American Government Notes

Justice

• Justice is a key concept in evaluating the legitimacy of a society.
• It's universally understood as fair treatment, whether it's rewards for good behavior or sanctions/punishment for inappropriate or illegal actions.
• Different types of justice:
  • Retributive Justice: Deals with the appropriate response to wrongdoing, central to the criminal justice system and sentencing policies.
  • Lex talionis (law of retribution): "life for life, eye for eye…" - punishment should fit the crime.
  • Literal Interpretation: exact reciprocation.
  • Metaphorical Interpretation: punishment should be proportional to the crime.
  • Restorative Justice: Focuses on restoring the victim and rehabilitating the offender, also relevant to the criminal justice system.
  • Distributive Justice: Concerned with the equitable distribution of values or valuables (material e.g., income, wealth, healthcare or non-material e.g., power, respect) within a society, based on merit.
  • Debates on economic inequality and access to education are framed in terms of distributive justice.

The State of Nature

• The State of Nature: A concept used to explain the origin of government, depicting life before or without government.
• Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679):
  • Believed life in the state of nature would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" due to humans being self-interested.
  • The strong would exploit the weak, leading to a "war of all against all".
  • Individuals enter a social contract, trading freedom for order and security.
  • Leviathan (1651): Advocated for a strong government to maintain order.
• Views of Human Nature:
  • Negative View: Humans are self-interested or evil, requiring strong government.
  • Positive View: Humans are public-spirited or benevolent, needing minimal government.
  • Abraham Lincoln: Stressed education and socialization to foster moral conscience, appealing to Americans' "better angels of our nature".
• John Locke (1632-1704):
  • State of nature: all men are in "a state of perfect freedom to order their actions and dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature".
  • Individuals are free within the bounds of natural law, without dependence on others.
  • Law of nature: "no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions."
  • People choose to leave the state of nature due to the fear that might makes right, seeking government protection for their rights.
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778):
  • "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains."
  • Government control is needed to create and maintain order.

Influences on the American Founders

• John Locke's influence:
  • Individuals leave the state of nature for government protection of rights (life, liberty, property).
  • This greatly influenced the Declaration of Independence.
• Declaration of Independence:
  • Justified the American Revolution as asserting natural "unalienable Rights" to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" against tyranny.
  • Ideas can be traced to Locke's writings.
• Natural Rights:
  • Inherent rights given by God, not created by humans or governments.
  • Differ from positive rights, which are created by government acts.

Social Contract Theory

• Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau: Social contractarians who justify government as self-government.
• Social Contract:
  • People create governments by agreement to live under a particular form.
  • It's a contract binding parties to rights, obligations, duties, and responsibilities.
  • It's social, involving community members deciding to live together under a government.
• In the U.S.:
  • Social contract is the Constitution, outlining individual rights/responsibilities and government powers/responsibilities.
  • People must obey the law, and government must provide safety, security, and public goods.
  • Based on popular sovereignty: the people are the ultimate source of governing authority.
  • Government is based on the consent of the governed, not imposed.
• John Stuart Mill:
  • Elaborated on social contract theory, advocating for stronger protection of individual liberty.
  • Harm Principle: Lawful limits on individual freedom are only legitimate to prevent harm to others.
  • Libertarian Principle: Laws preventing self-harm or legislating morality are inappropriate.
• John Rawls:
  • Explains that individuals give up personal preferences to live under a government for justice and fairness.
• The Social Contract's Appeal in the U.S.:
  • Rooted in colonial experiences (Mayflower Compact) and founding experiences (the Constitution).
  • Based on popular sovereignty.
  • Influential due to the U.S. being a capitalist country where private contracts are common.

Modern Government

• Despite criticism, few argue government is unnecessary (few are anarchists).
• Anarchism:
  • Political philosophy that believes government is unnecessary, illegitimate because it is based on force.
  • Anarchists believe individuals can voluntarily organize for social order and justice without government.
  • They have a positive view of human nature and believe the private sector can provide goods, services and order.
• American politics:
  • Lively debates on the right size and role.
  • Criticism of government is a familiar theme.
  • Raises the questions: what should government do? How to determine if government or the private sector should provide a good or service?

