American Gov

Long ballot

A ballot that lists all candidates, for all positions, from all political parties, available to a specific voting district. Decision fatigue

Federalism

A political system in which regional governments share power with a central or national government, but each level of government has legal powers that are independent of the other. This division of power between the national and state governments attempts to balance power by giving independent sources of authority to each and allowing one level of government to serve as a check on the other. • Advantages to federalism o Dispersal of power: states accountable to their own citizens rather than to national gov. States are partners with federal gov to prevent federal gov from gaining too much power and threatening the rights of citizens. o Accommodates diverse interests: with power granted to states, local interests are represented. o Policy experimentation... states as "laboratories of democracy": public policy experimentation provides important lessons for other states and the national gov. • Disadvantages to federalism o Exacerbate factionalism: nation's history to replete with examples of dominate factions appropriating the power of state and local govs and denying minority groups equal rights o Complexity and inefficiency: variation in state laws (speed limits, drinking ages) o Accountability:variation makes it harder for the citizen to hold government accountable • Confederation: A political system in which the central government receives no direct grant of power from the people and can exercise only the power granted to it by the regional governments. • Unitary system: A political system in which the power is concentrated in the national government, and the regional governments can exercise only those powers granted them by the federal government. • Dual federalism: both fed & states independent sovereign powers • Cooperative federalism: sovereignty overlaps • Fiscal federalism in justice, education, employment, transportation, income security • Nullification: declaring fed law void. Settled by Civil War. • New Federalism: Movement to take power away from Fed gov't

Bush v. Gore (2000)

Facts: December 2000 every county in Florida was ordered to manually recount all "under-votes" (ballots which did not indicate a vote for president) because there were enough contested ballots to place the outcome of the election in doubt. • By 1920, 75% of country denied ex-felons right to vote. Florida election officials before 2000could purge voter if 70% match with felon list, could be tagged as felon even if middle initials, suffixes, nicknames didn't match. NAACP sued Florida for violating VRA, 12,000 voters denied vote because were "felons'. Bush won by 537 votes • Hanging chads (incompletely punched paper ballots), pregnant chads (ballots dimpled not pierced), over votes (ballots recorded multiple times), and undervote (ballots that reported no vote). Butterfly ballots (confusion- Thousands of Jews "voted" for Pat Buchannan). Thousands of voters wrongfully purged from rolls, disproportionally black, was "most consequential and least discussed" of problems. Issue: Did the Florida Supreme Court violate Article II Section 1 Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution by making new election law? Do standardless manual recounts violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Constitution? Decision: Noting that the Equal Protection clause (14thamendment) guarantees individuals that their ballots cannot be devalued by "later arbitrary and disparate treatment," the court held that the recounting ballots was unconstitutional (5-4). Even if the recount was fair in theory, it was unfair in practice. The record suggested that different standards were applied from ballot to ballot, precinct to precinct, and county to county. The Florida decision was fundamentally right; the Constitution requires that every vote be counted. Real story of election is disenfranchisement, not close contest (punish voter fraud, not disenfranchisement). Too late to remedy Fl. SC halts recounts in FL, giving victory to Bush

Federalists vs Anti-federalist

Federalists • Wanted to ratify the Constitution, felt bill of rights wasn't necessary. Compromised and allowed both • Merchants & manufacturers in cities, large slave landholders, creditors • Led by Hamilton. Along with Washington, Madisonpublished Federalist Papers Anti-Federalists: • Did not want to ratify the Constitution, wanted Bill of Rights to not put people at risk of oppression • Small farmers, artisans, local merchants, debtors. Thomas Jefferson • Many leaders not well remembered by history • Richard Lee, Patrick Henry, George Clinton • Responsible for including Bill of Rights (1st10 amendments)

Shelby County v. Holder (2013)

Issue: Challenging the constitutionality of both section 4b and 5 • Section 4(b) defines the eligible districts as ones that had a voting test in place as of 1964 and less than 50% turnout for the 1964 presidential election. Such districts must prove to the Attorney General or a three-judge panel of a Washington, D.C. district court that the change "neither has the purpose nor will have the effect" of negatively impacting any individual's right to vote based on race or minority status. • Section 5 is preclearance requiring all major voting systems changes to be approved by the Justice Department or a federal court Holding:Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional; its formula can no longer be used as a basis for subjecting jurisdictions to preclearance.

