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.
Showing posts with label This week in GOVT 2305. Show all posts
Showing posts with label This week in GOVT 2305. Show all posts
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Monday, September 15, 2014
This week - 4 - in GOVT 2305
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
This week - 2 - in GOVT 2305
The goal last week was to (1) explain why you have to take this class, (2) make sure you are familiar with key terms, and (3) dig into the history of ideology. I wasn't able to lecture on these all in class, but expect a few questions here and there, plus blog posts that focus on current issues that use these terms.
Any of this material can reappear on the final later this semester, so be mindful of that.
This week we have another 3 sections.
- Public Policy and Sub-Governments. This actually should be considered to be another introductory section. Establishing public policy is what governments do. This section walks through the stages in the process and - perhaps more importantly - explains the networks of actors that assemble around a piece of public policy.
This last part - which introduces the concept of an iron triangle and describes the relationships involved in it - is one of the more important concepts we will cover in class. It helps explain the logic surrounding much of what happens within government and politics. Networks of actors develop around pieces of public policy that provide tangible benefits for these groups, They find ways to establish and maintain relationships with each other in order to mutually preserve that public policy item. In our area one of the better ways to describe this relationship is around preserving the Johnson Space Center, or funding to keep the Houston Ship Channel operational.
We will refer to this concept later this semester hen we talk about Congress, executive agencies and interest groups.
- Natural Rights, Separated Powers, and the Declaration of Independence. In this section we start to look at the concepts and historical events that led to the decision - by colonial leaders - to break the governing relationship with Great Britain. This was done - officially - when it was decided to draft and sign a declaration stating the reasons why this decision was being made.
We don't cover the Revolutionary War in this class. I leave that to our history instructors.
The principle goal here is to understand the logic contained in the document's argument, and the fact that this argument embodies major shifts in political thought. The first had to do with the proper source of governing authority. Did it rest on the divine right of the monarch or the consent of the governed? The second had to do with the scope of executive power. Did all governing power rest - absolutely - with the monarch or was the monarch to be restrained by other institutions?
The answers to each question helps us understand how the colonists were able to justify the extreme measures they were about to take. It's problematic when you decide to overthrow a king.
- The U.S. Constitution. This is the first of many sections where we look at parts of the document. The purpose here is to take an overview of it. We'll cover what constitutions are, factors associated with the Articles of Confederation, the decision to have a constitutional convention and why the participants produced what they did.
This will also include a look at the ratification process and the changes to the document since it was ratified in 1789. Afterwards - next week - we start to dig into detail.
Any of this material can reappear on the final later this semester, so be mindful of that.
This week we have another 3 sections.
- Public Policy and Sub-Governments. This actually should be considered to be another introductory section. Establishing public policy is what governments do. This section walks through the stages in the process and - perhaps more importantly - explains the networks of actors that assemble around a piece of public policy.
This last part - which introduces the concept of an iron triangle and describes the relationships involved in it - is one of the more important concepts we will cover in class. It helps explain the logic surrounding much of what happens within government and politics. Networks of actors develop around pieces of public policy that provide tangible benefits for these groups, They find ways to establish and maintain relationships with each other in order to mutually preserve that public policy item. In our area one of the better ways to describe this relationship is around preserving the Johnson Space Center, or funding to keep the Houston Ship Channel operational.
We will refer to this concept later this semester hen we talk about Congress, executive agencies and interest groups.
- Natural Rights, Separated Powers, and the Declaration of Independence. In this section we start to look at the concepts and historical events that led to the decision - by colonial leaders - to break the governing relationship with Great Britain. This was done - officially - when it was decided to draft and sign a declaration stating the reasons why this decision was being made.
We don't cover the Revolutionary War in this class. I leave that to our history instructors.
The principle goal here is to understand the logic contained in the document's argument, and the fact that this argument embodies major shifts in political thought. The first had to do with the proper source of governing authority. Did it rest on the divine right of the monarch or the consent of the governed? The second had to do with the scope of executive power. Did all governing power rest - absolutely - with the monarch or was the monarch to be restrained by other institutions?
The answers to each question helps us understand how the colonists were able to justify the extreme measures they were about to take. It's problematic when you decide to overthrow a king.
- The U.S. Constitution. This is the first of many sections where we look at parts of the document. The purpose here is to take an overview of it. We'll cover what constitutions are, factors associated with the Articles of Confederation, the decision to have a constitutional convention and why the participants produced what they did.
This will also include a look at the ratification process and the changes to the document since it was ratified in 1789. Afterwards - next week - we start to dig into detail.
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