Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Bill Of Rights
The hallmarks of freedom can stay a part of our democracy if the state governments don’t pass any laws that fully take away or excessively restrict rights granted by the Bill of Rights and if the people find alternative ways to exercise their rights without breaking any laws established by the federal government, specifically the Supreme Court and Congress. In “We the People: An Introduction to American Government” by Thomas Patterson, it is stated that “…individuals do not have the right to hold a public rally at a busy intersection… or the right to turn up the volume on loudspeakers …where they can be heard miles away.” (p.102). This law only takes away one specific situation where people can protest, but the people can still find other ways
After American colonialists had succeeded in over throwing British rule, the thirteen states were troubled by a complicated dilemma, an economic crisis with some calling for tax relief while others demanded stringent fiscal enforcement. Some believed that the revolution had not gone far enough, while others believed it had gone too far. The Framers who created the American Constitution took on the task of appeasing these two seemingly incongruous views. Woody Holton, in Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution, attempts to reveal how the Framers acted in favour of those who believed the Revolution had gone too far, while trying to appease the majority – American farmers – were in favour of more democracy.
Chapter One of the Book We the People talks about the American Political Culture, there are multiple main points in the chapter. However this chapter mainly talks about how people can influence their government by having the knowledge needed to understand which candidates can represent their values the best. Also by having the necessary knowledge a person can understand how the election process works and how they can be involved in this process. The other main point of the reading is about the shared believes, values and attitudes that the American people have towards their government.
In the making of the United States, there were many events that are important. This paper intends to highlight a few of those events including; Magna Carta, Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation and the Federalist Papers. Many events in America’s history helped to establish the United States as a free and independent country. The Declaration of Independence in particular explains the rights and freedoms that Americans. Each document is like a stepping stones that leads to the next and building upon the pervious document.
A great deal of bills have been written and passed as legislation under the pretense that they would better outline the citizen’ rights and ensure their freedoms. Yet occasionally these laws are created with disregard to what is stated in our Constitution. At times they distort and twist the original meaning of the work, counter acting the purpose of creating the Amendments. The intention of Amendments was to be an outline of the rights of the people. They were to ensure that there would not be a repeat of what the framers had experienced when they set out on their mission to draft a document that would govern our country for years to come. Little by little our elected officials have been discounting our Constitution. There are many resulting repercussions; the most dear to everyone being the individuals rights. The end result of these interpretations being that our people are hurt, as we are slowly being stripped of our rights as U.S. citizens.
As rational individuals, we do certain things that are beneficial towards us as we are individuals who are self interested. We can also stand up for things we believe in since we have the right. In the film “This is what democracy looks like”, we witness non-violent protestors who are protesting against the WTO and are being stripped of their right of freedom of speech and freedom of association just because the state has a problem with the type of protest that is occurring. Non-violent protestors are being arrested during the WTO meeting without a causal reason. I will argue that the state did not follow the criminal justice system’s liberal principles properly and by looking at the actions of the state against the citizens, citizens were stripped of their liberty and rights. On one hand the citizens are
The First Amendment of the United States gives citizens the five main rights to freedom. Freedom of speech is one of the rights. If people did not have the freedom of speech there would be no way of expressing one’s self and no way to show individuality between beliefs. This Amendment becomes one of the issues in the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District Supreme Court case that happened in December of 1969. In the case of Tinker v. Des Moines there were five students that got suspended for wearing armbands to protest the Government’s policy in Vietnam. Wearing these armbands was letting the students express their beliefs peacefully. Many people would consider that the school did not have the authority to suspend these petitioners because of the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.
America is a nation that is often glorified in textbooks as a nation of freedom, yet history shows a different, more radical viewpoint. In Howard Zinn’s A People's History of the United States, we take a look at American history through a different lens, one that is not focused on over glorifying our history, but giving us history through the eyes of the people. “This is a nation of inconsistencies”, as so eloquently put by Mary Elizabeth Lease highlights a nation of people who exploited and sought to keep down those who they saw as inferior, reminding us of more than just one view on a nation’s history, especially from people and a gender who have not had an easy ride.
