Federalist 51 and the Separation of Powers
- Click here for the wiki.
The principal purpose of the separated powers is to ensure that one person or entity cannot hold on to and control all levels of power. If who or whatever passes laws can also enforce and adjudicate them, then there is no ability to control it. This explains why the three basic functions of government are granted to three separate institutions in the first three articles of the Constitution. It also explains their unique designs and the powers each has to limit the other two. Whats more, it should help us understand why a great deal of the conflict that people see in government - and respond negatively to - is actually a direct and necessary result of this design. Conflict might suggest that system works as intended, but that's a matter for class discussion
Some stuff from the blog:
- Checks and Balances.
- Separated Powers.
Federalist 45 and Federalism
- Click here for the wiki.
We have - as you know by now - three levels of government, two specifically mentioned in the Constitution. As with conflict between each branch of government, conflict exists between these three levels of government. While there is - on paper - a clear distinction between the functions of each level, in reality there is tremendous overlap. And since the political goals of the national, state, and local governments can differ, this overlap often leads to conflict.
Here are blog posts that illustrate this conflict:
- Federalism.
- US - Texas conflict.
Federalist 84, Civil Liberties, and the Bill of Rights
- Click here for the wiki.
This is the past of the principles written into the original constitution. It is also the subject of the first ten amendments to the document (later this semester we will look at another - equality - which was added when the 14th Amendment was ratified following the Civil War). The idea of a civil liberty - individual liberty, freedom from the coercion of the state - is that it is primarily about government, not so much the individual. As we will see, the language of the Bill of Rights focuses on what government cannot do either substantively or as a matter of process. The precise definition of these limits is a common subject of Supreme Court cases.
For previous posts on the subject:
- Bill of Rights.
- Civil Liberties.
Religious Liberty: The Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses.
- Click here for the wiki.
This section get into some specifics. The first two sections of the First Amendment state two types of laws that Congress cannot pass regarding religion. Good enough, but the vague language has required interpretation by the courts over the years. The simple purpose here is to come to understand the various issues associated with how they have been interpreted, which gives us an idea of how they might be applied - and possibly reinterpreted - in the future.
From the blog:
- Establishment Clause.
- Free Exercise of Religion.
- Religious Liberty.
- Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