Market Failures

• Governments are expected to:
  • Maintain public order, national security and safety, material prosperity, and economic stability.
  • In the U.S., the preference is for the private sector to provide goods and services.
• Subsidiary Principle: Decisions should be made by the private sector or lower levels of government whenever possible.
• Government intervention occurs when there is a market failure:
  • Public Goods: Once provided, cannot be limited to those who paid e.g., clean air, water, safe streets, national security.
    • The free-rider problem: Individuals have an economic incentive to enjoy the benefit without paying the cost.
  • Externalities: Market transactions affect parties not involved in the transaction.
    • Negative Externalities: e.g., pollution from production/consumption isn't included in the price paid.
    • Positive Externalities: e.g., education benefits not only the student but employers and democracy itself.
  • Monopolies: Lack of market competition can lead to inefficiency because there is no incentive to set a fair price or otherwise provide consumers with good service.
    • Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) prohibited monopolies.
  • Equity: Markets focus on economics, while politics can focus on ensuring fair access to goods and services.
    • Collective goods (social goods): Goods that could be delivered privately based on ability to pay but are provided or subsidized by the government as a matter of public policy e.g., water, sewage, electricity, education, healthcare.

Politics

• Government involves politics, but they are not the same thing.
• Politics exist wherever people interact.
• Political scientists focus on politics involving government and public policy.
• Definitions of Politics:
  • Harold Lasswell: "who gets what, when, how."
    • Focuses on the authoritative allocation of scarce resources.
  • David Easton: "the authoritative allocation of values for a society."
• Politics is not limited to material values it also includes non-material or spiritual values e.g., religion, morality, ethics, patriotism, civics, honor, education.
• Politics includes government actions or policies that:
  • Subsidize desirable behaviors/values e.g., marriage, child rearing, education, work.
  • Regulate undesirable behaviors/values e.g., idleness, smoking, alcohol consumption, gambling.
  • Prohibit behaviors/values by making them illegal e.g., drug usage, prostitution, hate crimes.
• Politics includes the processes by which decisions are made e.g., campaigns, elections, lobbying, voting, decision-making by government officials.

What is Political Science?

• Systematically studies the theory and practice of government.
• Includes the description, analysis, and prediction of political behavior.
• Has historical roots in moral philosophy, political philosophy, political economy, and history.
• Modern political science is less normative and more "scientific." It stresses the systematic study of government and politics and examines empirical evidence or data.

Political Values

• Important political values: Individual rights (freedom, equality), social order, public safety, ethics, and justice.

Personal Liberty (Individual Freedom)

• Freedom is an especially important value in modern government and politics.
• Individual liberty: The right to make decisions about one's own life without government interference.
• Two Concepts of Liberty:
  • Negative Liberty: Absence of constraints (government restrictions).
  • Positive Liberty: Having the means/resources/opportunity to live life as one wants.
• The negative concept of liberty is dominant in the American political and legal tradition.
• The Bill of Rights reflects negative liberty by placing limits on the government's power to limit individual freedom.
• One reason why the U.S. Constitution has fallen out of favor as a model for other countries is because of expectations that Constitutions should guarantee positive rights and liberties.

Social Order

• Order: An important political value.
• Government Responsibilities: Fight crime, manage demonstrations, prevent social unrest, ensure national security.
• Providing physical order is less controversial than providing moral, ethical, or religious order.
• Culture Wars: Ideological battles over values related to public policies e.g., abortion, gay rights, marriage definition, welfare, religion, patriotism.

Justice

• Justice: Central to assessing the legitimacy of a society.
• Justice as Fair Treatment: A universal value.
• Justice means being treated fairly or getting one's just deserts e.g., rewards for good behavior or sanctions for bad behavior.

Equality

• Equality: An important value in democratic political systems.
• Essential element of democracy.
• Complicated and controversial concept.
• Equality does not mean everyone must be treated the same.
• Natural inequality (age, ability) contrasts with political equality (one person, one vote; equality under the law).
• Fourteenth Amendment: Prohibits state governments from denying equal protection under the law.
• Government cannot discriminate against individuals only treat them differently.

