(Ch.1) Describe the historical context in Georgia that has shaped Georgia politics.After Reconstruction, the Republican and Democratic parties formed, and Georgia became extremely Democratic until 2003, when the Republican Party succeeded in winning its first election. Until then, the Republican Party stood no chance, and the Populist Party posed the largest (while still small) threat in the 1890s. Over the years, minority groups in Georgia have proved to cause the most change in these issues and opinions in political parties. 2. (Ch. 4) Compare and contrast the ten Georgia constitutions. Georgia has had 10 constitutions since 1777. The first ever constitution had problems with grants of power and authority, as did those of many states right after the Revolution. Over the years there have been three eras of Georgia Constitutions. The first era, beginning right after the Declaration of Independence, was its own government under the Articles of Confederation, so it covered all powers of Georgia as if it were its own separate country. The middle era, starting after the Civil War and continuing until WWII dealt greatly with the rights of African Americans, particularly voting rights in the state. The most recent (after WWII) includes mostly civil liberties and individual rights.3. (Ch. 9) Describe the historical context of voting rights in Georgia. Immediately after the civil war, Georgia had discriminatory voting policies against minorities, specifically African Americans. The policies came in the form of poll taxes, literacy tests, and the Grandfather Clause,which required that one must have a grandfather who voted in an election in order to vote, prohibiting most former slaves. White leaders even explicitly suggested the usage of intimidation tactics to discourage black voters to keep elections strictly white. Progress has been made; however, to improve black voter participation, by passing laws such as the 1965 Voter Registration Act that specifically singled out Georgia and other states for their voting practices. Today, as suburbs continue to become more racially diverse, more minorities will win legislative seats and local offices.4. (Ch.10) What are the rules of districting in Georgia? How have these rules affected voting? At first, the district lines were drawn in equal plots of land, but as cities became more populated, different districts had more people than others. In order to avoid this, the population census was createdin 1962 so that each district was equally populated in the hope that everyone's vote is equal, so that oneperson's vote does not have more power than another. 5. What are some of the primary differences between the Georgia constitution and the U.S. constitution? Why are these differences important? Are states important in the U.S. federal system? Whyor why not?Some differences between the constitutions are that the Georgia Constitution includes information about local governments and education. Also, the US constitution has an elastic clause ensuring that itcan be changed based on what is necessary and proper, while the GA const. does not. These are important because education and local governments regard specifically those living in GA, so the GA const. should decide policies about them. States are definitely important in the US federal system because they provide a way for the people to have representation on a federal scale as well as a local
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