Constitution/Bill of Rights 8.05. №4

· Fought against centralized power

· Constitution à balance/check on power à divided (mixed) government

· Articles of Confederation à too much power for individual states à national government no power

· Constitution: specific power the national government has, dividing power

· E.g. nothing about death penalty à up to every individual state

· National government has no power to enforce health care for everybody à not in the constitution

· But: federal government has the power to tax so the government can impose health care

· Executive: fulfilling governmental responsibilities

· Judicial: court system > Supreme Court

· Legislative: House of Representatives and Senate

· à BALANCE to avoid tyranny of centralized power

· President checks the power of the legislative (veto) but the legislative also checks the president

· Supreme Court: in office until they decide to retire/die à 9 seats, appointed by the president

· à Create a republic “res publica”

· à No inherited power

· à Clear concept of citizenship

· à Electoral deliberative

· Basic function: secure liberty/safety of its citizens

· à negative liberty: you are free if there is no power interfering

· à provide freedom: power for population to fulfil their wishes, live a civilized life (taxes: price you have to pay for civilization)

· Late 18^th century:

· Democracy very negative connoted à “mob rule”

· People demanded that slavery rights were written down in the consitution

· Were written down in the constitution

· 3/5 clause à slave count as 3/5

· Slaves have to be returned to their owners

· Federalist Papers: attempt to make the public aware of what was going on à struggles/discussions

Bill of Rights

· à additions to the Constitution

· à specify the rights people have

· 1^st: No official church (no privileges for a specific church) à freedom of religion; freedom of speech, freedom of press (in contrast to England à government has the right to restrain the press); freedom of public assembly, freedom to petition (sue) the government (you can bring government to court)

· 2^nd: Right to “keep and bear arms”

· 3^rd: No quartering of soldiers

· 4^th: No illegal search and seizure

· 5^th/6^th/7^th: Legal system (rights you have e.g. when being in prison/court)

· 9^th: There may be other rights; government is not allowed to say that these are the only rights

· 10^th: what the Federal government does not specifically do, the states do

· Americans are taught to see the Constitution as the highest law (à not a person/institution) à basis of American identity

· Conservatives see the Constitution as a restriction for the power of the Federal government

· à is interpreted in very different ways

· Supreme Court is the final interpreter of the Constitution

· “living text” à Supreme Court judge should reinterpret the Constitution for any given moment in time

· E.g. abortion: right of privacy of a women

· Vs. “originalists” : discover the original meaning of the words and their intention

Date: 2015-01-29; view: 896