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Essays on aristotle and us politics
Aristotle's politics essay
Aristotle politics analyse
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The structure of the American Constitution and our tripartite system is identical to Aristotle's politics when it talks about laws, customs, rights, and powers. Aristotle says that a constitution is “the way of life of a citizen-body." This means that a constitution should be what the people want in order to make it more productive in the future. A constitution should make the citizens feel like they are apart of the decision making of how our country is to be governed. Aristotle left an impact on the writers of the American Constitution and because of this, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and John Adams, and George Washington (the writers of the constitution) all agreed that the Constitution should have some reference to Aristotle’s
thoughts. The first three articles of the American Constitution (also known as the tripartite system) express how Congress is given its power, how laws are created, and how the Judicial branch protects customs and rights of American citizens. Our Constitution has not changed since it was written in 1787. Plato’s tripartite concept of the soul and society parallels Aristotle’s tripartite system of government because Plato and Aristotle both had different ideas when thinking about creating a government of their very own. Plato and Aristotle both wanted to create a government that the people would approve on and they were very successful in their own ways. Plato concentrated more on the people’s personal actions and laws about freedom, and Aristotle focused on the first three articles of the American Constitution that still exists today. Plato influenced the Founding Fathers by saying that the government should consist of the soul and society working as one. The government should have a saying where the people should feel like they are able to make their own decisions and do what they want without being overruled by the government. The Founding Fathers added in the constitution laws, rights, and customs for the people in order to make them happier. Aristotle influenced the Founding Fathers to write the Constitution the way it is by talking about how the people should feel like they are apart of the creation of the government and how laws, power, customs, and rights should be protected in certain ways. The Judicial branch was influenced a lot by Aristotle’s thoughts because the Judicial branch is responsible for what goes on with the laws in the United States.
The responsibilities would include managing debt, creating national monetary and fiscal policies, as well as managing the national tensions that lead to crisis. Men like Alexander Hamilton, George Washington and John Adams, were in favor of the Constitution, supported the Bill of Rights and subsequently, a larger more powerful federal government. In their views for support of a federal government they proposed the Constitution and later added the first ten amendments that make up the Bill of Rights (Lecture). While framing the Constitution issues taken into consideration were states boundaries, representation quotas and veto rights (Countryman 172). Two main plans were proposed to solve the plethora of issues facing the country – one by James Madison and one by Patterson. The fundamental differences was where the federal government derived their power. Patterson advocated for the federal to obtain their power from the states rather than the people, whereas Madison advocated for the power of the centralized government owing its power directly to the people (Countryman 178). After years back and forth conversations, a three tiered system was created that would ensure the integrity of the system by separation and complete independence from each other, thus listing specified duties and power allotted to the Legislative, Executive and Judiciary powers of the United States
Madison states several things in his papers that will be used in the United States Constitution. He says: “authority will be derived from and dependent on the society, because society is broken into so many parts, interests and classes of citizens…”, ”government must protect the weak as well as themselves.”. “Principles of justice” and the “general good” of the people are also mentioned.
The Articles of Confederation was America’s first constitution. The Articles of Confederation failed to create a strong central government, however. With the demise of the states in sight, the need for a stronger and more structured central government became apparent. An invitation was sent to all thirteen states in February 1787 by the Confederation Congress to resolve the matter. The events that took place over the next several months would create the United States Constitution. Going down in history as a revolutionary form of government, the U.S. Constitution would give life to a country that is still running strong over 200 years later.
It was established for the United States to have a document based foundation for the country to be run on. These Enlightenment thinkers got our founding fathers John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and George Washington all questioning God, Nature and Society. John Locke inspired our founding fathers to state in the document that all power should lie within out people. John Locke believed all people should have right to choose their leader. Montesquieu’s idea was also used in the United States Constitution. Montesquieu believed in the power of checks and balances, which means that not one branch of government gets too much power. Rousseau’s ideas were also presented in the United States Constitution. Rousseau’s idea was that all people get to vote for the president and congressmen. Other Enlightenment thinkers also have an influence on the United Sates Constitution. Voltaire’s ideas were also used he believed in religious freedom. The final thinker that is present in the structured law today is Cesare Beccaria. Beccaria believed that the accused have rights and that torture is unjust
The men who wrote the American constitution agreed with Thomas Hobbes that humans were naturally evil. Therefore, they agreed that in order to prevent a dictatorship or monarchy, the citizens should have influence in the government. The writers wanted a more ideal constitution, but they realized evil human motives would never change. One of the main goals of the constitution was to create a balanced government that would allow the citizens to prevent each other from being corrupt. The writers wanted to give citizens liberty, but they did not want to give people so much liberty that they would have an uncontrollable amount of power. The writers agreed that a citizen’s influence in government would be proportionate to that individual’s property.
Aristotle's Legacy in the Federalist Papers While the government of the United States owes its existence to the contents and careful thought behind the Constitution, some attention must be given to the contributions of a series of essays called the Federalist Papers towards this same institution. Espousing the virtues of equal representation, these documents also promote the ideals of competent representation for the populace and were instrumental in addressing opposition to the ratification of the Constitution during the fledgling years of the United States. With further reflection, the Federalists, as these essays are called, may in turn owe their existence, in terms of their intellectual underpinnings, to the writings of the philosopher
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.
