unit 1.1-1.3 (ideals and types of democracy & government power and individual rights)
1.1
Origins and The Enlightenment
Classical Origins
- societies like %%ancient greece%% and %%ancient rome%% had rare forms of early democracy
- %%ancient greece%%: athenian democracy
- @@the assembly@@: officials of the democracy were in part elected by the assembly and in large part chosen by lottery in a process called sortition
- citizenship: white, native-born, land-owning man
- %%ancient rome%%: republic in %%rome%%
- the senate: representative of the roman people and the repository of roman sovereignty
- @@consuls@@: held the highest elected political office of the roman republic
- english heritage: determined by the era of time
- @@magna carta@@ (^^1215^^): nobles vs. king john; limited monarchy to guarantee nobles rights and protections
- parliament
- house of lords
- house of commons
- petition of right (^^1628^^): applied protections of magna carta to rest of english citizens; restricted the monarchy further
- english bill of rights (^^1689^^): consisted of the following conditions:
- free parliamentary elections
- speedy trials
- prohibit cruel and unusual punishment
- petition the monarch
- no taxation without consent of parliament
The Enlightenment (16th-18th Centuries)
- age of reason: inspired by scientific revolution; empiricism and logic applied to human behavior
- break from tradition, hereditary, and fundamentalism
- natural laws: applied to society (natural rights); each individual born with natural rights (life, liberty, and property)
- social contracts: established relationships between citizens and governments; based on mutual consent
Enlightenment from England
- thomas hobbes: believed in a “strong but not absolute” government; started social contract
- leviathan (^^1651^^): state of nature (“the war of all against all”)
- social contract theory: people submit to government but have the right to overthrow
- john locke: added on natural rights
- second treatise on civil government (^^1689^^): right to revolution; consent of the governed; enforced state of nature (life, liberty, and land)
- baron de montesquieu: spirit of the laws (^^1748^^); separation of powers; checks and balances
- voltaire: advocated individual freedoms; criticized traditional institutions
- rousseau: believed in government being based on consent of governed (popular sovereignty)
Colonial America
Colonial Governments
- house of burgesses (^^1619^^): representative form of government in virginia
- mayflower compact (^^1620^^): social contract for common good/survival
- fundamental orders of connecticut (^^1639^^): first written constitution; outlined individual rights
Colonial Resistance
- navigation acts: proclamation of ^^1763^^, sugar act (^^1764^^), stamp act (^^1765^^)
- ideological arguments: no taxation without representation; virtual representation
- first continental congress: declaration of right and grievances; petition to the king
- second continental congress: olive branch petition; declaration of independence (^^1776^^); articles of confederation (^^1777^^, ^^1781^^)
- olive branch petition: written to persuade king george III of england to respond to the concerns of the american colonists and to settle their differences amicably
- declaration of independence: based largely on locke’s ideas; primarily written by thomas jefferson
- political theory, list of grievances, colonial unity for independence
New Constitution
New State Constitutions
| most state constitutions | massachusetts |
|---|
| -natural rights and higher law-social contract-popular sovereignty-separation of powers-representation-checks and balances-legislative supremacy | -preamble-declaration of rights-frame of government (three branches and separation of powers)-articles of amendment |
Articles of Confederation vs. Constitution
| articles of confederation | constitution |
|---|
| levying taxes | congress could request states to pay; no real taxing power | congress has right to levy taxes on individuals |
| federal courts | no system of federal courts | court system created to deal with issues between citizens, states, etc. |
| executive | no executive power; president of u.s. presided only over congress | executive branch headed by president who chooses cabinet and has checks on power of judiciary and legislature |
| amending document | 13/13 need to amend articles; unanimous | 2/3 of both houses of congress and 3/4 of state legislatures or national convention |
| representation of states | each state had 1 vote regardless of size | upper house (senate) has 2 votes; lower house (h.o.r) based on population |
New Constitution Establishments
- constitutional convention: called to revise a.o.c
- washington elected as president
- grand committee established (one person per state)
- new government w/ 3 branches
- powers of each branch listed
- established a representative republic
- reps are selected by public every 2 years
1.2
Types of Democracy
Representative Democracy
- a system where citizens of a country vote for government representatives to handle legislation and rule the country on their behalf
- rep democracies can take several forms along the following scale:
- participatory democracy ↔ pluralist democracy ↔ elite democracy
Participatory (Direct) Democracy
- a system where the citizens (not representatives) propose laws (initiatives) and vote directly for laws (referendums)
- initiatives: citizens of a state can place an item on the ballot for popular vote
- referendums: citizens can attempt to defeat or uphold a law of the legislature via petitions
- both can occur at state, county, or municipality level
- states can be classified as:
- both initiatives and referendums
- initiatives for constitutional amendments only
- referendums only
- neither initiatives or referendums
- large populations make this difficult at a national level
- primarily used a local and state levels
- emphasizes broad participation in politics and civil society
Pluralist Democracy
- a system where no one group dominates politics and organized (interest) groups compete to influence policy
- recognizes group-based activism by non-governmental interests striving for impact on decision-making
- interest groups try to influence local, state, and federal level policy makers
- the variety and number of interest groups make decision-making process slow
- constitution protects against undue influence via bicameral legislature, electoral college, etc.