Southern Strategy

Nixon invented in 1968, a Republican party electoral strategy to increase political support among white voters in the South by appealing to racism against African Americans... Trumps racist ways with lack of strategy

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams in the 1800 presidential election. Before Jefferson took office on March 4, 1801, Adams and Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1801, which created new courts, added judges, and gave the president more control over appointment of judges. The Act was essentially an attempt by Adams and his party to frustrate his successor, as he used the act to appoint 16 new circuit judges and 42 new justices of the peace. The appointees were approved by the Senate, but they would not be valid until their commissions were delivered by the Secretary of State. What is the issue? • Lame-duck Adams appoints judges, new president Jefferson refuses to pay them. Marbury sues. • Do the plaintiffs have a right to receive their commissions? • Can they sue for their commissions in court? • Does the Supreme Court have the authority to order the delivery of their commissions? What did the court say? • Marbury had right to commission. But Judicial Act itself unconstitutional (it had no special jurisdiction to dispense funds). However, case makes clear that courts have power to determine the constitutionality of acts of Congress, and has final say. • No middle ground: "The Constitution is either a superior, paramount law, unchangeable by ordinary means, or it is on a level with ordinary legislative acts, and like other acts, is alterable when the legislature shall please to alter it." • "It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases must, of necessity, expound and interpret that rule. If two laws conflict... the Courts must decide the operation of each." • "The greatest improvement on political institutions - a written constitution." Why is it important? • In so holding, Marshall established the principle of judicial review, and it allowed the Supreme Court to rule laws unconstitutional.

Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2002)

What is the issue? • After 9/11, Yasir Hamdi, an American of Saudi descent was detained as an "enemy combatant." Hamdi challenged his indefinite detention claiming the "great writ" of habeus corpus. • Did the government violate Hamdi's Fifth Amendment right to Due Process by holding him indefinitely, without access to an attorney, based solely on an Executive Branch declaration that he was an "enemy combatant" who fought against the United States? Yes • Does the separation of powers doctrine require federal courts to defer to Executive Branch determinations that an American citizen is an "enemy combatant"? No What did the court say? • Hamdi has due process rights, can challenge charge of "enemy combatant" in court • Though President is commander in chief, does not have blank check to infringe rights of American citizens • Sandra Day O'Connor: "Striking the proper constitutional balance her is of great importance to the nation during this period of ongoing combat. But it is equally vital that our calculus not give short shrift to the values that this country holds dear or to the privilege that is American citizenship." • But what if one is not an American citizen? What about "enemy combatants" held indefinitely in, say, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? Why is this important? • Recognized the power of the U.S. government to detain enemy combatants, including U.S. citizens, but ruled that detainees who are U.S. citizens must have the rights of due process, and the ability to challenge their enemy combatant

Cooper v. Aaron (1958)

What is the issue? • After Brown v. Board of Ed (1954), federal troops in Arkansas protected black students until the end of the year. Then, gov. requests a 2.5-year postponement, citing the chaos and disruption of the situation. • Were Arkansas officials bound by federal court orders mandating desegregation? What did the court say? • Unanimous decision (and all justices signed name to opinion), postponement was unconstitutional. • Can't cite "law and order" (violence) as a reason to deny people rights • 14thAmendment of equal protection of the laws Why is it important? • Establishing previously made decision

McColloch v. Maryland (1819)

What is the issue? • Maryland tries to tax a federal bank • Did Congress have the authority to establish the bank? • Did the Maryland law unconstitutionally interfere with congressional powers? What did the court say? • The Court held that Congress had the power to incorporate the bank and that Maryland could not tax instruments of the national government employed in the execution of constitutional powers. • Power only that which is "necessary & proper" for execution of laws Why is it important? • Pursuant to the Necessary and Proper Clause, Congress possessed powers not explicitly outlined in the U.S. Constitution. Marshall redefined "necessary" to mean "appropriate and legitimate," covering all methods for furthering objectives covered by the enumerated powers. Marshall also held that while the states retained the power of taxation, the Constitution and the laws made in pursuance thereof are supreme and cannot be controlled by the states. • Expansion of federal government activities through the use of implied power

U.S. v. Nixon (1974)

What was the issue? • After illegal break-ins by re-election committee, court orders Nixon to release tapes of conversations of Watergate. Nixon refuses, citing "executive privilege"- the right to withhold information to preserve confidential communications or to secure the national interest. • Is the President's right to safeguard certain information, using his "executive privilege" confidentiality power, entirely immune from judicial review? No What did the court say? • Executive privilege doesn't apply in this case- absent of a claim to protect military, diplomatic, or sensitive national security secrets Why is it important? • 3 articles of impeachment against President Nixon. The evidence on the tapes was critical to the impending House impeachment proceedings against Nixon. • Was clear Nixon involved in illegal acts, he resigned under threat of impeachment.

Representative democracy

a system of government where ordinary citizens do not make governmental decisions themselves but choose public officials- representatives of the people- to make decisions for them. Liberal democracy- representative democracy that has a particular concern for individual liberty

Revolution

a forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favor of a new system. • Gains political independence, republican government, a rhetoric of equality, and, perhaps in some indirect but visceral way, us.

Direct democracy

a form of democracy in which ordinary citizens, rather than representatives, collectively make government decisions. Initiative- an election in which ordinary citizens circulate a petition to put a proposed law on the ballot for the voters to approve. Referendum- an election in which state legislature refers a proposed law to the voters for their approval... requires citizen to understand government and politics to be informed of the issues on which they vote

Democracy

a form of government in which all the citizens have the opportunity to participate in the process of making authoritative decisions and allocating resources

Oligarchy

a form of government in which the power to make authoritative decisions and allocate resources is vested in a small group of people

Autocracy

a form of government in which the power to make authoritative decisions and allocate resources is vested in one person

Two party system

a political system in which only two political parties have a realistic chance of controlling the major offices of government • Contrasts between two groups is exaggerated • Middle political runners are harder for citizens to differentiate between

Republic

a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.

