Unit 1 Notes (Chp 1-3)

Unit 1 - Chapter 1 (Introduction)

Millennials and next generation have a low sense of political efficacy - the belief that political participation matters and can make a difference. Younger people are the most active members of their communities but have less interest in politics compared to that of older generations.

  • Politics: process by which we select our government leaders and what policies these leaders produce
  • Institutions of Government
    • Executive, legislative, judiciary, bureaucracy
    • These institutions make policy
  • Policy Making involves:
    • Individuals or groups identify with a problem
    • The problem becomes part of the policy agenda
    • Congress passes legislation
    • Bureaucracy implements it
    • Feedback leads to revisions
  • Implementation of said policies
    • Once policy is implemented feedback occurs:
    • Effective or ineffective?
    • Resources available?
    • Need revisions or clarification?
  • Types of Governments
    • Republic: representatives are elected to carry out citizens’ preferences
    • United States is a republic
    • Democracy: people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation, or to choose governing officials to do so
    • Equality in voting
    • Effective participation
    • Enlightened understanding
    • Citizen control of the agenda
    • Inclusion
    • Participatory Democracy: Broad participation in policies and civil society
  • Civil Society: Voluntary associations independent of government

There are two common theories to describe the government and policies entitled the Pluralist Theory and Elitist Theory. The Pluralist Theory is emphasizing the idea that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its preferred policies and in this it is typically generalized as the public interest will prevail. The Elitist Theory is the idea societies are divided along class lines and that an upper-class elite will rule or policies benefit those with money or power.

Unit 1 - Chapter 2 (The Constitution)

The political culture is the set of shared values within the American society and Americans typically share a commitment to individualism, Rule of Law, limited government, and equality of opportunity.

  • Individualism
    • Focus on individual rights and responsibilities
    • Self-reliance, privacy, and mutual respect
    • Opposition to authority and all manner of controls over the individual
  • Rule of Law
    • Notion that the law is supreme and no one is above the law
    • Publicly promoted, equally enforced, and individually judged
  • Limited Government
    • Idea that the government power is given to it by law and often through a written constitution
    • Individual rights protected against government intrusion
    • Governmental authority is prescribed and restricted by the law
  • Equality of opportunity
    • Idea that everyone should have an equal opportunity to succeed
    • Remove arbitrariness and prejudices from selection process

Political philosophies greatly influenced the ideas within the Constitution and the founding fathers though these ideas were from the 1600’s. John Locke proposed the government’s role is to protect natural rights - life, liberty, and property. The government is ruling with the consent of the governed or the people it is leading. The United States is based on the ideas of limited government being natural rights, popular sovereignty, republicanism, and the social contract.

  • Natural rights
    • Life, liberty, and property
    • Most basic human law of nature is preservation of mankind
    • Individuals have both a right and duty to preserve their own lives
  • Popular sovereignty
    • Government is based on the consent of the people
    • Power is not legitimate if it disregards the will of the people
    • Expected to serve the people
  • Republicanism
    • Centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic
    • Emphasizes self-rule and ranges from rule of representative minority to popular sovereignty
  • Social contract
    • People live in society in accordance with argument establishing moral and political rules of behavior

The political values commonly seen within our government are individualism, equality of opportunity, free enterprise, rule of law, and limited government. This expressed ideas were fought for during the American Revolution and it represented an overthrow of a system of government based on widespread support. This however did not cause widespread societal changes like that of the Russian, Chinese, or Iranian Revolutions.

  • Articles of Confederation - 1777
    • Congress had few powers
    • No president or national court system
    • No national power to tax
    • Most government power rested in the states
    • Unanimous approval from 13 states is required for amendments
  • Shays’ Rebellion - 1786-1787
    • Series of attacks on courthouses led by Revolutionary War Captain Daniel Shays to block foreclosure proceedings
    • Economic elite concerned about articles inability to limit these violations of individual’s property rights
    • Opposed high taxes and stringent economic conditions
    • Forced the closing of several courts
  • Philadelphia Convention - 1787
    • 55 men from 12 out of the 13 states
    • Composed of wealthy planters and merchants
    • Lived on the coast in large cities not from the rural areas
    • College graduates
    • Revising the Articles of Confederation
    • Representation
    • State vs Federal Powers
    • Executive power
    • Slavery
    • Commerce
    • Human nature is self-interest
    • Political conflict leads to factions
    • Object of government includes the preservation of property
    • Nature of government sets power against power so no single faction rises above and overwhelms another

Since the people feared taxation or a strong central government, they made sure Congress was unable to raise money to pay off debt. This caused problems and thus several plans were created to combat the functionality of the government entitled The New Jersey Plan, Virginia Plan, and The Great Compromise.

  • The New Jersey Plan - 1787
    • One House legislature (unicameral)
    • Equal representation in Congress
    • Supported by smaller states who feared losing power in federal government
  • Virginia Plan - 1787
    • Two house legislature (bicameral)
    • Representation to Congress based on population
    • Supported by larger states
  • The Great Compromise - 1787
    • Two house legislature (bicameral)
    • Equal representation in upper house of Congress (Senate)
    • Representation in lower house of Congress (House of Representatives) to be proportional to population

More compromises were made as the states developed and continued to argue their different viewpoints. The issue of slavery was often a topic of debate and immoral to many though the South was pitted against the North. In the grand scheme of things, both sides were guilty of slavery but the ⅗ Compromise allowed for slaves to get representation thus allowing the South to have more of a political advantage over the North.

  • ⅗ Compromise
    • Slaves were not specifically mentioned in the Constitution
    • Referred to as persons “not free”
    • Slaves counted as ⅗ of a person for purpose of taxation and representation
  • Compromise on Importation
    • Importation of slaves was banned after 1808
    • Not slavery itself
  • Voting requirements were up to the states to create and enforce

With these newly developed and fresh states, there were many issues but the main issue were economic. The various states placed tariffs on products from other states and with 14 different currencies, paper money was essentially worthless. Congress was formed with these economic problems in mind plus the people.

  • Few individual rights were into the constitution
    • Prohibits suspension of writ of habeas corpus
    • No bills of attainder
    • No ex post facto laws
    • Religious qualifications for holding office prohibited
    • Strict rules of evidence for conviction of treason
    • Right to trial by jury in criminal cases
  • Powers of Congress
    • Levy taxes
    • Pay debts
    • Borrow money
    • Coin money and regulate its value
    • Regulate interstate and foreign commerce
    • Establish uniform laws of bankruptcy
    • Punish piracy
    • Punish counterfeiting
    • Create standard weights and measures
    • Establish post offices and post roads
    • Protect copyrights and patents
  • Prohibitions on the states
    • Prohibitions on the states
    • States cannot pass laws impairing the obligations of contract
    • States cannot coin money or issue paper money
    • States cannot require payment of debts in paper money
    • States cannot tax imports or exports from abroad or from other states
    • States cannot free runaway slaves from other states (doesn’t exist anymore)
  • Other key provisions
    • New government assumes national debt contracted under the Articles of Confederation
    • Constitution guarantees a republican form of government
    • States must respect civil court judgements and contracts made in other states

To prevent tyranny of the majority, Madison proposed a government with limiting majority control, separating powers, creating checks and balances, and establishing a federal system…

Unit 1 - Chapter 3 (Feudalism)

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