Freedom in American Society
Second Exam
Study Guide
Declaration of Independence
- Not a document that describes a future society. Rather, looks to restore basic rights and liberties that were suspended, taken away, abolished, etc.
- List of grievances: specific violation of rights and liberties that colonist had enjoyed in the past
- Men are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Governments are instituted to secure these rights.
- Reasons why it was necessary to revolt against a despotic government. Revolution carried out not out of momentary passion or anger. A difficult step that was much reflected upon, and that colonists tried to avoid as much as they could.
Constitution of the United States
- Constitutional form of government: limited government, emphasis on consensus, rule of law, limited expectations
- Structure:
- 7 articles + 27 amendments. The first 10 amendments collectively known as the Bill of Rights.
- Article I: The Legislative (branch of government in charge of creating laws). Bicameral: House of Representatives and Senate
- Article II: The Executive (branch of government in charge of executing the law). President, Vice-president, cabinet.
- Article III: The Judiciary (branch of government in charge of interpreting the law). Supreme Court and lower federal courts.
- Article IV: Relations between the federal government and state/local governments (Federalism: structure of government (three branches) also at the state and local levels)
- Article V: process to amend (change) the Constitution
- Limited Government
- Separation of Powers: three branches with equal power.
- Checks and Balances (prevent any branch from taking power away from the others).
- President:
- Veto Bills
- Recommend legislation
- Congress:
- override a presidential veto with a 2/3 majority.
- Control appropriations (budget/”power of the purse”)
- Confirm or Refuse presidential appointments
- Impeach and remove President from office
- Propose constitutional amendment to overrule Supreme Court decisions
- Judicial Branch: Judicial review (Supreme Court can invalidate laws passed by Congress or actions taken by the Executive)
- President:
- Enumerated powers:
- Article I, section 8 – areas in which Congress can legislate. Some of the enumerated powers of Congress are:
- Establish an collect taxes
- To borrow money
- To regulate foreign and interstate commerce
- To coin money and regulate its value; punish counterfeit money
- To establish post offices
- To grant patents and copyrights
- To declare war
- To raise and support armies
- To make all laws necessary and proper to the execution of any of the other expressed powers.
- Article 2, a rather short list of functions for the President that include:
- Take care that the laws be faithfully executed
- Recommend legislation
- Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces
- Grant reprieves and pardons
- Make treaties
- Nominate and appoint ambassadors, Federal judges, cabinet members
- Give Congress information on the State of the Union
- X Amendment: Powers that are not enumerated, belong to the states or to the people: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution are reserved to the states, respectively, or to the people.
- Bill of Rights: most articles written in negative language – describes what government cannot do. For example, “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech.” Limits the means that government can employ to fulfill its tasks:
- Amendment 1: Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition
- Amendment 2: U.S. citizens have the right to keep and bear arms, or own guns
- Amendment 3: The government may not force U.S. citizens to shelter soldiers in their homes
- Amendment 4: U.S. citizens are protected from unreasonable searches of a person’s property
- Amendment 5: The government may not force U.S. citizens to testify against themselves in court
- Amendment 6: U.S. citizens have the right to a fair and speedy trial
- Amendment 7: U.S. citizens have the right to a trial by jury
- Amendment 8: U.S. citizens are protected from cruel and unusual punishment
- Amendment 9: U.S. citizens may have rights that are not listed in the Constitution
- Amendment 10: Powers not given to the federal government by the U.S. Constitution belong to the state or to the people.
- Article I, section 8 – areas in which Congress can legislate. Some of the enumerated powers of Congress are:
- Emphasis on consensus/agreement (as opposed to simply following the will of the majority)
- How a bill becomes law (complex, slow process that fosters deliberation, consensus)
- Each state represented by two senators (regardless of population)
- Senate rules: filibuster – one Senator can block a bill. Takes a qualified majority of 3/5 (60%) to stop a filibuster
- Originally, Vice-president was the first runner-up in the elections. Real power was given to the Vice-president. For instance, Vice-president is first in line. Also, as President of the Senate, gets to cast the deciding vote if Senate is equally divided.