Political science

academic study of gov't, institutions, processes & behavior • Key Q's: Who has power? Is it broadly shared? What determines power? How do class, ethnicity, or will of people play a role? Who votes? What is ideology? What is political orientation and how is it determined? • Largely descriptive

Electorate

all people in a country who are entitled to vote in an election(after age 18 for US)

Consent

consent of the governed confers political legitimacy • No one can be put out of this estate and subjected to the political power of another without his own consent • When a political authority fails to secure consent or oversteps the boundaries of the natural law, it ceases to be legitimate and, therefore, there is no longer an obligation to obey its commands. • Consent of those governed is a necessary condition for the legitimacy of political authority; consent is not directly a condition for legitimacy, but the conditions for the legitimacy of authority are such that only political authority that enjoys the consent of those governed can meet them; the conditions of legitimate political authority are such that those governed by that authority are under an obligation to consent.

"ordering the world with words":

different interpretations of the words, debate over adding/revising the words. Founding father's influence in creating of constitution, treaties, laws, bill of rights

Gerrymandering

drawing district lines in such a way as to help or hinder the electoral prospects of a specific political interest. Representatives pick the voters • Advanced computation has made it a science (districting become more extreme). You concentrate opposing voters in a few districts where you lose big and win the rest by modest margins. • The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled 5-4 that Federal courts are powerless to hear challenges to partisan gerrymandering(state governments should look at it). Dissent saying that free and fair elections are important foundations • Outlier detection is a critical part of data analysis, you can use it to detect and measure that mischief. It's math versus math, with democracy at stake. • "Federal judges have no license to reallocate political power between the two major political parties, with no plausible grant of authority in the Constitution and no legal standards to limit and direct their decisions," Chief Justice Roberts wrote. • Redistrict after census • A growing number of states wisely have followed Washington state to create independent commissions to draw up maps with minimal political interest. • It goes against everything we believe in a democracy, which is that the person who gets the most votes should be the person who's holding office.

Party coalitions

form of government in which political parties cooperate, reducing the dominance of any one party within that coalition. No single political party. Likely to occur during a crisis such as war. Members are appointed by the cabinet.

Civil liberties

freedoms enjoyed by people in democratic society, Bill of Rights. Subject to laws established for the good of the community • Nothing is absolute, including first liberty: freedom of speech Freedom of Religion- Establishment clause. Free exercise of religion, separation of church and state Freedom of Expression • Absolutist approach: no lawrestricting speech • Preferred freedoms doctrine: some rights more imp't than others • Balancing test: balance speech with impact on society • "Clear and present danger test": whether speech incites violence • Texas v Johnson (1989): burning flag form of expression • Obscenity... very difficult to determine • Can't regulate pornography on internet; can restrict on public library computers. • Slander: make false/defamatory oral statements • libel: do same in print/media Right to privacy- Not in Constitution, but rulings in last 50 years defend privacy • Griswold v Conn (1965): can't prohibit contraceptives by married couples • Eisenstadt v Baird (1972): can't prevent birth control info • Roe v Wade (1973): strike down laws on abortion • Miller v US (1976): right to privacy in bank accounts • US v Jones (2012): police can't use GPS tracking devices • Lawrence v TX (2003): strike down law against homosexuality Criminal Procedure • Exclusionary rule: evidence obtained from unreasonable search not admissible • Weeks v US (1914): for federal trials • Mapp v Ohio (1961): for state trials • Good faith exception: evidence OK if officer thought was reasonable search • Gideon v Wainright (1963): right to counsel for poor • Miranda v Arizona (1966): right against self-incrimination • Gregg v GA (1976): death pen. not (by itself) cruel or unusual

Coercion

governments key power, use of force or intimidation to obtain compliance. States enforcement of laws

Political equality

individual preferences should be given equal weight, equality under the law, social equality (no class barriers or discrimination), economic equality, equality of opportunity.

Normative political science

moral evaluation of political life according to political values like justice, freedom, and equality • Key Q's: What is the best form of government? What is legitimate use of power? What is human nature? Can it be changed? Do we have fundamental rights? What is the relationship between the individual and the community? How can we distinguish private from public interest? Can democracy support revolutionary change? • Descriptiveand prescriptive

Approval polls

percentage determined by a polling which indicates the percentage of respondents to an opinion poll who approve of particular person or program. Trumps approval was never above 44%, a historical low (improvement on economy and jobs)

Executive model (weak v. strong)

person or group that has administrative and supervisory responsibilities in an organization or government • Weak-executive model: model of the presidency in which the executive would have a limited term, would have no veto power, and would be allowed to exercise only the authority explicitly granted by Congress • Strong-executive model: model of the presidency in which the power of the executive office is significant and independent from Congress

