In lecture classes we will be reviewing material related to federalism and the Bill of Rights - and also start in on the issues surrounding religious liberty, specifically how the Supreme Court has defined and redefined "establishment" and "free exercise."
It would be a good idea also to clarify a few issues associated with how the Constitution gets interpreted by the Supreme Court as well as conflicts over the court's role in helping set public policy. We need to get comfortable with the pros and cons of strict and loose interpretations of the document as well as the restrained and activist courts.
Remember that I cancelled the section on due process, but we will touch on the concept since it's pretty important to know how the rules associated with police behavior - among other things - is impacted about court decisions.
The quizzes that have opened this week concern the power of the legislature. The three sections follow a pattern that will be used when we look at the executive and judicial power as well.
- The Legislature - Definition and Historical Background. This section tries to define what a legislative institution is and provides basic information about the Congress so you have a general sense of what it is prior to digging into detail.
It also tries to trace the history - British - of the development of legislative power. As we've discussed loosely before, the increase of actual power within the legislative branch was necessary in order to place meaningful limits on the executive branch. As you may have figured out - I like referring back to the execution of Charles the First in order to make this point. More importantly is the fact that Parliament demanded that the co-monarchs William and Mary sign the British Bill of Rights in order to attain the throne. Parts of this document will be incorporated into the Constitution. So the broader point here is that the more we know this history, the more we know why our Constitution looks the way it does.
- The US Legislature - Constitutional Design. Here we start reading closely the content of Article One of the Constitution and come to terms with what the Constitution does - and does not - say about Congress and the nature of legislative power.
- Parties and Committees in Congress. Once we find out what the Constitution does not say about Congress we will turn to how Congress has evolved over time. We will note that institutions like political parties developed in the early Congress before branching out into the general population. We will also look at the development of committees. The principle point here will be to understand how power flows within the institution, and how that can change from time to time.
This is where will also catch up with the nature of the current Congress - the 113th - which some argue may be the worst in recent memory.
