GVPT170 P Herrnson 3102C Morrill Hall Tuesday 3 4 Thursday 1 2 5 7 short response 1 out of 2 essays Current Events The Founding American Revolution Declaration of Independence Revolution or Evolution Importance Why is the US political system so different from others The American Revolution Was it really a revolution o Revolution A complete and forceful overthrow of an established political system A radical pervasive change in society and Why rebel o Motives for immigrating to America Promise of a better life o Resentment against the king New Ideas about politics Developments in the colonies Developments in England New Ideas About Politics o John Locke s two treatises on Government o Key ideas Limited government Rule of law Consent of people o Argument State of nature Problem Solution o Appeal to colonists If the problem with the state of nature is the lack of protection then the answer is to create a government and call these natural rights civil rights Development in the colonies Colonial Legislatures o Suffrage o Representation o Participation Colonial Identities o Anti British rhetoric o Isolation of Colonists Developments in England Financial Strains Political Conservatism Declaration of Independence Formal statement of many colonist aspirations Ideas John Locke o Inalienable Rights o Government is a contract o Limited government o Right to revolution Style English legal brief o Violation of rights o Complaints reach a crescendo Revolution or Not 1 A complete and violent overthrow of an established political system 2 A radical pervasive change in society and social structure a Not really The social structure was not completely scrambled Still elites 3 Complete and marked change in something a Was a complete and marked change in political ideas that formed government Power comes from the people New extreme view of rights to property happiness Winners interpret history We won we say yes it was a revolution The Constitution British experience o We learned we want rights and not a centralized govt Colonial experience o Learned we need self govt John Locke s ideas o Notion of limited govt Failures of articles of confederation 1st constitution o Learned we need a powerful national government Federalists vs anti federalists Public debate over ratification New science of government Shayes Rebellion 2 3 11 Federalist Approach Conflict arose between factions of hard vs soft money o Massachusetts Shayes led a rebellion Fear of civil war to understand their thinking about the government they wanted to have we have to answer these questions o What kind of political system do we want need o Depends on what are the ends of political system o Depends on on what were we founding this system i e what is human nature Human Nature Ancient Greeks Aristotle o Humans are perfectible No citizenry will ever be perfect but in pursuing perfection you can achieve excellence Marx Changes determined by mode of production Locke Humans are not perfectible self interested Must have government strong enough to protect from rebellion but also to protect from invasion Can t be too strong that it violates the rights it swears to protect We want a limited government One that protects our rights to life liberty and happiness but not too strong that will control everything Aristotle said a free government can only work in a government of about ten thousand people because in a community like that every will know each other and there will be a sense of community and love Government Structure Federal Democratic Republic o Law is fixed Product of deliberation and discussion best you can come up with Wanted a representative republic people get to choose who gets to make the laws and such State is its own political system with its own responsibilities but it must be checked by the national government Madison believes factions can be controlled in two ways Problem Tyranny of the majority o Abolish liberty o Give everyone the same opinion Do it through religion education same books Madison says this is just not possible People have different hopes and dreams and different talents Control the effects o Minority faction o Majority faction Keep it from developing and uniting Large commercial republic Large heterogeneous society Overlapping interests Difficult for a majority faction to coalesce Majority will be moderate Pluralism 2 8 11 New Science of Government Structural mechanisms to protect liberties o Federalism o Separation of power Prevents a majority from quickly enacting its program Requires all three branches of government in order to institute a program o Checks Balances Politics is the art of Compromise Three major compromises needed to enact Constitution o Connecticut Great Compromise o 3 5s Compromise What do you consider citizens who should have representation Slaves were considered 3 5s of a person It was a compromise that everyone was uneasy about and eventually resulted in Civil war Some states had them as part of their constitution and some did not so the compromise was to pass the Consititution and then amend them with the Bill of Rights o Bill of Rights Articles of the Constitution Article 1 Legislative Powers Article 2 Executive Power Article 3 Judicial Power Supreme Court and lower courts Article 4 Promote Harmony among states Article 5 Amendments to Constitution Amendment 6 Federal government supremacy in foreign affairs Article 7 Ratification of Constitution Membership Responisibilities US house of reps o 25 yrs of age o Citizen for 7 years o Selection Methods o Direct election by voters o Small districts o 2 year terms o Special Responisibilities o Impeachments o Origination of a revenue bills o Explanation o House members are less mature frequent elections small constituencies responsiveness o Sensiytive to voters on very sensitive issues U S Senators Requirements 30 years of age citizens for 9 years Selection Methods State legislature 17th amend changes Entire State Staggered 6 year terms Special Responsibilities Try impeachments Advice and consent on treaties ambassadors judges ministers other officers Explanation Senators are more mature infrequent selection of 1 3 at a time responsible Stable decision making on issues requiring sober judgment President Requirements o 35 years of age o Natural born citizen Selection Methods o Electoral college o National elections o 4 year terms Special Responsibilities o Commander in chief o Power to grant reprieves and pardons o Treaties ambassadors judges