Monarchy

political system based upon the undivided sovereignty or rule of a single person

Unilateral presidential powers

presidential directive that carry the weight of law even though they have not been formally endorsed by Congress • Executive orders: directives of the president that have the same weight as law and are not voted on by congress • Signing statements: pronouncements of how the president intends to interpret and apply a law when he signs a bill into law • National security directives: a type of executive order with the force of law authorizing federal agencies or officials to take some action to protect national security

Politics

process of binding decisions about who gets what or whose values everyone is going to live by Laswell definition: Who gets what, when, and how. Why might political theorists dislike this definition? Easton definition: The authoritative allocation of values

Partisanship

psychological attachment to a political party • The real solution is to amend our constitution's mechanism for Supreme Court appointments and switch to a system less prone to partisanship. We can look for ideas in other countries that wrote their constitutions later than our 1787 version • Changes like these would require a constitutional amendment. People on both sides of the political spectrum claim to support a nonpoliticized Supreme Court, and back-and-forth court packing is in no one's interest. The American public, and even elected leaders, just might be willing to get behind a federal judicial appointment process based on successful approaches used around the globe. • Broadly, Republicans represent the conservative and Democrats the liberal

Aristocracy

puts power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class. "ruling of the best" royal families

Confirmation bias / disconfirmation bias

tendency to dismiss or denigrate information contrary to their own political beliefs, and also an attitude congruency bias, or the tendency to uncritically accept information that supports their political beliefs

Separation of powers

the idea that each branch of government is authorized to carry out a separate part of the political process. The legislature makes the laws, the executive implements them, and the judiciary interprets them. Dependent on each other and use check and balance

Popular sovereignty

the idea that the highest political authority in a democracy is the will of the people · More equitable and just · How is this best determined? · Three core principles o Majority rule- government follows the course of action preferred by most people. Absolute majority, 50% plus one of all eligible citizens, or simple majority, 50% plus one of those who actually vote. Plurality- the largest percentage of a vote, when no one has a majority o Political freedom- the necessary ingredients for political freedom are the right to criticize governmental leaders and policies, the right to propose new course of government action, the right to form and join interest groups, the right of citizens to seek and hold public office. Basic guarantee of individual liberty o Political equality- individual preferences should be given equal weight, equality under the law, social equality (no class barriers or discrimination), economic equality, equality of opportunity.

Government

the institution that has the authority to make binding decision for all of society (oligarchy, aristocracy, monarchy, democracy)

Political freedom

the necessary ingredients for political freedom are the right to criticize governmental leaders and policies, the right to propose new course of government action, the right to form and join interest groups, the right of citizens to seek and hold public office. Basic guarantee of individual liberty

Rule of law

the principle that all people and institutions are subject to and accountable to law that is fairly applied and enforced; the principle of government by law. • Accountability- under the law • Just laws- clear, publicized, and stable; applied evenly; and protect fundamental rights, including the security of persons and contract, property, and human rights • Open government- process by which the laws are enacted, administered, and enforced are accessible, fair, and efficient • Accessible and impartial dispute resolution- justice is delivered timely by competent, ethical, and independent representatives and neutrals who are accessible, have adequate resources, and reflect the makeup of the communities they serve

Pre-clearance

the process of seeking U.S. Department of Justice approval for all changes related to votingin 16 states

Instant run off voting (IRV)

type of ranked preferential voting method, rank candidates in order of preference. Useful if decision comes down to candidates that individual did not vote for

USA as an Empire

· Without an understanding of empire, Americans may see events elsewhere—a caravan of Central American migrants heading through Mexico, let's say—as foreign threats, rather than as a consequence of the global distribution of power and violence, as something shaped by the history and politics of the United States. · Started in 1898 with the Spanish-American war, then began expanding throughout its history at the expense of others

Frederick Douglass

· Abolitionist leader, born into slavery. Lectured to thousands on a range of causes · "No nation can now shut itself up, from the surrounding world, and trot round in the same old path of its fathers, without interference. The time was when such could be done... But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind... Oceans no longer divide but link nations together... The far off and almost fabulous Pacific rolls in grandeur at our feet... No abuse, no outrage whether in taste, sport or avarice, can now hide itself from the all-pervading light." · "The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn." · "For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced." · I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common.— The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sun light that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn · America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. · What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. · guaranteed and sanctioned by the Constitution of the United States; that, the right to hold, and to hunt slaves is a part of that Constitution framed by the illustrious Fathers of this Republic. · Hypocritical to say justice when some populations aren't free (focused on slavery but goes beyond that)

Populist

· Coined in the 1890s, when needed a convenient nounto identify members of the new People's Party. Then, as now, populists claimed to act in the name of ordinary Americans against an exploitative elite. · Bernie uses it against "billionaire class" · Trump uses it "the forgotten man and woman" · Today, a populist might be socialist or conservative, tolerant or nativist, egalitarian or racist (Elizabeth Warren, Ross Perot, and Hugo Chávez have all earned the moniker). It can describe a coherent political program, or a mere affectation, such as dropping one's g's and conspicuously owning a pickup truck. · Populism is something you do, not something you are, and even levelheaded centrists do it. The real question, then, isn't whether a candidate or thinker is populist, but what the consequences of his or her populism are. Whose version of "the people" do you want to empower? And whose version of "the elite" do you seek to suppress?