Robert Dahl states his opinion towards the Constitution in his novel How Democratic is the American Constitution? He goes through multiple subjects such as our government compared to other countries, the framers of the constitution, and what is stated in it that can be improved or should remain unchanged. Dahl makes several intriguing cases about laws that our outdated, and things that should be changed because they might not be accurate or modern. This was an enjoyable read and on many topics Robert A. Dahl and I seem to have similar views. I believe the American Constitution is not democratic.
The scenes in creation being intellectual, the put together of constitutional democracy was very empirical. The Constitutional Convention was convened to formulate the constitution. What had to be clear was that the only way to assure a functioning constitutional democracy was the public's discussion. In philadelphia the delegates compromised. The outcome was to integrate states with large populations and states with small populations with a bicameral legislative branch. Also compromises that guaranteed say from both slave owning states and non-slave states could be listened to. The Bill of Rights
Howard Zinn’s main point in chapter one of A People’s History of the United States is that history is more accurate through the eyes of the oppressed. Zinn states that choosing to ignore the oppressed in history is “...more than technical, it is ideological” (Zinn 5). This is because in not paying attention to the subdued, one also chooses to ignore the majority of history. If the champion is the only one who gets to tell the story it is more often than not missing key details and glorified in favor of the oppressor. An example of this is Columbus’ descriptions of the Arawak people. He describes them as ignorant, naive, and even compares them to animals. In reality the Arawaks were a developed people with advanced laws and traditions. Also
The U.S. Constitution has a unique history. Facing drafts and ratifications it was finally created under the founding fathers in 1787. The constitution is the foundation for the government we have today and influences almost every decision that government officials make. However, before the constitution was influencing, it was influenced. The political, economic, and diplomatic crises of the 1780s not only helped shape America, but also the provisions found the constitution.
When the constitution of the United States was formed, the framers specifically designed the American Government structure to have checks and balances and democracy. To avoid autocracy the President was give power to preside over the executive branch of the government and as commander –in –chief, in which a clause was put into place to give the president the power to appeal any sudden attacks against America, without waiting for a vote from congress. While the president presides over the executive branch there has been ongoing debate over the role of the president in regards to foreign policy. Should foreign policy issues be an executive function by the president or should congress play a much greater role? With the sluggishness of our democracy, foreign policy issues most times need quicker response compared to how domestic policy is decided in the United States. Many believe to maintain openness and democracy both the president and congress need to agree on how the United States handles issue abroad. Although the president has been given much power, his or her power and decisions are sometimes limited based on decisions by congress and challenged and shaped by various bureaucracies throughout the government system. I shall discuss the Presidents role and the role of governmental bureaucracies (Department of Defense, Department of State and the National Security Council) that work together and sometimes not together to shape and implement American foreign Policy.
... people have an absolute right to voice their opinions and protest as long as it is done without trampling upon the legal rights of others. However, when any one, or group, attempts to violate the legal rights of others the government not only has the duty but has the Constitutional responsibility to intervene
The right to assemble, meaning any peaceful protest, anything that can be violent or in a right necessary or proper is allowed, any group is allowed to meet and carry out what they believe. The freedom of petition is much like the right to assemble, meaning any group of people are allowed to write a request that repeals a request for any cause. There are many misunderstandings of the first amendment where people and things come up against it, and the Supreme court limits the extent of the first amendment, and feels like it can be interpreted by the courts as it pleases. The federal government will only recognize citizens rights to pull the first amendment only through congress. The Federal government doesn’t see it as a way to express. They also have misconstrues about the fourteenth amendment and if it is really necessary for due process and the clause of due process.A case much like Brown vs. the board was Hazelwood school district vs. kuhlmeier. It all started over the school sponsored newspaper that was written andeditited by the students. One particular time the
After the controversial election of US President Trump, many people have been utilizing civil disobedience to express their indignation. This is shown specifically by the response to Trump’s executive order restricting immigration from certain countries affiliated with Islam. According to the Huffington Post, “Saturday [February 4, 2017] marked the third straight weekend in which Washington was the site of anti-Trump demonstrations.” The citizens who protest this do so based on their sense of what is right. They profess that power does not necessarily imply a sense of justice. This is echoed in Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”, in which he insists there are flaws with the principle of majority rule. He asserts that if the majority takes the rest of the country in the wrong direction, there must be action by the minority to correct it. This is when civil disobedience becomes necessary to secure