Unit I: The American System: Constitutional Underpinnings ...



Unit I: The American System: Constitutional Underpinnings of American Government & Political Beliefs & Behaviors (chapters 1-4)

Content Goals:

You will understand the philosophy and historical background of the Constitution. Key principles will be presented, such as federalism and separation of powers, the ideological and philosophical underpinnings of American government, and theories informing interpretations of the Constitution including democratic theory, republicanism, pluralism and elitism.

You will learn to distinguish between different types of democracies, understanding that the Framers of the Constitution intended that the United States be a representative democracy in which the power to make decisions would be determined by a free and competitive struggle for the citizens’ votes. You will also understand that the Framers’ challenge was to create a system in which protecting liberty and preserving order would both be accomplished by a government based on a written constitution which combined the principles of popular consent, separation of powers and federalism.

A key to understanding the American system will be to recognize the fact that the United States’ system of government is supported by a political culture that fosters a sense of civic duty, takes pride in the nation’s constitutional arrangements and provides support for the exercise of essential civil liberties. A brief comparison between our system and other countries’ democracies will reveal that our culture encourages the vigorous exercise of rights and claims, and that unlike the Japanese or the Swedes, Americans do not generally reach political decisions by consensus; further, we often do not defer to the authority of administrative agencies. United States politics, more than those of many other nations, has protracted conflict at every stage, and understanding how our system manages that conflict will be a recurring theme.

Evaluation:

Short-answer questions:

• Distinguish among the concepts of power, authority, and legitimacy.

• Discuss the reasons the Framers favored representative democracy over direct democracy.

• Compare and contrast the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan, and explain how the Great Compromise settled the differences.

• Discuss four reasons why federal money historically has seemed to be attractive to state and local officials.

• In three sentences, cite the two fundamental questions that the Supreme Court answered in handing down its decision in McCulloch v. Maryland, and explain the impact this decision had on the development of the federal system.

• Define liberal and conservative in terms of the priority each places on government involvement in social affairs and economic affairs.

Long-essay Questions (answer one from each group):

• Group 1

a. It has been said that the American Revolution was initially about liberty, not equality, although recent perceptions suggest equality is equally important, particularly in the political realm.

▪ Explain how liberty and equality are defined both politically and economically.

▪ Defend or reject the notion that separate institutions sharing power have protected liberty and promoted equality, just as the Framers envisioned it would.

b. Federalism is the relationship between the federal government and the states. While some elements of this relationship were made relatively clear in the Constitution—Articles IV (rules governing how states deal with one another) and VI (the supremacy clause)—others were not:

▪ Analyze how each of the following examples helps to explain which level of government holds sway:

▪ McCulloch v. Maryland (1816)

▪ Grants-in-aid

▪ Police power

▪ Summarize the states’ preferences for block grants over categorical grants.

▪ Describe two ways in which federalism helps limit government power.

c. The U.S. political culture is defined as a “distinctive and patterned way of thinking about how political and economic life ought to be carried out.”

▪ Describe cultural differences between the U.S. and other countries, particularly Sweden and Japan, with regard to political and economic systems and the civic role of religion.

▪ Assess the degree to which the American public possesses a sense of political efficacy—to what extent have Americans come to mistrust government?

▪ Assess to what extent a “culture war” exists in the U.S.

• Group 2:

a. The U.S. Constitution is based on a particular view of human nature.

▪ Examine how that view influenced the structure of the government.

▪ Explain how Madison’s ideas about the structure of government, expressed in the following passage from Federalist #51, would preserve both liberty and equality: “In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.”

b. The text leaves open the question of whether the U.S. Constitution created a system of government that truly respects liberty.

▪ How did our “federal” system tend to be less democratic than the Antifederalists’ idea of a “confederal system?”

▪ Describe specific instances in which the U.S. Constitution cut back on democracy and curtailed the power of the people to influence decisions—e.g., argue that the U.S. Constitution was designed to limit democracy and individual liberty.

c. Hamilton argued that society operated more efficiently if government power was centralized, while Jefferson preferred a less efficient, yet more democratic arrangement. Somewhere in the middle was Madison’s notion of federalism. What reasons exist for continuing federalism in its current form? In other words, defend a federal system of government.

▪ Use Madison ‘s examples about human nature in Federalist #51 to explain why he was right and Hamilton and Jefferson were wrong:

▪ Explain why the Articles of Confederation did not work

Unit I Assignment:

On the day of the essay exam, you will be required to turn in outlines of answers to the following questions.

Chapter 1: The Study of American Government

1. Summarize the meanings the text gives to the word democracy, and describe what sort of democracy the government of the United States was designed to be.

2. Analyze the difference between power in general and political power. Give examples of both.

3. Discuss the Framers' view of the "will of the people," and why they favored representative government over direct democracy.

Chapter 2: The Constitution

1. Show how the experience with problems created by the Articles of Confederation led to the creation of a stronger form of government under the Constitution.

2. Review Madison's argument that liberty could be protected better in an "extended republic" than in a series of small democracies. State why you find his argument persuasive or not.

3. Summarize whether you agree or disagree with those proponents of constitutional reforms who argue that this country suffers from an excess of democracy.

Chapter 3: Federalism

1. Given the changes that have occurred in federalism in practice over the past two centuries, assess whether federalism today still serves the purposes for which it was designed.

2. Historically, power has flowed to the central government. Review the reasons for the states to continue exercising the relatively independent power federalism gives them.

3. Given the Supreme Court’s decision in McCulloch, what prevents the central government from assuming legal authority over any area of public policy?

Chapter 4: American Political Culture

1. List some of the more interesting ways in which American civic culture differs from that in France, Italy, Sweden, or Japan.

2. Summarize the reasons why the United States is perhaps the only sizable industrial country in the world that does not have a socialist party as a major competitor for power.

3. Explain what is meant by the different sorts of political efficacy and relate these to your own feelings as a citizen.

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