College/education

· Colleges in 19thcentury focused on moral education Before WW2 emphasized science After WW2 employed general education & common culture Since 1980's = community service · This is not enough. Colleges have become too specialized. Students on narrow, instrumental path toward future jobs. Training in civic life often non-existent. This is impacting our democracy in deep ways.

FDR 4 Freedoms

· Freedom of speech, worship, want, fear · 1941 State of Union Speech · Goes well beyond typical discussion of rights in Bill of Rights. Also includes discussion of benefits of democracy, economic opportunity, employment, social security, adequate health care.

Plurality v. majority (of vote)

• Plurality vote: the largest percentage of a vote when no one has majority • Majority rule: the principle under which government follows the course of action preferred by most people

Civil dialogue (Carter)

• "Civic dialogue over differences is democracy's true engine: we must disagree in order to debate, and we must debate in order to decide, and we must decide in order to move" • Rule #1. Assume disagreement, resolve respectfully. Rule #2- listen to others with possibly that they are right, and we are wrong • Employ a rhetoric of silencing, trying to deter opposition, perhaps so that we will not have to spend energy refuting it. The more certain we are of our rightness, the less interested we seem to be in debate. Need to be prepared to listen, learn how to listen • Those we disagree with us may have been misguided or made an error. If they are, the errors may be correctable through explaining the error of their ways. All too often, we enter dialogue with our opponents by listening with our mouths rather than our ears- that is, we listen only for the flaws, awaiting our chance to refute. We begin our listening with the certainty that our opponents have it all wrong. Confrontational listening signals others that they are not worthy of your respect. True listening (civic listening) signals your belief in the equality of all people, because it treats them as equal, even if you dislike their views. Ruins the risk that the other person might be right, instead of changing their mind you change yours.

Founding fathers & mothers (value of / controversy about)

• "If we meet the founding fathers' eye to eye instead of gazing reverently upward or sneering contemptuously downward, perhaps we can form a more pragmatic sense of who they were, what they did and failed to do, and why we care." • "Founding fathers" wasn't used until 1916. Struggled with firstness, connectedness to history, maintaining independence • Two groups: Signers & Framers (Those for and against Constitution, militia, members of state houses that ratified C) • 8, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, • Found Mothers: Abagail Adams, Mercy Warren, Deborah Sampson • FF a political elite, but not as class bound as other countries • "Seeking to order the world with words"- Constitutions, bills of rights, treaties, laws • "We ought to treat their wisdom as a resource on which to draw in solving puzzles posed by the operation of the Constitution and by attempts to apply its principles and provisions to new problems and controversies. At the same time, thought we may want to start with the FF, we should not stop there - and they themselves would counsel us not to stop there."

Federalist Papers

• 85 political essays published in newspapers written by James Madison (wrote 30), Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay with the intent to persuade New Yorkers to ratify the proposed Constitution in the first few years of our country starting in 1788. The constitution was ratified the next year • Theory behind constitution. Liberty strongest theme, yet recognition that liberty unchecked leads to problems • Single best source for understanding the justifications for the political institutions and processes the Constitution established

Factions

• A number of citizens who are unified and motivated by some common interest, adverse to the right of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interest of the community • Most critical issue for Constitution: control violence of faction • There are two methods of curing the mischiefs of faction: one, by removing its causes; the other, by controlling its effects.Most common source has been unequal distribution of property • The inference to which we are brought is, that the causesof faction cannot be removed, and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its effects.

Freedom of speech (and limitations)

• Absolutist approach: the view of the First amendment that states that the Founders wanted it to be interpreted literally so what Congress should make "no laws" about the expression of view • Preferred freedoms doctrine: the idea that the rights provided in the First amendment are fundamental and as such the courts have a greater obligation to protect those rights than others • Balance test: view of freedom of expression that states the obligation to protect rights must be balanced with the impact on society of the action in question • Clear and present danger test: whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the • substantive evils • Bad tendency rule • Unprotected speech o Obscenity o Libel and slander- false statements made in person or in media

Voting Rights Act 1965 (as remedy for racial discrimination vis a vis voting)

• Act authorizing the fed gov to ensure the eligible voters were not denied access to the ballot, actively protecting the fifteenth amendments promise of voting rights for African Americans. Eliminated literacy tests, poll taxes & other discriminatory barriers • Targeted Jim Crows laws- laws designed to prevent African American's from voting • After 1964 Civil Rights Act, MLK agitates for national Voting Rights Act • Formula: where less than 50% of registered voters voted • Forced states with worst history of discrimination to "pre-clear" any future changes with federal government, remained controversial until 2013, when removed • Want to make burden of proof on federal gov't, not states and to make courts get involved (which is slow) • Critics of VRA make "equality" argument, which will last for 50 years • Becomes crown jewel of civil rights legislation. 100 years after civil war • Black registration up from 31 to 73%. Represt. in Congress from 5 to 44. Black elected officials 500 to 10,500 nationwide

Freedom of religion (and limitations)

