Comparing Weaknesses: Articles of Confederation vs. Constitutional Convention - Prof. J. M, Exams of Physics

Download Comparing Weaknesses: Articles of Confederation vs. Constitutional Convention - Prof. J. M and more Exams Physics in PDF only on Docsity! Lecture/Wilson 18, A4-A21  Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation? o Inadequate powers of the national gov’t o Inadequate machinery of the gov’t o Rigidity o Principle of “state sovereignty”(fundamental weakness of the Articles of Confederation)  Major issues/conflicts confronting the Constitutional Convention? o National Gov’t vs. “State Sovereignty” o Large vs. Small states  Big States(in pop. and wealth):  New York  Mass.  Virginia  Pennsylvania o Conflict between North and South  (social and economic difference) o Conflict over the Executive branch  Three groups of delegates o Anti-nationalists o Majoritarian Nationalists o State-equality nationalists  General background of delegates. o 8 delegates signed the Declaration of Independence o 7 were past or current governors of their states o ¾ of the delegates served on congress at one point.  Key delegates: roles at the convention and orientation o Virginia-sends 7 delegates  George Washington  Was the most highly respected public figure. A Majoritarian Nationalist. o Pennsylvania- sends 8 delegates  James Madison  Most important and influential at the constitutional convention. Becomes the “Father of the Constitution. Former legislature in the Virginia House of Burgesses.  James Wilson  Legal expert. Signer of the Declaration. Would later join the Supreme Court. A majoritarian nationalist.  Benjamin Franklin  Oldest delegate, 81. Also a signer of the Declaration. Second most respected figure after Washington. Also a majoritarian nationalist.  Gouverneur Morris  Served Congress prior to convention. Will later serve on in the Senate. Also a majoritarian nationalist. o New Jersey  William Patterson  Serving as his state’s attorney general at the time of the convention. Was a “state-equality nationalist.” Later serves in the Senate and on the Supreme Court.  Rules o Each state only receives one vote at the election o The convention is closed to the press and public. Delegates are sworn to secrecy.  Virginia plan o Would establish a real national government (rejects state sovereignty!). o Calls for a bicameral legislature (two houses) in which representation in both houses would be apportioned based by population or taxation. o Gouverneur Morris suggests that the convention use the Virginia plan as the starting point of its deliberations. The Convention concurs, with little time spent considering the matter. At this moment, the Articles of Confederation are cast aside. Anti-Nationalists have already lost.  New Jersey Plan o A compromise plan between the anti-nationalists and state-equality nationalists. o It provides for a unicameral legislature (one house) apportioned on the principle of state equality. o After only a day, the New Jersey Plan is rejected. When this happens, debate within the Convention grows heated. Some delegates consider walking out. State Equality Nationalists are distrustful of the large states. Majoritarian-Nationalists argue by democratic principles (majority rule). They also say that state equality was already experimented with under the Articles, and was a failure.  Great Compromise o The Convention rejects this compromise. o Just as it seems the Convention will fail, some Majoritarian Nationalists adopt a more conciliatory tone, realizing that any document they make is useless if it is not accepted by all states. o The compromise is thus adopted on July 16. It becomes knows as the Great Compromise/Connecticut Compromise. Named after Connecticut because Connecticut delegates were amongst its strongest proponents. o From July 15 through August 5, the Convention adjourns. However, a small number of delegates are left behind as a small committee (Committee on Details). It has five members, but most of its work is vested upon James Wilson. It develops a revised and updated version of the Virginia Plan, and prepares suggestions for problems yet to be solved by the Convention.  Size and term of each House (198-200) o House of Reps.  435 total members; members of each state depends on the population.  They serve two year terms. o Senate  100 members total; two members per state.  Serve six year terms.  Qualifications for each House (203) o House  Must be 25 yrs old.(when seated not elected)  Must have been a citizen of the US for 7 yrs.  Must be an inhabitant of the state from which elected. o Senate  Must be 30 yrs old(when seated not elected)  Must have been a citizen of the US for 9 yrs.  Must be an inhabitant of the state which elected.  Organization of each House (202-205) o Senate  Majority Leader  Minority Leader  Whip o House  Majority Leader  Minority Leader  Whip  Speaker  Three kinds of committees; role of each; role and powers of chairmen; how their powers have changed throughout history; role of seniority in selection of chairs; importance of committees (207-211) o Standing committee  Permanent committees with specific legislative responsibilities o Select committee  Appointed for a limited purpose. Which do not introduce legislation and which only exist for a few years o Joint committee  On which both senators and reps serve on. o They can block legislation by refusing to send it to a subcommittee for a hearing that was banned, can hire subcommittee staff; Powers of chairmen have been reduced in some ways and increased in others; seniority governs the selection of a chairman.  