambition counteracts ambition

• protection of minority rights from tyranny

Jefferson’s Letter to James Madison

• Likes: stronger federal gov, checks and balances, and federalism

• dislikes: no bill of rights, potential for federal gov to infringe on state rights, indirect election of president (electoral college)

• need bill of rights to explicitely safeguard individual liberties

• need rotation of office to avoid corruption, complacency, and rise of political elite

• worries a president could manipulate the system to stay in power by influencing the electoral college, use of military force, or manipulating legislative processes

Washington’s Farewell Address

• collective + individual happiness of Americans depends on a unified citizenry that is loyal to the common ideal, grateful for their freedom, and alert to forces that might dismantle what the founders created

• differing interests will cause tension but liberty of the people depends on unification

• worried self-interest will take over (causes drama and villification)

• concerned the Constitution will get thrown out or changed at the first signs of trouble

• political parties can blindly lead and focus on disagreements

• avoid foreign alliances and act in good faith towards all

Alien and Sedition Acts

• deport noncitizens that are against the gov

• illegal to criticize gov and its officials

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

• response to alien and sedition acts

• argues that they violate the constitution (outside of congress jurisdiction)

• national gov gets its powers from an agreement by state governments (constitution = compact of the states)

Jefferson & First party System

• Repeal federalist policies

  • anti-hamilton agenda

• exercise the will of the people

  • “people” as the source of the power

• limit executive power (not under him though??)

• Expansion of agriculture (Louisiana Purchase)

Louisiana Purchase

• Massive expansion of US territory west of the Mississippi (whole middle chunk of the US)

  • bought from France

  • implications for agricultural development and slavery

• Did the president have the authority to do that??

Missouri Compromise

• Missouri was admitted as a slave state in exchange for Maine as a free state

• Slavery was prohibited in the rest of the Louisiana territory

• temporary fix to the slavery expansion debate

Jackson & Second Party System

• equality of opportunity but only for white males (they can vote)

• empower states and limit national gov

• agriculture expansion with cotton gin

• extended and preserved slavery

• strengthen presidency

Nullification Crisis

• response to tariff passed during Jackson’s first term

• John Calhoun claims states can declare laws passed by Congress ‘null and void’ and SC tries to secede because of it

Tocqueville & Democracy in America

• Americans reject aristocracy and social hierarchy, embrace social equality (except for slaves and native americans)

• America is more democratic than Europe

• concerned about tyranny of the majority and assimilation for Blacks and Native Americans

Transcendentalism

• individualism and self-reliance

• nature as a spiritual guide

• humans are fundamentally good but society and institutions corrupt us

• nonconformity and living authentically

Thoreau “Resistance to Civil Government”

Context: Slavery and refusal to pay poll taxes

• wants a better government

  • urges for rebellion and expression of opposition

• abolition can be achieved by withdrawing support, such as not paying taxes

• democracy might not be the final stage

• conscience makes us human but compliance ruins it and makes us blindly follow

Mexican-American War

• America wins and acquires land

• fulfillment of Manifest Destiny

• questions about expanding slavery - deepens north and south divide

• texas is annexed

Compromise of 1850

• aimed to resolve disputes over slavery in the territories gained from Mexico

• California = free state

• New Mexico and Utah allows residents to decide

• slave trade abolished in D.C.

• fugitive slave act strengthened and required citizens to assist in capture

Locke’s Theory of Labor

• individuals are their own form of property

• what is produced with you body through labor is your property

• gov is supposed to protect your property from others

Abolition Movement

• slavery becomes more important to the South economically, politically, and socially

• Second Great Awakening leads to Anti-slavery Societies in North

• Arguments motivated by economics, politics, religion, ideology, and immorality

The Liberator

• Opposition to slavery because it’s a moral evil (against God), a violation of natural rights, cruel and unjust, and incompatible with the American ideals

• argues that moral urgency demanded uncompromising, radical action

• immediate emancipation of slaves without compensation to slaveholders

• supports the right of enslaved people to defend themselves

• the slavery system depends on fear and brutality which directly contradicts Garrison’s view

Declaration of Sentiments

document signed in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention outlining the injustices faced by women and demanding equal rights

modeled after the Declaration of Independence

Significance of Uncle Tom’s Cabin

• fictional stories based on previous interactions with people who escaped enslavement