• Article VI prohibits the use of a religious test as a requirement for public office • First amendment mandates that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"... establishment clause- government cannot establish a religion. Free exercise of religion • Cases of state law, school district, or public official sanctioning or supporting some form of religious expression, belief, or activity. Courts rule that religious content favors a particular belief system and is prohibited under first amendments establishment clause (morning prayer, religious prayer poster) • Using public money for education is controversial due to the basis that religious schools play in a democratic society. Using tax money on education is causing parochial parents to spend money on education twice. Public schools have diversity of religions, difference of ethnicity and socioeconomic background • Banned mandatory prayer in public schools in 1962

WA has most regressive tax system in country

• Based on sales tax(no income tax) • Sales tax burden for poorest residents: 16.8% • For richest residents: 2.4% • State options? Capital gains tax pushed by Gov. Inslee • State law: Republicans in 2015 tried to make a 2/3 majority in state Senate a threshold • Didn't pass Constitution muster

Need for middle class

• Contemporary inequality will destroy the Constitution because it is premised on a thriving middle class. • Ancient political theory of divide b/w rich and poor § Rich rule in own interests § Poor rise up and take what the rich have § Neither outcome is democratic or stable • Rich are getting too rich, need to change in taxes • Sitaraman reviews many possible correctives, including redistribution to reduce inequality; better enforcement of antitrust laws; campaign finance reform to break the dependence of legislators on deep pockets; compulsory voting; and restrictions on lobbying, including the possibility of "public defender" lobbyists to act on behalf of the people. I would add the creation of a single-payer health system..."

Election interference (examples)

• Def Con hacker conference, in Las Vegas, she addressed an event called the Voting Village—a staged attack on voting machines. Four voting machines had been secured for the event, three of them types still in use. One team of hackers used radio signals to eavesdrop on a machine as it recorded votes. Another found a master password online. Within hours of getting their hands on the machines, the hackers had discovered vulnerabilities in all four. • Russia's efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election, attempts to meddle with the electoral process in 21 states.Evidence has yet to emerge that Russia successfully manipulated voting systems, and most of Russia's probing appears to have been aimed at databases of registered voters, not the machines that record votes. • Paper voting isinvulnerable to hacking. By Verified Voting's count, 13 states still have paperless voting. • All 50 states use computerized scanners for vote counting—few of them with sufficient postelection auditing to detect manipulation. • Florida site of major problems in 2000 election. SC halts recounts in FL, giving victory to Bush. Hanging chads, pregnant chads. Butterfly ballots. Thousands of voters wrongfully purged from rolls, disproportionally black, was "most consequential and least discussed" of problems. NAACP sued Florida for violating VRA, 12,000 voters denied vote because were "felons'. Bush won by 537 votes • Facebook revealed that hundreds of Russia-based accounts had run anti-Hillary Clinton ads precisely aimed at Facebook users whose demographic profiles implied a vulnerability to political propaganda. It will take time to prove whether the account owners had any relationship with the Russian government, but one thing is clear: Facebook has contributed to, and profited from, the erosion of democratic norms in the United States and elsewhere

Democratic culture (Tocqueville)

• Democracy frees common people. Importance of educating citizen in self-government and rule of law • Equality good, but can = mediocrity o Conformity and rule by majorities o Problem of individualism • Phenomenon of democratic despotism o Popular sovereignty can authorize domination • Civic virtue improves through "habits of heart". Participation (town halls, jury duty). Concern about setting of politics(need a civic infrastructure, places and institutions where citizens can interact and socialize). Politics as spectator sport is deeply troubling • "To evade the bondage of system and habit, of family maxims, class opinions, and, in some degree, of national prejudices; to accept tradition only as a means of information, an existing facts only as a lesson to be used in doing otherwise and doing better; to seek the reason of things for oneself and in oneself alone; and to strike through the form to the substance - such (is) the philosophical method of Americans." • Tocqueville claims that "everyone shuts himself up tightly within himself and insists on judging the world from there." What are the benefits and drawbacks of "appealing only to one's own individual understanding"? • "Men are no longer bound together by ideas, but by interests." • Without ideas in common, it is difficult to have common action • Since it is impossible for individuals to subject everything (facts, opinions) to individual scrutiny, Tocqueville thinks that in democracies "public opinion" - especially that of the majority - comes to have a ruling authority. "The public, therefore... has a singular power, which aristocratic nations cannot conceive."

Party affiliation

• Do you consider yourself a Democrat, Republican, or Independent? • Party identification is affiliation with a political party, a party in which the individual most commonly supports

Canada voting

• Elections Canadais a nonpartisan organization that sets the district boundaries and establishes how and where people vote. There is no political interference in this process. • Gerrymandering never happens and people (even homeless people) can easily exercise their right to vote. • Novoting machines, you get a piece of paper with a bunch of names and put an X in the box of your chosen candidate • Usually know the results of the election within an hour of the polls closing on the west coast.

