Americans tend to hold their great historical documents as sacred, giving those documents an incredible influence on American politics even today. Hundreds of years after the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights were written, these documents still continue to shape American political culture. The Constitution seems to be the most powerful of American historical documents, giving rise to a constitutional politics in which every aspect of the document plays a vital role. The most heated political debates are often over the constitutionality, or lack thereof, concerning the issue in question. Differing interpretations of the Constitution allow for opposite sides of such debates to have points of view which are both seemingly valid even when they are mutually exclusive. Debates over specific issues then become debates over interpretations of the Constitution. Two of the most widely and heatedly debated aspects of the Constitution are the concepts of separation of powers and federalism.
Separation of powers is “the doctrine that political power and governmental functions should be divided among several bodies or branches of government as a precaution against tyranny” (Landy and Milkis, Glossary - 10). Political power and governmental functions in America are divided amongst three distinct bodies, the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the government. This separation of powers goes hand in hand with the concept of checks and balances, “a governmental structure that gives different branches or levels of government some degree of oversight and control over the actions of the others so that no government institution exercises a monopoly of power” (Glossary - 2). By a system of checks and ba...
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...nt in every aspect of American government at every level each time the constitutionality of a policy is called into question. The ongoing nature of these debates shows in the American governmental system a flexibility of interpretation that allows the Constitution to remain a politically valid and viable document, a rule book for the political game that comes complete with the built-in ability to be revised and updated as the game evolves.
Works Cited
Landy, Marc and Sidney M. Milkis. American Government: Balancing Democracy and Rights. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
Madison, James. “The Federalist 51.” The Lanahan Readings in the American Polity – Third Edition. Ann G. Serow and Everett C. Ladd, editors. Baltimore, MD: Lanahan Publishers, Inc., 2003. Pages 105 – 109.
Romance, Joseph. Political Science 6 class lectures. Drew University, Summer 2004.
The separation of powers keeps any one branch from gaining too much power by creating 3 separate, distinct branches power can be shared equally among. According to Madison, “Liberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct.”(Document B) In other words, to avoid tyranny and achieve liberty, the three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) must be separate and diverse. The purpose of a separation of powers is to divide the powers of the government so there is not only one central source of power. The three branches must be as distinct as possible to avoid falling into the hands of one individual leader. There are also checks and balances between these three branches. Checks and balances are a system of each branch monitoring an...
After the American Revolution, America had earned it’s freedom from Britain. In order to govern this new country the Articles of Confederation was created. This document was flawed by the colonists fear of putting too much power into a central government. Knowing the document needed to be fixed a constitutional convention was called. The document created at this convention has been our constitution ever since. But even the Constitution was meet with criticism. One major concern when writing the constitution was how to protect the citizens rights. The Constitution did this through the preamble, the legislative process, the limit of presidential terms, the judicial branch, and the bill of rights.
The United States' Constitution is one the most heralded documents in our nation's history. It is also the most copied Constitution in the world. Many nations have taken the ideals and values from our Constitution and instilled them in their own. It is amazing to think that after 200 years, it still holds relevance to our nation's politics and procedures. However, regardless of how important this document is to our government, the operation remains time consuming and ineffective. The U.S. Constitution established an inefficient system that encourages careful deliberation between government factions representing different and sometimes competing interests.
This documentary is based on Raymond Arsenault’s book “Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice”. It was a radical idea organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) that alarmed not only those who challenged the civil rights but also deliberately defied Jim Crows Law that were enacted between 1876 and 1965, by challenging the status quo by riding the interstate buses in the South in mixed racial groups. This law segregated public services like public transportation, public places, public schools, restrooms, restaurants, and even drinking fountains for black and whites. Though these activists were faced by various bitter racism, mob violence and imprisonment, they were successful in desegregating the buses and bus facilities in the Deep South in September 22, 1961. They strove for nonviolent protest for justice and freedom of African Americans freedom.
Our Constitution establishes three branches of government and defines their very existence. The reason for the three branches is to separate the powers. The phrase “separation of powers” isn’t in the constitution, but it best explains the intention of the Constitution. It is essential that the assignment of lawmaking, enforcing and interpreting be spread out among the separated powers to ensure that all power doesn’t fall into the lap of one group, or even a power-hungry individual. The powers of which I’m speaking that were intentionally separated by way of the Constitution are the Legislative Branch, Executive Branch and finally, the Judicial Branch.
Separation of powers is the separation of branches under the constitution by the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government. Federalism is a government system that includes the national government, which shares sovereign powers with fifty state governments.
Orvetti, P. (2011). Do the Redskins Need a New Name? Retrieved Mar. 17, 2012, from
At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 the “Big Four” meet to settle terms of peace. Britain and France wanted to punish Germany, Italy wanted money or land, and the United States wanted to heal wounds through Wilson’s League of Nations. There was a discussion about whether the United Sates wanted to accept the Treaty Versailles or not. President Wilson wanted the League of Nations to “end all wars”. It was not the influence of the opposing forces of the U.S., conservative or liberal, that led to the absolute defeat of the Treaty of Versailles, but rather the political unawareness, incapability, and stubbornness of President Woodrow Wilson.
...ts are civil disobedience in the use of intelligence to fight power, which resulted in the forced cracks in the walls of segregation. For the freedom riders, the rides were “[The] most important decision in [our lives], to decide to give up all if necessary for the Freedom Ride, that justice and freedom might come to the deep South.” (Lewis) And today, it is one of the most important decisions in history.
Landy, Marc and Sidney M. Milkis. American Government: Balancing Democracy and Rights. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
Stanley Nelson chronicles the journey of a group of individuals, known as the Freedom Riders, whom fought for the rights of African Americans to have the same amenities and access as the Caucasians. The purpose of the Freedom Rides was to deliberately violate the Jim Crow laws of the south that prohibited blacks and whites from mixing together on buses and trains. Expectedly, many of the Freedom Riders were beaten and the majority was imprisoned. This carried on for the majority of 1961 and culminated with the Interstate Commerce Commission issuing an order to end the segregation in bus and rail stations. Nelson encapsulates this entire movement in about two hours. At the end of the two hours, the viewer is emotionally tied to the riders. For the sake of this analysis, I will focus on a portion towards the end of the film that gives us a sense of what kind of emotions victory evoked from those vested in the Freedom Rides. Nelson’s pairing of music and song coupled with a mixture of pictures and footage provides great emphasis to the subject matter while emotionally connecting the viewer.
McDowell, Gary L. “The Explosion and Erosion of Rights.” In Bodenhamer, David J. and Ely, James W. The Bill of Rights in Modern America. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008. Print.
Over the decades, the professional football team obtained a number of NFL championship titles such as their Super Bowl victories in 1983, 1988, and 1992. The Redskins became highly recognized and attracted a new fan base throughout the country by creating their own radio and television network in 1944 and 1950. They also stay notorious for their magnificent marching band that entertains fans in the stadium by performing the team’s fight songs such as, “Hail to the Redskins.”
Landy, Marc and Sidney M. Milkis. American Government: Balancing Democracy and Rights. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
Because Henderson’s definition is so broad, it can be applied to almost every setting in which a nurse is providing care to a patient. Since the theory being so broad, one can question how two different patients would be treated in the emergency room. If one patient came in with stomach aches, while another came in with a large laceration on their arm, would they be treated the same? As Henderson’s definition provides the basic goal of helping a patient gain health and independence, one can assume that both patients would be treated the same on the basis that the nurses would treat them in a way to assist them in gaining health and independence.