• humanized enslaved people as those with souls and not as property

• helped change public sentiment in the North from apathy to more intense opposition

What to the Slave is the Fourth of July

• sees the fourth of july as a day of mourning

• '“your day not mine”

• celebration of things that Black people are denied

  • treated as subhuman and have unequal protections under the law

• can’t celebrate the fourth of july because Douglass doesn’t have freedom

Anti-Slavery Society

• saw itself as morally righteous and just, fighting for the fundamental rights of enslaved people

• going to achieve their goals through moral suasion- appealing to people’s consciences and through peaceful protesting tactics

• say slavery is a violation of natural rights, moral/religious evil, dehumanizing, and unconstitutional

• rejects that human beings can be considered property

Proslavery arguments

• currently exists and is legal under the Constitution

  • Constitution = a compact between the states

• Paternalism: masters take a paternal role in taking care of slaves and improving their lives

Popular Sovereignty

• sovereignty resides with the people not the government

  • people living in a territory/state should decide whether or not slavery would be legal there

Kansas-Nebraska Act

• created 2 new territories (Kansas and Nebraska)

• repealed the Missouri Compromise line

• introduced popular sovereignty

Bleeding Kansas

violent conflict between pro and anti slavery settlers flooding into Kansas to influence the vote on slavery in the state

Dred Scott v Sandford (1857)

Hammond’s Mud Sill Speech

• in all social systems there must be a class to do the menial duties

  • those with low intellect and little skill

• claims slaves in the South are hired for life and well compensated

  • slaves are elevated from the condition in which God created them

• uses religious language as a moral justification and to deflect criticism

  • makes slavery seem like a moral and religious duty and a divinely ordained hierarchy

Cornerstone Address

• makes clear the importance of slavery in the Confederacy

• black and white men are not equal

• slavery is a natural and proper condition

• claims slavery is supported by moral reasoning and ‘scientific’ evidence

Southern Arguments for Secession

• defense of slavery + fear of abolition

• state’s right to govern themselves and maintain/abolish slavery

• federal gov is overstepping

• economic interests (related to slavery)

1860 Election

• Lincoln isn’t expected to win the GOP Primary but defeats Seward and Chase

• Second Party System is dissolved

• 4 major candidates - democrats and southerners split support

• Southern states threaten secession

Secession and Civil War

• 7 states secede before Lincoln’s inauguration

• Ft. Sumter begins the Civil War

• Presidential oath of office + take care clause: President must enforce/implement federal laws passed by Congress even if they don’t agree with them

  • 4 more states secede after

Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address

• calls for peace between the North and the South

• announces he doesn’t intend to abolish slavery (property, peace, and security are safe under him)

  • doesn’t have the authority to do so

  • doesn’t want to expand it though

• willing to take more moderate stances to keep the South in the Union

Lincoln’s Second Message to Congress

• proposes that states that abolish slavery by 1900 will receive compensation for the freed slaves (throw out fugitive slave clause)

  • slaves freed before war ends are free forever

  • slave owners loyal to the union will be compensated

  • Congress provide money for colonizing free colored people

• wants compromise between North and South

• white wages will increase with abolition

Emancipation Proclamation

• limited abolition only in unconquered portions of the Confederacy

• permitted Blacks to serve in the military

  • Act of military necessity

Gettysburg Address

• reframes the Civil War as not only a fight to preserve the Union but a struggle for human equality and democracy

• inspired the nation to continue the fight for unity and freedom

• importance of democracy and “all men are created equal”

• pays tribute to fallen soldiers

1864 Election

• Democrat’s agenda is to end the civil war and preserve slavery

• Lincoln expects to lose because the war is unpopular but the late military success changes public opinion

• Lincoln ultimately defeats McLellan

Lincoln’s Dilemma

• People believe Lincoln has two options: end slavery and continue the war, or end the war and continue slavery

• he’s active in passing the 13th Amendment and abolishes slavery

Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address

• main cause for the civil war is slavery

  • south’s determination to destroy the nation and north’s to preserve it (supersedes desire for peace)