Voter suppression (examples)

• Florida one of 8 states that prevented ex-felons from voting. In 1998, 58,000 voters purged from voting rolls. 44% on list African-American (15% of voters in state). List riddled with errors. By 1920, 75% of country denied ex-felons right to vote • 2004 Georgia introduces voter ID law because of voter fraud. Sponsor of bill falsely claims that 9/11 hijackers registered to vote, no specific instance of fraud given. Before, Georgians could use 17 forms of ID to vote. Now, only 6 kinds ok. Blacks 5x more likely to not drive. Only 56 of 159 counties issued state IDs, those that do started charging 35$ • Violence against black voters, literacy tests, poll taxes, residency requirement. Jim Crow laws, state laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern US. • Selma (Dallas County): literacy test = name all 67 county judges in Alabama. 2% of black voters in Selma registered. Judge bans any meeting of 3 or more black people in Selma • Women couldn't even vote until 1920. States worked hard to suppress the votes of African American and immigrant women, imposing poll taxes and literacy tests. Beyond those explicit barriers, there were internal ones: It took a long time for many women to disentangle their own views from those of their husbands and begin voting in line with their own convictions—not to mention their own gender interests.

Bill of Rights

• Guaranteed set of civil liberties • First 10 amendments to the Constitution, written by James Madison - freedom of religion, expression, right to privacy, criminal procedure, • Amendment 1- Free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of press, right to assemble, right to petition the government Amendment 2- right to bear arms • Amendment 3- soldiers not allowed to enter one's house • Amendment 4- unreasonable searchers • Amendment 5- due process, just compensation in private property taking • Amendment 6- speedy and public trial • Amendment 7- jury trial for civil cases in the federal courts • Amendment 8- cruel and unusual punishment • Amendment 9- certain rights should not deny other rights • Amendment 10- powers not delegated by the Constitution are given to the states

Independent judiciary

• Hamilton claimed that only an independent judicial branch of government would be able to impartially check an excessive exercise of power by the other branches of government. Thus, the judiciary guards the rule of law in a constitutional democracy. • the ability of courtsand judges to perform their duties free of influence or control by other actors, whether governmental or private

Electoral College

• Institution (whose members are selected by whatever means the state legislature choose) that is responsible for selecting the president of the US. Count state electoral votes rather than national popular vote • Violates the core democratic principle of political equality and has the potential to violate the majority rule • Despite more than 700 proposals for amendments to reform or abolish, it has remained. Has survived not because it makes sense, but because one party or the other has believed it gives them an advantage. • The winner-take-all rule exists nowhere in the Constitution,it's a creationbythe states.Rule encourages campaigns to focus on closely divided battleground states, creating presidents out of popular-vote losers, like George Bush and Donald Trump(violates political equality and majority rule by erasing individual votes in minority). States have near-total authority over electors by congressional districts • Could award them to the candidate who wins the most votes nationwide, regardless of the state outcome • Critics say that relying on the popular vote would allow the presidency to be decided by the big cities on the coasts, but big cities don't come close to having enough votes to swing a national election • Federal appeals court rulingallowing "electors" to vote for whomever they want, rather than the candidate they were pledged to support. • Proportional plan- to revise such that the number of electoral college votes given to candidate would be based on the proportion of the popular vote they obtained • Direct plan- a plan to revise that would distribute a state's electoral college votes by giving one vote to the candidate who wins a plurality in each House district and two votes to the winner statewide • Direct popular election plan- abolish the electoral college and elect the president directly by national popular vote

Single story (in politics, of politicians)

• It was about what happens when complex human beings and situations are reduced to a single narrative. Each individual life contains a heterogeneous compilation of stories. If you reduce people to one, you're taking away their humanity. • Regarding Trump or Sanders- Every problem can be solved by finding some corrupt or oppressive group to blame. These stories have become identity markers. You must embrace the approved story to show you are not complicit in a system of oppression • "As in life generally, every policy has the vices of its virtues. Aggressive policing cuts crime but increases brutality. There is no escape from trade-offs and tragic situations. The only way forward is to elect people who can hold opposing stories in their heads at the same time, and to reject those who can't."

Madison Federalist #10

• James Madison was attached to the notion of private property rights, which he saw the cornerstone of his notion of political freedom. He recognized that the unequal distribution of property could cause problems. Society could be divided into various factions, with the most common source of factions has been the unequal distribution of property • "But why is the experiment of an extended republic to be rejected merely because it may comprise what is new? Is it not the glory of the people of America, that whilst they have paid a decent regard to the opinions of former times and other nations, they have not suffered a blind veneration for antiquity, for custom, or for names, to overrule the suggestions of their own good sense, the knowledge of their own situation, and the lessons of their own experience." • Madison & Jefferson disagreed on value of a bill of rights to a Constitution. Madison was skeptical, Jefferson supportive. • Factionalism greatest threat. Constitutional designed to constrain factions • Part reflection of human nature, part reflection of republican government. Suggested a representative democracy

Declaration of Independence

• Lays the foundation of American constitutional theory. Justifies the struggle for independence with a republican theory of government based on the concept of natural rights and popular sovereignty. • Written (plagiarized from John Locke) by Thomas Jefferson • All men are created equal and enjoy unalienable rights that include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness • Provides the basis of republic government, declaring that people create governments to secure these rights, and governments derive their "just powers from the consent of the governed." If a government fails to protect these rights, "it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government." These ideas can be viewed as popular sovereignty • "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, — 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 new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

3/5 Compromise

• North & South split on slavery • South wants slaves counted for representation, not taxation. North wants opposite • Infamous compromise: 3/5 compromise for both(blacks counted as 3/5 of a person) • Barred from addressing slavery issue until at least 1808!