Role of staff/Trend in staff size (211-213) o Mainly to get that member of congress reelected o Staff of the senate has stayed steady since 1976 however the staff of the House has increased fivefold.  Effects of complexity of legislative process (213) o the complexity of congressional procedures ordinarily gives powerful advantages to the opponents of any new policy.  Filibusters & cloture (216-217) o Filibusters  An attempt to defeat a bill in the Senate by talking indefinitely, thus preventing the Senate from taking action on it. From the Spanish filibustero, this means a “freebooter,” a military adventurer o Cloture  A rule used by the Senate to end or limit debate. Designed to prevent “talking a bill to death” by filibuster. To pass in the Senate, three-fifths of the entire Senate membership (or sixty senators) must vote for it.  Decentralization of power in Congress and its cause (226-227) o the real business of congress is done in committees and subcommittees, the process of making policy is highly decentralized. More than 125 members of the House chair a committee or subcommittee; nearly half of all senators do the same. Men and women loyal to localities operating in a decentralized committee system are individualists. That is, rather than blindly following party leaders (as they do in England) in deciding how to vote, they try to get publicity for themselves.  Trends in relative power of president and Congress (224-226) o Congress lost power to the president; the president came to dominate the making of foreign policy. This claim that congress became weak as the president became strong is a bit overdrawn. To any visitor from abroad, Congress seems extraordinary powerful, probably the most powerful legislative body in the world. But congress has always been jealous of its constitutional independence and authority.  Congressional budget and impoundment control act o In 1976 congress passed a law that prevented President Ford from giving aid to a pro-western faction fighting against a Marxist regime in Angola. o One of the reasons congress is willing to follow the lead of even a president with whom it disagrees is that members of Congress are aware that no large legislative body can exercise leadership except in a few unusual cases. Congress is reluctant to challenge a popular president.  Role of Parties in voting (221-222) o more partisan, meaning they see important differences between the two parties; second reason is congressional districts are drawn for House member. o The vast majority are drawn so as to protect one party or the other. This means that if you are a Republican living in a pro-Democratic district your votes do not make much difference in an election. o a third reason is that the voters are becoming more partisan as a result of congress having become more partisan. o -final reason is the role of seniority; the chairmen of committees are the members who have been on that committee the longest, and they will of course be ones from the safest districts.  Read (216) Wilson, Chapter 12: The Judiciary  • Strict constructionist v. activist approach; which dominates today; criticisms of activist approach (289-290, 309-310) o Strict constructionist approach-The view that judges should decide cases on the basis of the language of the Constitution. o Activist approach- The view that judges should discern the general principles underlying the Constitution and its often vague language and assess how best to apply them in contemporary circumstances, in some cases with the guidance of moral or economic philosophy. o Criticisms of activist approach- critics of the activist courts rejoin that judges usually have no special expertise in matters of school administration, prison management, or environmental protection. However desirable court declared rights and principles maybe, interest groups, raising and spending tax monies, and assessing the costs and benefits of complicated alternatives, all things that judges are not good at. Finally if they part from their traditional role of making careful and cautious interpretations of what a law or the constitution means and instead begin formulating wholly new policies, they become unelected legislators.  Issues on which Supreme Court has focused in different eras (290-294) o -National Supremacy and Slavery o -Government and the Economy o -The protection of political Liberty and Economic Regulation  Constitutional provisions regarding federal courts (295) o Constitutional court- A federal court exercising the judicial powers found in Article III of the Constitution and whose judges are given constitutional protection: they may not be fired (they serve during “good behavior”) nor may their salaries be reduced while they are in office. The most important constitutional courts are the Supreme Court, the ninety-four district courts, and the courts of appeals (one in each of eleven regions plus one in the District of Columbia  Two types of federal courts; differences; most important types of constitutional courts (295-296) o district courts and courts of appeals; most important are district courts and the courts of appeals  Dual court system (298-301) o Dual court system one state, one federal and this complicates enormously the task of describing what kinds of cases federal courts may hear and how cases beginning in the state courts may end up in the Supreme Court.  Writs of certiorari: what they are; who issues them; why they are important (300-301)