Elite Democracy
- a system where elected representatives make decisions in their role as trustees
- the reps have the skills, education, and ability to protect against unwise popular policies
- house, senate, and cabinet are all examples of elite democracy
Tensions Over Democracy Models
| federal government | state governments |
|---|
| supreme law of land | make own laws |
| elite model | participatory democracy (possible) |
| senators elected by state legislatures originally | cities and towns have some autonomy |
- both federal and state democracies have interest groups that operate at all (national, state, and local) levels to influence policy making
Representative Democracy in US Today
- participatory
- initiatives
- in 26 states
- referendums examples
- control wages, covid, voting rights for felons
- pluralist
- raise money, support candidates, and monitor government
- advertise to push (candidate) agenda
- elite
- people in government have most (time, money, education, access)
1.3
Federalist and Brutus Papers
| notable federalists | notable antifederalists |
|---|
| -george clinton -robert yates-patrick henry -mercy otis warren-melancton smith -george mason | -alexander hamilton -james madison -john jay-gouverneur morris-edmund randolph |
- written by alexander hamilton, john jay, and james madison
- 85 essays supporting ratification of constitution
- need to know federalist papers:
- federalist #10: factions
- federalist #51: checks and balances
- federalist #70: chief executive
- federalist #78: national judiciary
- need to know brutus paper:
- brutus #1: republic is too big and non-democratic
- factions will destroy the nation
- citizens won’t know their reps
- bill of rights must be added
- federalists: supported ratification of constitution; led by james madison
- published federalist papers to convince americans to ratify constitution
- in favor of strong national government and weaker state governments
- didn’t want a bill of rights to limit right only to those listed
- usually large landowners, wealthy merchants, and professionals
- indirect election of officials and longer terms served
- anti-federalists: opposed ratification of constitution; led by patrick henry
- published brutus papers to discourage americans from ratifying the constitution
- supported strong states rights and weak national government
- insisted on adding bill of rights
- usually small farmers, shopkeepers, and laborers
- direct election for reps and shorter terms served
| anti-federalists | federalists |
|---|
| constitution and nature of republic government | -thought constitution would destroy states-preferred a confederacy of small republics -delegate power to central authority to preserve union | -wanted large republic necessary to secure the public good and private rights from tyranny of the majority |
| house of reps | -disagreement between small-state and large-state antifederalists -too small a body to represent diverse interests-preferred one year (short) terms | -house would grow over time -two terms allowed for more understanding of complexity of government |
| senate | -denounced aristocratic nature-advice and consent violated separation of powers | -equality of states essential to passage of constitution -to pass legislation both senate and h.o.r must agree |
| presidency | -pres could easily become king and subject to special interests-too much influence on legislation and treaties | -limited power and subject to the will of the people (by election) and congress (impeachment)-necessary to enforce federal laws |
| national judiciary | -possessed too broad a power (especially over state courts and jurisdictions) | -act as intermediary between people and congress-protected the people |
| bill of rights | -states offered no protection against potential abuses of rights of federal government | -unnecessary and potentially dangerous |