The Articles of Confederation.

Following the Revolutionary War, the new American Government was set up under the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation did not give the federal government enough authority to be effective. So in 1787 delegates from all the states attended a meeting known as the Constitutional Convention. Among those attending were James Madison, representing Virginia, William Paterson, representing New Jersey, and Roger Sherman, representing Connecticut. These three men contributed a great deal to the Constitution that we live under today and were highly respected by the other delegates. James Madison was born on March 16, 1751 ,in Port Conway, Virginia. He graduated from the College of New Jersey(later Princton) in 1771, where he was a diligent student of history and government. In 1780 Madison became the youngest member to join the Continental Congress. He played a major role in deliberations, advocating tarriffs as the means of raising revenue, and much more. Most importantly, Madison set in motion the process that would eventually lead to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. He wrote about the problems with the Articles of Confederation in hopes of opening the eyes of congress and the states. Finally he got results(Brief). The Constitutional Convention of 1787 gave Madison the opportunity for which he had so long prepared. Success, he believed, was

  • Word count: 1312
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Politics
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Recently a writer stated that the Australian Constitution had become "fossilised" and that changes were urgently required to modernise it - Briefly outline some of the changes that would assist this modernisation process.

Recently a writer stated that the Australian Constitution had become "fossilised" and that changes were urgently required to modernise it. Briefly outline some of the changes that would assist this modernisation process. Assignment 1 - Australian Constitution The Australian Constitution is now approximately over a hundred years old. People that make up Australia has changed rapidly over time. Once a settled colony by the British Empire is now a multicultural hub where many different races all over the world have come to claim Australia as their home. The 1901 Australian Constitution no longer represents today's Australian society. Changes must be made to better represent Australia today and also give Australia an own unique identity that no longer resembles its predecessors. Human rights and the head of state are two of many current issues of debate in today's society. No matter how many proposed amendments to the Constitution are suggested the ultimate test is section 128 of the Constitution. In order for any amendments to be made on the constitution, it must satisfy the processes stated in section 128. The process of changing the Constitution requires firstly an Act of by the Federal Parliament which requires a vote by both houses. An absolute majority of both houses must be reached. The next stage is then for the people to vote for or against amendments of the

  • Word count: 1294
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Politics
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How effectively do the three branches of the federal government check each other?

How effectively do the three branches of the federal government check each other? The idea of the Checks and Balances system was to essentially stabilise the separation of powers. However, there have been questions on how effective and credible the checks and balances system really is, with serious debate regarding whether a branch is supposedly more powerful than another. The original intent was that the three branches would be able to check and balance one another so that no single branch would be able to claim too much power. According to the Constitution, the legislative branch is to make the laws, the judicial branch is to review the laws to be sure that they are Constitutional, and the executive branch is to enforce the laws. Many have argued that the judicial branch has gained too much power, with some stating that the major decisions that the Supreme Court is able to make, places them as the most powerful. One recent example of the impressive power of the Supreme Court is that the decision of this court determined that George Bush would be President in 2000. There is also debate on the guarantee of checks and balances on each branch. The Constitution states that the system of checks and balances grew out of the separate institutions that share power under the Constitution of the United States. By the system of checks and balances, each branch of government exercises

  • Word count: 519
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Politics
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Current Event Report - the future of NATO

Current Event Report #1 U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates admits that NATO is facing a “dim, if not dismal” future due to the lack of support from many European members. During his final policy speech as the Pentagon chief on June 10th, he said that U.S. is expending more and more funds as many other members of NATO are “unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defence.” U.S. was one of the first members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) along with Canada, and other 10 countries. It took lead in founding the organization in 1949. At the speech, Gates blamed some NATO allies for willing to let American taxpayers to pay more when the allies were reducing defence budgets. However, Gates appreciated the combat power provided by Denmark and Norway, and he applauded to Canada and Belgium for the effort they put in Libya. The speech reminded me of the Cuban Missile Crisis and Vietnam War, where U.S. was angry of Canada not supporting them, but now the Canada-U.S. relationship apparently had a lot of improvement in the presence. Different from the Cold War time, U.S. is not angry at Canada anymore, but it is not happy with the lack of support from Europe. NATO has put out projects such as operations in Afghanistan, operations in Iraq, and Operation Ocean Shield. Operations in

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Politics
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American Government Term Paper #1. Discuss the theory of Checks and Balances as outlined by the Framers of the Constitution.

