I linked to three new sections, one of which still needs another couple of days for tweaking - the one on due process. I'll describe each below.
In lecture classes I want to review a few items related to ideology since some of that content seem to have not quite sunk in - I consider this to be my fault. I suggested you take the Nolan Survey as another way to gauge your ideology. I think we should do so as a class so I anticipate doing so first. Then we'll read through both Federalist #10 and Federalist #51. Each will help us understand how the problems presented by human nature - self interest and ambition - are handled by the design of the constitution. We should end up with a better understanding of why we are a representative democracy rather than a direct democracy, as well as an appreciation for the conflict we see between the branches.
We'll do the same - to a lesser degree - Federalist #45 and the principle of federalism. The main goal there will be to understand the relative powers of each level of government and the factors that have led to conflict between the state and national governments.
This is what's been open this week:
- Federalist 84, Civil Liberties and the Bill of Rights.
This is the fourth of the sections on basic principles within the Constitution. Individual liberty was considered a goal by all participants within the convention - though as we will note at different points that there idea of who qualified as a person deserving of individual liberty was very different than ours.
A principal issue in this section will be how individual liberty is best secured. This was a central argument in the constitutional convention. The Framers of the document did not believe that a bill of rights was necessary for the national document - though it was for the states. We will discuss that controversy and have a birds eye view of the resulting ten amendments.
- Religious Liberty - The Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses
Here we'll take a more careful look at the first two clauses of the First Amendment, the one's that prohibit Congress from passing laws about establishing religion or restricting its free exercise. We will note that through the 14th Amendment these restrictions apply to the state and local governments, which is a recipe for controversy.
As a practical matter, these restrictions provide an opportunity for people who believe that a policy passed by the national, state or local government has forced them to recognize a church, or prohibited the exercise of the religion of their choice. This has forced the Supreme Court to make rulings adapting these restrictions to specific circumstances. We review these in this section which will allow us to come to terms with what these parts of the Constitution mean right now.
- The Due Process of the Law.
(Note: This section won't be ready until Wednesday)
This section has the same objective as the former one, but this focuses on those factors that limit the manner in which the discretionary power of those parts of the government that implement and adjudicate the law.
Police, prosecutors and judges must act in accordance with restrictions placed on them in the 4th through the 8th Amendments, and as with the rest of the Bill of Rights, these apply to state and local forces through the 14th Amendment. And - also - as with the previous section, these restrictions have been altered over the course of time.
We will come to terms with the nature of these changes.