Political Power, Authority, and Legitimacy

• Key concepts in the study of politics and government.
• Power: The ability to make another person do what you want, using coercion or force. Power is independent of whether it is proper or legitimate.
• Authority: The right to make other people do what you want. The authorization could be based upon a person's position as a duly elected or appointed government official. It derives from the Latin word "auctoritas". It is a particular type of power, power which is recognized as legitimate, justified, and proper.
• Max Weber's Three Types of Authority:
  • Traditional Authority: Based on long-established customs, practices, and social structures and from one generation to another e.g., hereditary right to rule.
  • Charismatic Authority: Based on special qualities, personal magnetism, ability to inspire loyalty or confidence e.g., cult of personality.
  • Rational (or Legal) Authority: Depends on formal laws for its legitimacy e.g., a government official's power by virtue of being elected or appointed.
• Legitimacy: The appropriate ability to make others do what you want, the legal right to make others comply with demands. It is a normative or value-based word (approved of). Political legitimacy is the foundation of governmental authority and is based on the consent of the governed. The basis of government power is often subject to challenges to its legitimacy, the sense that the action is authorized and appropriate.
• Tradition of Civil Disobedience: Individuals may refuse to comply with laws they consider illegitimate.

Citizenship

• Citizen: A member of the political community with attached rights, duties, and obligations.
• Ways to Bestow Citizenship:
  • Jus soli (right of soil): Being born on the territory of the country (automatic in the U.S.).
  • Naturalization: Choosing to be a citizen by learning the system, meeting residency requirements, and taking an oath.
  • Jus sanguinis (right of blood): Citizenship by parentage (Germany until the 1990s).
• Citizens have responsibilities: Obey laws, vote, pay taxes, and submit to military service if required.
• Citizens have rights and freedoms, unlike subjects.
• Government actions are binding on all citizens.
• Citizen vigilance is necessary to guard against government's abuse of power.

Forms of Government

• Government of the One, the Few, and the Many, each with good and bad variations:
  • The One: Monarchy (good) vs. Tyranny/Autocracy (bad).
  • The Few: Aristocracy (good) vs. Oligarchy (rich or powerful) (bad).
  • The Many: Polity/Democracy (good) vs. Democracy (tyranny of the majority) (bad).
• The U.S. System: Mixed form with elements of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy as part of the institutional system of checks and balances.
• Checks and Balances: Protect against corruption and abuse of power.
• Centralized Power: Worried the Founders because power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.
• Each form of government tends to become corrupt or decay over time.
• Classical Greece: Athens created the idea of democratic government, practiced as a kind of democracy.
• The Romans: Developed the concept of the representative democracy, one where citizens elect representatives to act on their behalf.
• The United States: A republic (representative democracy).
• Direct Democracy: Voters choose public policies themselves.
• The Constitution's Original Design:
  • Provided for only limited democracy.
  • The founders were skeptical of direct democracy.
• Over Time:
  • The constitution, the government, and politics become more democratic.
  • Political parties, direct election of senators, and expansion of the right to vote were crucial.

Summary: Why Government and Politics?

• Government and politics help individuals achieve goals like wealth, safety, and education.
• They help achieve shared social goals like community, national security, and justice.
• Government can protect or threaten important values.
• Government can take a person's life, liberty or property.
• Government and politics are debated because individuals and groups have different ideas about what government should do.

The U.S. System of Constitutional Government

• Focus: Origin and development, functions of a constitution, and contemporary workings.
• Main Theme: Tension between commitment to the Constitution and the pressures to adapt to change.
• Recurring Theme: Appeals to return to founding values.
• "We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the Court says it is" - Charles Evans Hughes
• "For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King" Thomas Paine

The Constitution and Constitutional Government

• Constitution: A governing document setting forth a country's basic rules of government and politics.
• Associated with government legitimacy and the rule of law.
• Rule of Law: Government action must be authorized by law, holding officials accountable.
• Constitutional Government: Government according to a basic or fundamental law.
• Legal Hierarchy: Constitutional law, legislative/statutory law, and administrative/regulatory law.
• Super majority votes are needed to change it.

