POLS 1101January 14-18, 2013Democracy- rule by the people- Pure democracy would only work in small groups- It is nearly impossible to vote on every single issueRepublic- choose leaders and they govern- Representative democracy- We have regular elections so we can change people if necessaryArticles of Confederation- They were quickly put together while war was going on just to be able to have an army and to govern somewhat- A lot of power was given to individual states- National government had very little powero could not: Make treaties Raise an army Collect taxes Regulate businesso There was no: President Federal court (only legislation)- In 1787, delegates met to make amendments to the Articles of Confederationo They knew it was not working and decided a new government needed to be startedo From now on there needed to be a balanced budget- The group included important historical figures such as: James Madison, Ben Franklin, Abraham Baldwin (one of the UGA founders)o They ended up forming a government that has lasted over 200 years- The Preamble says too Form a more perfect union (there was not currently ant unity)o Establish justice (laws against crime)o Insure domestic tranquility (equality)o Provide for the common defense (protection against threats and attacks)o Promote general welfare (well being of people)o Secure blessings of libertyPOLS 1101January 14-18, 2013- In Federalist 51, Madison said ambition defeats ambitiono Checks and balances needed to be put into placeo Federalism (state and federal government)Constitution Analysis- Madison did not say each branch would be equal, just separate o Wanted to avoid a strong executive brancho Wanted a strong legislature that could overrule the executive when necessaryArticle ISection 1- The legislative power consists of the Senate and House of RepresentativesSection 2- There was a dispute between small and large states for representation- Large states wanted more representation for larger populations and smaller states said each state should have equal representation- GREAT COMPROMISEo There would be a legislature with 2 parts House of Representatives- The Peoples’ House- Had representatives for each state by population (GA has 13) Senate- Represents the states- Each state has 2 senatorso The house of representatives were voted on and states appointed senators (this later changed though)- Back then, states were taxes, not individuals- How would people be counted for representation and taxation?o south wanted slaves to count so they could have more representation, thus more powero north said noo BUT, when taxes came into play, the roles switches South didn’t want slaves to count and the north did- Both the North and the South were:o Being hypocriticalo Acting in their own best interest- The Compromiseo All free people would be countedPOLS 1101January 14-18, 2013o Slaves would be counted as 3/5 of a persono This was for taxes and representationo This was later changed by the 14th amendment- The House chooses their leader (the Speaker) and has sole power of impeachment which is a two step process. When a Federal Judge or President is impeached:o Formal charges are brought abouto There is a trial and 2/3 must agree- We now choose our own SenatorsSection 3- Vice President is the President of the Senate- But, he doesn’t vote unless there is a tieo This is usually rareo VP really has no other formal powerSection 6- The President may not agree with Congress, but cannot arrest a member of Congress if they are traveling to an event where they will be speaking or if they are speaking at that moment.o Basically means a congressman cannot be arrested at any time in case the president justdoesn’t want that person to vote, etc.Section 7- No taxation without representation- It is the job of House of Representatives to come up with idea to raise taxes- The President can sign a bill or veto it. - If vetoed, it will be sent back to Congress- Then, 2/3 has to agree and it can be passed even if vetoed by the President.Section 8- Congress shall have the power… then it lists expressed powers o Such as collecting taxes, paying debts, borrowing money, etc.- They have the power to make laws that are needed to put these previous listed laws into effect (not explicitly listed but these powers are impliedSection 9- If arrested, a person has the right to know their charges (habeus corpis)Legislative: Congress (writes laws)POLS 1101January 14-18, 2013Executive: President and administration (enforces laws)Article IISection 1- Founders were fearful of a tyrant and favored a committee, not a single leader- Problem congress takes a while to make a decision o During crisis such as 9/11, we would need a quick decision to be made- We will not elect the President directlyo They feared direct voting because the people were uneducated- This leads to the electoral collegeo Each state gets electors roughly based on populations and they choose the Presidento Electors= number of representatives in Congresso GA= 13 representatives + 2 Senators, so 15 electors- The electors can not vote for 2 people from the same stateo Ex: George Bush and Dick Chaney were both from Texaso Chaney moved to another state just so he could be voted foro Cannot directly go against the Constitution but there are ways around it- President of the Senate (the VP) opens all votes of electors and counts- Originally, the person with the most votes became President and the person who came in second was the Vice-President- This seemed fair until parties emerged- In 1796 there was a competitive election between partieso John Adams was a Federalist and came in 1st place (President)o Thomas Jefferson, a member of the Democratic Republicans party, took 2nd place (VP)o It didn’t take long to realize this was a bad system- If the President is too sick, dies, etc., the VP takes over.- If there is a vacancy in the VP position, the President must appoint a new person who will be approved by the Congress- The President always preserves, protects, and defends the ConstitutionPOLS 1101January 14-18, 2013Section II- The Commander in Chief of the Army, Navy, and some state militias is the President- Only Congress can declare war even though the President is in charge of the military (??)o This is an ongoing conflicto Last time the Congress actually declared war was WWIIo Vietnam was considered the ‘Vietnam Conflict Era’- The US military is the most powerful in the world-