Right to privacy (especially in digital world)

• Not in the constitution, civil liberty. An individual's right to be free of government interference without due clause or due process • Tracking internet activity

John Lewis

• One of the "Big six" leaders of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, led the demonstration Bloody Sunday (right to vote, fractured skull). Continued to fight for peoples right since joining Congress in 1987. Received Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011. • Arrested over 37 times for protesting, beaten by police • Diagnosed with stage 4 cancer

Political parties

• Organizations that run candidates for office under a common label. As they run candidates for office, parties engage in a number of specific activities- they recruit and nominate candidates, develop party position on issues, disseminate party propaganda, provide campaign support to their candidates, and sponsor get-out-the-vote drivers to encourage potential supporters to vote, among other activities (Democratic and Republican) • Goal to win governmental offices and to enact policies favored by the party • Facilitate participation of large numbers of people • Promote government responsiveness • Promote government accountability • Promote stability and peaceful resolution of conflict

Election security

• September 2019, senate panel approves $250 million for election security • Freeing up the money after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell came under criticism from Democrats for impeding separate election security legislation. • This amendment doesn't even require the funding be spent on election security — it can go for anything related to elections... Giving states taxpayer money to buy hackable, paperless machines or systems with poor cybersecurity is a waste

Impeachment process

• The Constitution gives the power of impeachment (1ststep) to the House of Representatives. To impeach means to charge or accuse. The House impeaches an official by passing articles of impeachment by a simple majority (indictment process). If approved, no formal punishment, goes to second stage • Second, trial in the Senate. Members of the Senate sit as a jury to hear the evidence and decide whether to acquit the impeached official or remove him/her from office. The house sends managers to serve as prosecutors, and the impeached official is represented by defenders. Conviction and removal from office require a 2/3 vote of the Senate • Grounds include treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors • Can the Senate put an impeachment to a public vote? Yes. The Senate holds the sole power for trials of all Federal-level impeachments, and they can exercise that power in any constitutional way. Meaning, although we live in a Representative Democracy, we also have mechanisms to put specific things to a specific public vote. • The five Presidents that have faced impeachment are James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon (resigned), Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump. No president has been removed from office by the impeachment process. • Trump impeached by House (3rdpres to do so) abuse of power (withholding aid to Ukraine) and obstruction the congressional investigation into his conduct. Senate acquitted

Women's suffrage 1920

• The women's suffrage movement was a decades-long fight to win the right to vote for women in the United States. It took nearly 100 years to win that right, and the campaign was not easy. On August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was finally ratified, enfranchising all American women and declaring for the first time that they, like men, deserve all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

Voter fraud (examples)

• Types include intimidation, vote buying, misinformation, misleading / confusing ballot papers, ballot stuffing, incorrect recording of votes, destruction / invalidation of ballots, and tampering with electronic voting machines. • ID laws, excluding the poorest from voting (tied to race) • DOJ probe 2002-2007. 86 convictions for voter fraud(Double voting, vote-buying schemes for sheriff/local judge, immigrants & felons voting mistakenly) • Ohio State/Rutgers study: Voter ID laws reduce latino turnout by 10%, African & Asian-American by 6% • Actual very rare. Repeated, false accusations of fraud can make it harder for millions of eligible voters to participate

Australia voting

• Voting is compulsory, nationwide BBQs, like a party held on Saturday • 96% of Australians eligible to vote, where 90%+ do vote(compared to 55% USA in 2016) • The voting centers are organized, whereit's uncommon to wait more than a few minutes. Voting teams that visit prisons, hospitals and nursing homes so that everyone who is entitled to get their vote(including postal ballots and overseas embassies) • Fines range from AU$20 for missing a federal election, up to AU$79 for skipping a state poll.Allowed to appeal with anexplanationwhy they failed to participate. • According to political scientists, forcing people to engage in the process increases their knowledge of the issues and candidates. • Donkey Vote- sending blank ballot

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

• Women's rights and suffrage movements, formulated the agenda for women's rights that guided the struggle well into the 20thcentury • Don't forget about the women. "all men are equal" in Declaration • Mimics the style and tone of Declaration of Independence, prosecuting a case • Franchise, property, marriage, obedience, divorce, education, religion, etc rights

Section 5 of VRA

• gives federal gov't authority to approve changes to voting in 16 states with "historically proven discrimination"mainly Southern states(pre-clearance) • Enforcement of VRA moves from registration & voting freedom to look at other ways that denied minority voter representation in the OUTCOMES. Source of legal contestation for next 40 years • 2013 Supreme Court weakens section • Rules 5-4 that these states don't need oversight anymore • Chief Justice John Roberts had been working on this for 30 years