The Rule of Law

• Principle: Governmental authority is exercised only in accordance with public laws adopted and enforced according to established procedures.
• Safeguard: Prevents arbitrary governance by binding those who make and enforce the law.
• Contrasted: Government according to the rule of man.
• Ancient Roots: Classical Greek and Roman thought.
  • Plato: Favored rule by a philosopher-king.
  • Aristotle: Favored government with institutions and laws.
• English & French Philosophers:
  • Samuel Rutherford: Advocated using law (Lex) to control the monarch (Rex).
  • Montesquieu: Influenced the separation of powers.
  • Thomas Paine: Reflected the development of the rule of law to displace the rule of man.
• John Adams: Supported Massachusetts' Constitution in support for the rule of law.
• Albert Venn Dicey: Supported the rule of law in that everyone was under the law and no one was above it.

Is the Rule of Law Part of the American Creed?

• Considered part of an "American Creed" which are widely-shared political beliefs/values about good government.
• American Creed: Rule of law, popular sovereignty, checks and balances, individual rights, judicial review.
• Worldwide Acceptance: Reflected in its promotion by organizations like the World Bank as essential for political, social, and economic development.

Constitutional Democracy

• The U.S.: Called a constitutional democracy or constitutional republic because it limits democracy.
• The Constitution limits democracy as defined as majority rule.
• The Bill of Rights protects individual rights from majority rule.
• Even popular laws can be declared unconstitutional, the Constitution trumps statues.
• Changing the Constitution requires extra-ordinary majorities.

Three Eras of Development

• American government has three eras or stages:
  • The founding era
  • Development Era
  • Modern Era

The Founding Era

• Includes
  • The Colonial experience culminating with the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War
  • The Articles of Confederation which was the first form of government
  • The creation of the republican system of government in 1787.

The Development Era

• Extends from the early years of the republic to the Progressive Era (from 1890 to the end of World War I).
• Includes
  • When the Marshall Court (1801-1835) issued landmark rulings that broadly interpreted the powers of the national government.
  • The post-Civil War constitutional amendments abolishing slavery, prohibiting denial of the right to vote on account of race, and prohibiting states from denying equal protection and due process of law.
  • The Progressive Era policies regulating monopolies and working conditions.
  • Child labor laws, workplace safety laws, and minimum wage and maximum hours laws occurred

The Modern Era

• Usually traced to the 1930s.
• Includes
  • The Great Depression was a national-indeed, an international-economic problem that the American public expected the national government to address.
  • The public began to look to the federal government for solutions to problems.
  • Organized crime was perceived as a national problem that required federal action.
  • World War II and the subsequent Cold War also increased the power of the national government, which has primary responsibility for foreign affairs and national defense.

The Colonial Era

• People came to the new world primarily from England and Europe for:
  • Political freedom
  • Economic opportunity with the promise of free land
  • Were entrepreneurs who saw the New World as a place to make money
  • A new start in life.
  • Fled religious persecution in their home land and were searching for freedom to practice their religion.

The Spirit of Independence:

• Several factors fostered it in the colonies.
  • Character of the People: Hardier, more adventurous, or more desperate individuals.
  • Geography: Large ocean between rulers and ruled allowed colonial identity to develop.
  • Ideas: Political philosophy of the Age of Enlightenment
  • Economics: Colonial economies differed from the British economy.

Trade and Taxation

• The British Parliament taxed the colonists to pay for the very expensive war.
  • The Sugar Act of 1764 taxed Colonists
  • The Stamp Act in 1765, which required all printed documents to bear a stamp. (had to pay for the stamp).
  • The Mutiny (Quartering) Act that forced colonists to either provide barracks for British soldiers or house them in their homes.
• The Sons of Liberty, looted the Boston tax collectors home.
• In 1767, Parliament enacted the Townshend Acts that imposed duties on many products including tea.
• The Sons of Liberty started a boycott which prompted the British to send troops to Boston. When British soldiers fired on a crowd of protesters, killing five people, the event was depicted as the Boston Massacre.
• Paul Revere's portrayal of the British captain ordering the troops to fire on the crowd inflamed colonial passions.
• Upset by the tea tax, Samuel Adams suggested to create Committees of Correspondence to improve communication among colonists organized protests prior to the revolution and coordinated actions during the revolution.
• Parliament granted a monopoly to the East India Company. The colonists responded by dumping tea into Boston Harbor (Boston Tea Party)
• King George passed the Coercive Acts or the Intolerable Acts, which allowed Britain to blockade Boston harbor and placed 4,000 more soldiers in Boston.

