According to Classical Republicanism the major purposes of government are promoting the common good which focuses on the public spirit and what’s best for everyone, moral education which makes sure that kids get all of the information they need to live good lives and lastly they believe in civic virtue which deals with the involvement of citizens in society. John F. Kennedy states, “Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.” This quote portrays how we are all human, and how we should all be treated equal, we are all important, we all breathe the same air and if we keep on focusing on one person more than another then there will be …show more content…
The major purposes of our government should focus on both of the philosophies because the good of citizens and a government that protects the rights of individuals. In the case of Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to have separate schools for black and white people. In this case the government protected individual rights and had common good for a society. The citizen Brown, was not able to get to her school, going to the white school was easier. Her individual rights were expanded due to this amendment. The common good is that the entire society as a whole was now able to go to any school as they pleased. Then you have the Bill of Rights which is the brainchild of Natural Rights and John Locke which protects the individual rights of a citizen. The government, especially the Supreme Court, is a mix philosophy because in District of Columbia vs. Heller (2008), “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed and held that the Second Amendment protects the right to keep firearms in the home for the purpose of self-defense, and the District of Columbia’s requirement that firearms kept in the home be nonfunctional violated that right.” The Court protected Heller's right to have a functional firearm in his home which is using the key point of Individual Rights of the Natural Rights Philosophy as well as the Classical Republican view of common good by still allowing for gun control laws to make the country safer like background checks. The two philosophies together make a stronger, more productive government and society as a
We often wonder about the importance of government. Is it necessary? Does it really benefit society? The answer is yes. Many countries have diverse forms of government such as totalitarian, monarchy, theocracy, and much more. The United States of America specifically runs a democratic type of government. A democratic government gives power to the people. Citizens over the age of eighteen are allowed to elect leaders based on their individual opinions through voting rights. The main purpose of the American government is, to protect people’s inalienable rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness as our Founding Fathers intended.
Citizen’s social nature was composed of their human psyche, which was based off of natural right and good moral choice, according to Jefferson’s Classical Republicanism. Issues on justice were also solved through Classical Republicanism, which makes the people wary of others in the community, which unifies them. Jefferson’s Classical Republicanism also was issued on political issues in America. While Jefferson was a representative in the Virginian government, this was seen most prominently in which he purposefully divided counties for economic, political, and the education according to the State constitution.
Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard is a non fiction book on the killing of James
First and foremost, the most important issue is that freedom is the most important, but also how to achieve a maximum amount of freedom. Milton Friedman best describes keeping freedom by stating, "How can we keep the government we create from becoming a Frankenstein that will destroy the very freedom we establish it to protect"(275). Today the conservative view may be seen as a response to social and economic programs initiated by the liberals in the past thirty years. Conservatives generally agree that the "government has grown too become to large and bureaucratic, too removed from the local control; its intrusion into our lives is creating resentment, trampling on our rights, reducing personal responsibility, and stifling the economic growth that will do more for the good of our citizens than any government programs can do" (236). In short the smaller, more local the government is, the better. For example, a town in Kansas that has a population of 750, was told that they would have to build a new ramp entering the city hall, because of the new Americans with Disabilities Act. The town has had this ramp for 20 years and it has served the disabled with no problems. The town does not have the money to pay for the $15,000 ramp, and should not be forced to come up with it when the old ramp has given everyone access to the city hall.
The king says “That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This quote/statement explains that all people have rights including men, all men are created equal, all men are treated the same as any other person. The Declaration of Independence also tells us that the Government also has the job to help people have the truths that they want or want to hear from them. “That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation in such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.” This is stating that the people in America should abolish and alter their rights that they do have, the government that prevents the truths need to
The American people turned to Republicanism because they believed in a political system run by the people, not by a supreme authority. It became clearer to them over the course of the American Revolution, and even before, that they had wanted equality and the liberty to run their own governemt. King George III parliament had imposed policies to weaken colonial power and assert authority, raised their taxes, and required them to house the British soldiers that enforced such policies.
Although today in the twenty -first century we have more of a regulated federalism, the basic concepts of protection of individual rights along with free expression of ideas is still at the core of our current political philosophy. The founders intentions, primarily fueled by the Federalists, sought to create a national system under which the new area of democracy would thrive in the shadow of what they perceived to be an oppressive past with mother England.