A constitution is the system of fundamental principles according to which a nation is governed. Our founding fathers created the US Constitution to set specific standards for our country. We must ask ourselves why our founding fathers created the Constitution in the first place. America revolted against the British due to their monarchy form of government. After the American Revolution, each of the original 13 colonies operated under its own rules of government. Most states were against any form of centralized rule from the government. They feared that what happened in England would happen again. They decided to write the Articles of Confederation, which was ratified in 1781. It was not effective and it led to many problems. The central government could not regulate commerce between states, deal with foreign governments or settle disputes. The country was falling apart at its seams. The central government could not provide assistance to the state because there wasn’t a central army. When they realized that the Articles of Confederation was not up to par, they held a convention, known as the Constitutional Convention of 1787. As a result of t...
Evolution of Democracy and the Athenian Constitution. Democracy is defined in modern times as government by the people. To put that in perspective and better understand all that democracy. entails we must consider its origins.
By the late eighteenth century, America found itself independent from England; which was a welcomed change, but also brought with it, its own set of challenges. The newly formed National Government was acting under the Articles of Confederation, which established a “firm league of friendship” between the states, but did not give adequate power to run the country. To ensure the young nation could continue independently, Congress called for a Federal Convention to convene in Philadelphia to address the deficiencies in the Articles of Confederation. While the Congress only authorized the convention to revise and amend the Articles the delegates quickly set out to develop a whole new Constitution for the country. Unlike the Articles of Confederation, the new Constitution called for a national Executive, which was strongly debated by the delegates. There were forces on both sides of the issue trying to shape the office to meet their ideology. The Federalists, who sought a strong central government, favored a strong National Executive which they believed would ensure the country’s safety from both internal and external threats. The Anti Federalists preferred to have more power in the hands of the states, and therefore tried to weaken the national Executive. Throughout the convention and even after, during the ratification debates, there was a fear, by some, that the newly created office of the president would be too powerful and lean too much toward monarchy.
In creating the Constitution, the states had several different reactions, including a rather defensive reaction, but also an understanding reaction. As a document that provided the laws of the land and the rights of its people. It directs its attention to the many problems in this country; it offered quite a challenge because the document lent itself to several views and interpretations, depending upon the individual reading it. It is clear that the founders’ perspectives as white, wealthy or elite class, American citizens would play a role in the creation and implementation of The Constitution.
The American Revolution stirred political unity and motivated the need for change in the nation. Because many Americans fought for a more balanced government in the Revolutionary War, they initially created a weak national government that hampered the country's growth and expansion. In the Letter from Abigail Adams to Thomas Jefferson, Mrs. Adams complained about the inadequacy of power that the American government had to regulate domestic affairs. The Articles of Confederation was created to be weak because many had feared a similar governing experience that they had just eliminated with Britain. The alliance of states united the 13 local governments but lacked power to deal with important issues or to regulate diplomatic affairs. Congress did not have the power to tax, regulate trade, or draft people for war. This put the American citizens at stake because States had the power to refuse requests for taxes and troops (Document G). The weakened national government could not do anything about uprisings or small-scale protests because it did not have the power to put together an army. The deficiencies of the confederation government inspired the drafting of the American Constitution. The document itself embodied the principle of a national government prepared to deal with the nation's problems. In James Madison's Federalist Paper, he persuades the American public to adopt the Constitution so that the government can protect humans from their nature and keep them out of conflicts.
...y, allowing further development of the Model of the Universe. Nicholas Copernicus, introduced a new way of thinking about our Universe, by placing the Sun at the centre of the Universe. Jonannes Kepler, using Tyco Brahe's data, was able to prove Copernicus correct, although, Tyco stated that the Universe was Geocentric, his data proved to be extremely useful. Galileo Galilei, by using the new technological advancement, the 'telescope', was able to provide more solid proof for the Heliocentric model. Sir Isaac Newton, By using much more complex telescopes, was able to discover that your Solar System was just a part of our Galaxy was not alone, But part of hundreds of thousands of others that make up the Universe. Using calculus, and the light spectrum shifting, was able to determine that our Universe was expanding, later to be proven by Einstein's equation; E=mc^2.
Ernest de Sarzec (1832-1901), a French archaeologist credited for discovering proof of the Sumerian civilization made the excavations in modern-day Iraq. In 1877, evidence of earliest code of justice was found by Sarzec, issued by the Sumerian king Urukagina of Lagash ca 2300 BC. Perhaps the earliest prototype for a law of government, this document itself has not yet been discovered. Nevertheless, it allowed some rights to his citizens, for instance, it relieved tax for widows and orphans and protected the poor from the usury of the rich. Many governments ruled by special codes of written laws after that. The oldest such document still known to exist seems to be the Code of Ur-Nammu of Ur (ca2050 BC). Some of the widely known ancient codes of law include the code of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin, the code of Hammurabi of Babylonia, the Hittite code, the Assyrian code and Mosaic law.
¡§It is not Fortune¡¦s power to make a city good; that is a matter of scientific planning and deliberative policy.¡¨ Aristotle, along with most of the prominent thinkers of his time, theorized upon what the Ideal Political State would be and through what means it could be obtained. Aristotle wrote on this discussion of the Ideal State in books VII and VIII of The Politics.