The First and Second Continental Congresses

• The First Continental Congress that met in Philadelphia in September and October 1774 consisted of 56 delegates from every colony except Georgia.
  • They adopted a statement of rights and principles, including colonial rights of petition and assembly, trial by peers, freedom from a standing army, and the selection of representative councils to levy taxes.
  • They Agreed to meet again in May 1775 if the King did not agree with their requests. King George refused the request.
• The Second Continental Congress called a meeting in May of 1775, but before the delegates could meet fighting broke out at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts.
  • The Revolutionary War had begun in earnest.

The Declaration of Independence (1776)

• Written to justify the colonists' taking up arms to overthrow an existing political system
• Main Author; Thomas Jefferson reflected John Locke's and the people's right to revolt against an unjust government.
• The Declaration acknowledges that people should not be quick to revolt against a government.
• The Declaration declared "That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved…"

The Articles of Confederation

• First American form of government.
• Approved by the Continental Congress and they took effect in 1781 upon ratification by all thirteen states.
• A confederation is a loose association of sovereign states that agree to cooperate in a kind of voluntary "league of friendship."
• Political power is decentralized because the central (or national) government is weak and the state or regional governments are strong.
• The Articles of Confederation had five major defects related to taxing power, an executive official, commerce, amendment, and the power to maintain domestic order.
  • Taxing: The national government did not have the power to tax.
  • Executive: The Articles did not provide a chief executive.
  • Commerce: The Articles did not give the national government much economic power.
  • Amendment: The Articles could be amended only by unanimous consent of congress and the state legislatures.
  • Domestic Order: Because power was decentralized, the national government did not have power to act to ensure domestic tranquility and order.
• Shays Rebellion Alarmed government officials and political leaders who believed the national government needed to be given more power to respond to such threats to good public order.
  • A constitutional convention was held in the summer of 1787 to "revise" the Articles.
  • The delegates to the convention decided to abolish the Articles and create a new form of government.
  • The delegates drafted a new constitution which created a new system of government, a federal republic with a stronger national government.

The U.S. Constitution

• The delegates to the Constitutional Convention met in secret, the records of the convention debates reveal lively debates about what form of government to create.
• Federalists: Supported ratification because they believed that the country needed a stronger national government. Their arguments for ratification were made in a series of famous essays written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay called The Federalist Papers.
• Anti-federalists: Opposed ratification because they believed that it gave the national government too much power and that they preferred a political union where the states had more power.
• The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written for two very different purposes.
  • The Declaration is a philosophical defense of a people's right to overthrow an unjust government.
  • The Constitution is a practical, working document that was written to create a more effective form of government.
• The Preamble states that "We, the people…" establish the Constitution "in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity…"
• Douglas Gerber argues that the purpose of the Constitution was to effectuate or make possible the Lockean liberal principles that were asserted in the Declaration of Independence.
• The main body of the Constitution establishes the basic framework of government and provides for a republican system of government.
  • Article 1: Provides the powers of the legislative branch.
  • Article 2: Provides the powers of the executive branch.
  • Article 3: Provides the powers of the judicial branch.

The Three Functions of the Constitution

• Establish the basic framework of the government.
• Allocate government powers.
• Declare or guarantee individual rights.

Establish the Basic Framework of Government

• Creates a republican form of government, a federal system of government, and a system of government with the separation of powers.
• Republic: A type of democracy where elected representatives make public policy for the people.
• Federal System: A two-tiered system where power is divided between a central government (the national or federal government) and the regional or state governments.
  • Specific in some areas of public policy, general in others, and has changed over time.
• Separation of Powers: A functional division of power among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government.

The Functions of the Separation of Powers:

• Part of the Madisonian system of checks and balances to prevent power concentration.
• Contributes to good governance through each branch's institutional competence.
  • Legislative: Representation, deliberation, compromise.
  • Executive: Action, administration.
  • Judiciary: Dispute resolution and law interpretation.