• responsibility is on both sides, not just the Confederacy

• stresses the importance of forgiveness, national unity, and reconciliation

  • belief that God is on their side ultimately unites them; they are the same

Reconstruction

• new legislation passed to help Blacks incorporate into society

  • Freedman’s Bureau, Civil Rights Act, Enforcement Acts

  • civil war amendments get ratified

• attempt at Reconstruction is largely abandoned

Gilded Age & Industrial Revolution

• Congress invests in infrastructure projects to grow commercial economy (transcontinental railroad)

• increase in economic development (move towards Hamiltonian economy)

• Granger movement and ending economic elite power

  • worker’s rights, working conditions, and anti-monopoly

Industrialism & Gilded Age

• switch from agricultural economy to commercial economy

• increase in mass production of goods and news

• goal of businesses is to maximize profits

• more people are relying on wage labor and accepting that government can play a positive role through regulation + intervention

Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth

• most significant problem is the wealth gap between the rich and poor and the lack of relationship between the two groups

• industrialization got rid of the mentor/apprentice relationship

• excess wealth should be passed down, left to public uses, and for property of the many

Critiques of Industrial Capitalism

• Conservatives: reject Darwinian logic and survival of the fittest; fear of greed, moral corruption, and concentrated power

• Marxists: industrialism divides society into workers and capitalists; workers need to revolt against capitalists

• Liberals: wage laborers are being exploited, men of ‘great talent’ are not addressing socioeconomic problems they are creating, need practical problem-solving through effective public policy

Populism

• increased in late 1800s/early 1900s

• felt left behind during the industrial revolution because they weren’t benefitting and were losing their livelihoods

• desire for power to be redistributed and put back into the hands of ‘regular’ people by increasing democracy

  • direct democracy, progressive income taxes & increased gov regulation, get rid of monopolies

Watson’s N*gro Question in the South

• future happiness for both white and blacks won’t happen if they stay divided so a new party (the people’s party) needs to be created to unite them

  • a party that isn’t built on hate

• will settle the problem by

  • enacting the Australian ballot system

  • offer a rallying point free from discord

  • have a beneficial and non-injurious platformn

  • interests both races to work together

  • interest blacks in the patriotic success of the South

Native American Political Thought

• view land/property as communal

  • the whole tribe survives off the land and there is a spiritual connection to it

  • loss of land is a loss of community, religion, culture, and sovereignty

• no authority for colonists to move them out of where God placed them

• they work by hunting for food and harvesting their land, not for money

• see the earth as their mother and taking from the Earth for profit is harmful

Labor Movement

• 1880s-1930s - influenced by populist arguments

• Main requests:

  • increased wages

  • safer, cleaner working conditions

  • reasonable hours

  • job protections

  • benefits

Progressivism

• committment to making positive change for the nation

  • harness the economic and social benefits of the Industrial Revolution

  • level the playing field

• Muckrakers & practical reforms

• make improvements by using the government in new ways

Women’s Rights Movement

pushed for the right to vote, serve on juries, and various forms of socioeconomic equality/freedom

Anthony’s Speech about her Indictment

• classified as a citizen without the rights of one

  • no consent of the governed

  • man-made laws interpreted by men

  • treated as a subject

  • right to being represented is denied but she’s a taxpayer

• jury can’t legally be considered her peers because they have more rights than her so they’re actually her superiors

  • if they were her peers she wouldn’t be convicted for voting because she would have that right

Hughes Let America be America Again

• promises of the American dream aren’t attainable to all (was never accessible to him)

  • “no equality for me”

• his vision for America has equality for everyone, end to social and economic oppression, competition, and racial discrimination

• not take anything from others groups just make it distributed to all instead

  • work together to make it a reality

Addam’s If Men were Seeking the Franchise

• imagines a world run by women instead of men and satirically makes the same arguments against women for men instead

  • men are too aggressive, corrupt, and reckless for politics (they are too obsessed with war)

  • they wouldn’t care about workplace conditions

  • they’re careless and can’t multitask

  • there would be no education system or prison reform

• women bring a necessarily nurturing and moral perspective

Plessy v Ferguson (1896)

• 1/8th black and tried to sit on the white railway carriage but was ultimately kicked out

• majority ruled that it didn’t violate that 13/14 amendment because separate but equal

  • black people are only seeing it as unfair treatment but it’s not

• dissent states the constitution is a color blind document and everyone is equal under the law

  • separation is inconsistent with civil freedom and equality

  • evils associated with commingling are far less than regulating civic rights based on race