Yet, the Republicans undercut their own plans for America. By using the idea of equality not as an equality of the people but as an “equality of opportunity” the Republicans opened the door for anyone with the proper education to hold office. This caused a distinct separation between members of society, one that would not last. As the people began to think and act according to their own self-interests they began to advocate for self-government. Given that they were trusted to determine the virtue of their leaders, individuals began to understand they could also determine virtue within themselves, leading them to believe that there was no reason to differentiate between and among men.
Declaration of Independence states “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”[5] By this can be concluded that a government is just when before the law all men are equal, That we the people have rights, and it is the role of the government to protect and insure those rights. By establishing a government to fulfill that purpose is to establish justice.
Locke states that the correct form of civil government should be committed to the common good of the people, and defend its citizens’ rights to life, health, liberty, and personal possessions. He expects that a civil government’s legislative branch will create laws which benefit the wellbeing of its citizens, and that the executive branch will enforce laws under a social contract with the citizenry. “The first and fundamental positive law of all common-wealths is the establishing of the legislative power; as the first and fundamental natural law, which is to govern even the legislative itself, is the preservation of the society and (as far as will consist with the public good) of every person in it.”1 Locke believes that humans inherently possess complete and i...
In 1791, the Bill of Rights, consisting of 10 amendments, was ratified into the constitution. The document’s purpose was to spell out the liberties of the people that the government could not infringe upon. Considered necessary by many at the time of its development, the Bill of Rights became the cause for a huge debate between two different factions: The Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Federalists were those who thought that there should be a new Union created with a strong centralized government and individual regional governments. They felt that it was not necessary for there to be a bill of rights because it was implied that those rights the Constitution did not specifically state would be handed down to the states. On the other hand, the Anti-Federalists were opposed to such a form of government on the grounds that the Constitution, in which it was outlined, lacked clarity in the protections of the individuals. The Anti-Federalists—whose memory of British oppression was still fresh in their minds—wanted certain rights and guarantees that were to be apart of the constitution (Glasser 1991). A clear demonstration of the Anti-Federalist attitude was performed by Samuel Bryan, who published a series of essays named the ‘Cenitnal Essays,’ which “assailed the sweeping power of the central government, the usurpation of state sovereignty, and the absence of a bill of rights guaranteeing individual liberties such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion (Bran 1986).” Of course, the freedoms stated above are a portion and not the whole of The Bill of Rights. Ultimately, The Bill of Rights was adopted to appease the Anti-Federalists, whose support was necessary to ratify the constitution, and who believed that without the liberties granted therein, the new constitution—that they thought was vague and granted too much power to the central government—would give way to an elite tyrannical government.
Events like the shooting in Sandy Hook and the shooting in a Colorado theater have led many government officials to support gun control laws. Though, many government officials still believe in the 2nd Amendment, which states, "the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." This being part of the Constitution, it gets a lot of people believing in it. However, I don 't believe this is right. The government should not control guns rights to extremes, but it shouldn 't let us have too much freedom. To much freedom is what is hurting people. They need to know who these guns are going to. It 's a very difficult thing to do but they have to keep track of who 's by them and from
Being that here are people against a bigger government it doesn’t mean that certain services that are given to the citizens aren’t beneficial to all American. As for the constitution role in the distribution of political power. When it comes down to who needs what it is very complicated to see what branch has the responsibility either the state or the federal government. In recent years there has been natural disasters that have destroyed communities and hurt the citizens during Hurricane Katrina the United States saw the way the both governments didn’t communicate with one another leaving a the city of New Orleans to fend for itself. Seeing that in Article 5 of the constitution both the state and federal must care for its citizens. I believe that it was very important in the first decade because after being in a recession in 2008 we saw the decrease of jobs and an increase in unemployment creating uncertainty within the country. Its was important for everyone to work together and like before we looked for help within the federal
However, this act of Jefferson’s went against many of the political beliefs held by his party and himself. Jeffersonian philosophy and Hamiltonian philosophy differed greatly in that Jeffersonian philosophy adhered to a weak central government, with most of the power in the hands of the states. It believed that the federal government’s power should be restrained and limited, so that it would not be able to become tyrannical or try and undermine the power of the states and the people.... ... middle of paper ... ...
American political culture emphasizes the values of liberty, equality, and democracy. Most of America’s debating is not over whether these issues are important, but how to best go about achieving these ideas. American’s define liberty as freedom, but America believes that liberty should be contained on some levels so they can create a stable society. The definition of freedom is that we can do whatever we want, as long as we do not affect another person’s freedom. American’s want to be able to do what they want, while not affecting someone else. So some rules are set to protect people and create a stable society.