- Amendment process. Requires almost unanimity: 2/3 of Congress + ¾ states legislatures. Huge amount of agreement is needed to change the Constitution.
- Elections (avoid passions of the moment, protect minorities against the tyranny of the majority)
- House of Representatives (it is the only first degree, direct election). By districts, every two years. Representatives serve two-year terms.
- Originally (before XVII Amendment), second-degree, indirect elections. Senators were chosen by State Legislatures. Staggering method: 1/3 of the Senate is renewed every 2 years. Senators are elected for six-year periods (protects Senators from public opinion pressure). Staggering methods prevents drastic fluctuations in the composition of the Senate as the result of shifts in public opinion.
- Elected by Electoral College (indirect, second-degree election). Citizens would vote for delegates to the Electoral College and these delegates, in turn, would choose the President. The number of Electoral College delegates for each state = number of representatives in the House + number of senators (which is always 2). It is possible for a candidate to win the popular vote but lose the general election. Candidates cannot concentrate all their efforts in states with large populations.
- Supreme Court. Justices are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Hence, justices are not elected. Justices have lifelong-tenures.
- Small Government/Rule of Law
- Judicial Review. Supreme Court can invalidate a law passed by Congress or an action taken by the Executive
- Lifelong-tenures for federal judges. Justices of the Supreme Court must be protected (shielded) from public pressure so that they can decide in accordance to the law and not pressured by what the people may want at any given moment.
- Small Government: Enumerated powers + 10th Amendment
- Reasonable Expectations
- Very short document (only 7 articles without counting amendments)
- There is nothing in the Constitution about future goals to be accomplished. The Constitution does not describe what a future society should look like. The Constitution only describes the structure of government and the limits of governmental power.
- Constitution does not make change easy. Rather, it looks to promote stability:
- Very difficult to change (amend) the Constitution
- Very slow process for a bill to become a law.
The problem about Foundations
- For the Founders, Christianity is the indispensable foundation, basis, ground, cornerstone, etc.
- Argument against: Given how diverse and multicultural American society has become, Classical/Christian foundation is no longer possible. Needs to be replaced by a new foundation that accommodates this new reality.
- Proposed new foundation: Replace truths about human nature that we find in the Classical/Christian tradition with “attitude” of toleration.
- Basic idea of this new foundation: No shared truths are necessary as long as people respect each other’s views. American would just need to be open, non-judgmental, accepting, etc.
- Society, however, still needs to make decisions. Now, however, in the absence of truth, all issues are decided according to the wishes of the majority. Every position is just an opinion. Since there are no shared truths but just individual opinions, there is no need/possibility for deliberation. The only solution is to vote on every decision and allow the majority to dictate public policy. The wishes of the majority must become public policy without delay
- Every moral position, even those that go against human life (dignity) and freedom, are acceptable if they win the support of the majority. No sense in asking about the intrinsic moral value of a particular position.
- The power of numbers replaces truth as the criterion of politics. Therefore, the dignity of human beings and freedom as essential condition are no longer foundational truths. Democracy becomes a matter of sheer power.
- No protection for minorities, no respect for dignity or freedom of human beings. Those that do not belong to the majority must simply accept “the rules of the game” and “are forced to be free” using Rousseau’s phrase.
- Freedom is redefined as mere choice; relativism becomes “valuable”, “necessary”.
- For the framers, self-evident truths about human nature (God endowed human beings with certain inalienable rights) are not the result of majority approval. They are prior to government. The democratic process, including elections, allows us to resolve our differences provided that certain core truths remain outside of public debate: E pluribus unum – out of many, one. We can disagree because we share a prior agreement to recognize each other’s dignity as human beings and that freedom is indispensable for human fulfillment. This is what the framers meant when they spoke about Christianity as being the indispensable foundation of the American political system.