Separation of Powers - Not Essential for Democracy

• Modern democracies include presidential government and parliamentary government.
• More common to presidential systems than parliamentary systems.
• Differs in presidential systems.
• Party loyalty can undermine institutional checks and balances.

Allocate Power

• The second function of a Constitution is to allocate power.
• The Constitution both grants and limits government powers.
• The main grants of power to the national government are provided in Article I (legislative), Article II (executive), and Article III (judicial).
• Limits on the power of the national government are provided in the Bill of Rights.

Guarantee Individual Rights (or Freedoms)

• The third function of a constitution is to provide for individual rights.
• The U.S. Constitution provides protection against unreasonable search and seizure, due process of law, the right to a trial by jury, and protection against cruel and unusual punishment.
• Constitutionally protected rights are sometimes called civil liberties.
• Civil Liberties are the constitutional rights that limit the government's power to restrict individual freedom.
• Distinct from civil rights, which is a term that usually refers to individual rights that are provided in legislation rather than the Constitution, and Protect individuals against discrimination.
• Civil liberties include the First Amendment guarantees of freedom of religion, speech, and press.
• Civil rights laws promote equality by prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, ethnicity, or some other status or characteristic.

The Bill of Rights

• When the Constitution was submitted to the states for ratification, it did not include a provision declaring or guaranteeing individual rights.
• The Federalists argued that the bill of rights was unnecessary because the powers of the newly formed national government were so carefully limited that individual rights did not have to be specifically mentioned in the Constitution.
• The Anti-federalist George Mason, opposed the new constitution because it did not include a bill of rights.
• Anti-federalist worries threatened the ratification of the Constitution so a bill of rights was proposed to limit the power of the national government.
• In 1789, the First Congress of the United States adopted the first ten amendments to the Constitution called The Bill of Rights based on Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights.
• Supreme Court interpreted the Second Amendment as protecting the states from the federal government, because it only gave them the power to maintain a well-regulated militia.
• The Ninth Amendment was intended as a statement that the Bill of Rights should not be read as an exhaustive list.
• In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment guaranteed an individual right to keep and bear arms.

Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

• The relationship between religion and politics is one of the most controversial issues in American politics.
• The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion, which includes the right of individuals and organizations to actively participate in politics.

Constitutionalism

• Refers to the public and government officials' commitment to the values expressed in the Constitution.
• Without the commitment, a constitution is merely paper or words without much to back them up.
• Enduring appeal of the Constitution and belief in founding values remain politically constant.
• Support reflects commitment to the Constitution rather than knowledge of specific provisions.
• Both conservatives and liberals profess support, but disagree on criminal justice, economic regulation, moral regulation, and war powers.

Ideological Differences

• Conservatives: Interpret according to original meaning or intentions.
• Liberals: Interpret according to contemporary societal expectations.

The Relationship between the Constitution and the Government

• Americans love the Constitution but hate the government it created.
• Venerating the Constitution can create problems.
• Constitutionalists: Believe the Constitution should be strictly interpreted.
• Some conservatives reject constitutional design flaws or the need for modernization.
• Those who advocate change write in the Jeffersonian tradition.

Should Laws, Like Food Products, Have Expiration Dates?

• Thomas Jefferson: Laws, including the Constitution, should have sunset provisions after 20 years.
• Sanford Levinson: Calls the modern American political system "dysfunctional, even pathological".
• He thinks that venerating the founding era created problems.
• States' constitutions are easier to amend than the federal one.

Continuity and Change

• The U.S. Constitution: The world's oldest continuing governing document.
• Brevity and longevity are related due to general phrases requiring interpretation.
• Interpretation allows for informal changes to accommodate change.
• It is no longer possible to simply read the constitution in order to understand modern American government and politics.
• Major Political Developments Not in the Constitution:
  • Political Parties
  • Corporations
  • The Fed
  • The Fourth Branch
  • Presidential Government
  • Presidential Legislation
  • Judicial Review
  • Congressional Committee System

Continuity

• One way to understand the U.S. Constitution is to compare it to other constitutions. Other country’s constitutions make it easy to compare.

Summary

• Chapter examined the origins and development of the U.S. system of constitutional government.
• Includes various factors that fostered colonial independence and subsequent development.
• Theme is distinctive tension between continuity and change.