Maldjian Lara Maldjian C01116416 Poli Sci 180 S. Frame October 30, 2012 American Government Term Paper #1. Discuss the theory of “Checks and Balances” as outlined by the Framers of the Constitution. Analyze the concept of power in politics and why the Federalists were correct in diffusing the power of government in order to keep one branch or entity from becoming too powerful. How does this concept help us as a viable democracy? In addition to the separation of powers delineated in the Constitution, there are additional extraordinary checks on power (such as the media, executive order, staggered terms or political mobilization), explain at least one extraordinary check in detail and discuss its impact on the political process. “The Framers of the American Constitution were visionaries” (The Framer’s Constitution), or dreamers. At the time the Framers of the Constitution were in the development stage of forming a government, and they wanted a government that was ruled by the individuals of the country, and they also wanted the Constitution to be able to withstand anything the country faced. “They sought not only to address the specific challenges facing the nation during their lifetimes, but to establish the foundational principles that would sustain and guide the new nation into an uncertain future” (The Framer’s Constitution). This type

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Politics
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Evaluate the role of Televised debates in US presidential campaigns

Anya Roberts Evaluate the role of Televised debates in US presidential campaigns Televised presidential debates between the major party candidates have now become a traditional part of the campaign. Debates have varies in number and format since they were first used, but a pattern has no developed:three 90-minute debates between the two major parties’ presidential candidates and one 90-minute debate between their vice-presidential candidates, occurring usually between late September and mid-October. The first debates were held in 1960, Nixon vs Kennedy, and set the tone for the importance of appearances in US politics. Over the years, different debate formats have evolved. Initially, the candidates standing behind podiums some distance from each other, were asked questions by one moderator. This developed into a panel of up to three members of the press who asked questions. A non-participatory audience was introduced in 1976. Then, in 1992, what has become to known as the ‘Town Hall’ style of debate was tried for the second of the three debates. The candidates did not stand behind podiums but were seated on bar stools, facing an audience of undecided voters who put questions directly to candidates. A moderator was there merely to keep order. This format stood for one of the three debates in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004. The 2000 debates saw another new format- the

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Politics
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Does public participation in the presidential nomination process advance or hinder democracy?

Diggers Rogers ‘G’ Does public participation in the presidential nomination process advance or hinder democracy? Nationwide public participation in the presidential nomination process has only been in action for a few years, since the 1970’s, after the recommendations from the commission for the Democratic Party, which republic party also use as well. These led to the use of primaries in almost every state, and caucuses in a few states. There are many arguments to say that this does not advance democracy, however there are also numerous that say that public participation does in fact advance democracy. To begin, the new system established in the 70’s means that there is an increased level of participation by ordinary voters. By 1988 the number of Americans who took part in this process was 35 million and in 2008, 54 million Americans took part. This clearly shows that participation has and is increasing thus advancing democracy. Furthermore, there is a significant increase in the choice of candidates. In 1968, the last year before the reformation, there were just five presidential candidates to choose from (three democrats and two republicans). But in 2008, there were fifteen candidates (eight democrats and seven republicans). What’s more is that some of the candidates weren’t from the Washington establishment which further increases democracy. The old process

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Politics
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Assess the significance of race, gender and religion as factors influencing US voting behaviour.

Liam Simmonds “Assess the significance of race, gender and religion as factors influencing US voting behaviour.” – (30 Marks) The volatile nature of voting behaviour in the US and the nature of how and what issues are salient at the time of election leads to many factors influencing US voting behaviour. Short-term factors, such as leadership, issues and candidate appeals and campaigns, can be as significant as longer-term factors such as social class, age, gender, ethnicity and geography. However, by the very nature that these factors are ‘long-term’ is a tribute to their constant importance within the American political scene. The ideologies found at the root of the parties tend to lend themselves to certain, typical voter stereotypes: The broadly liberal Democrat Party tend to cater to minorities based on laxer immigration policies and greater provision for the poor and needy. Watts notes that the Democrats repeatedly receive “overwhelming support from black voters, it could for this reason that black candidates such as Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama have received such a high profile within the party and within the minds of the electorate. In 2008, 95% of the African American electorate voted for Obama, with 88% voting for fellow Democrat Kerry in the 2004 election, proving that it is the Democrat Party and their policies which convince ethnic voters to

  • Word count: 1468
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Politics
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Discuss the view that the presidency is not a powerful office

Discuss the view that the presidency is not a powerful office The president of the USA has, on paper at least, numerous powers that he can exploit to his benefit. These powers have then been classified as those constitutional powers and those inherent powers, those not in the constitution. Anyone looking at a glance, would probably presume that the presidency is an extremely powerful office with powers such as ; chief of the executive, commander in chief, pardoning criminals and national leader of arguably the world’s largest power. However in reality there are equal amounts of checks and balances designed by the founding fathers to ‘frustrate’ the president to essentially prevent a dictatorship. Thus there are a wide variety of aspects to be explored when discussing whether the presidency is a powerful office or not. There is much evidence to suggest that despite the many limits on the constitutional powers of the presidency, there remain numerous examples to say that the presidency is a powerful office through the use of his constitutional powers. One major constitutional power of the presidency is that of being the commander in chief, usually falling within the realm of foreign policy. This effectively allows the president to have supreme authority over the nations military. Obama effectively used this power to withdraw some US troops from Iraq whilst with the same

  • Word count: 1911
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Politics
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How and why did the US electorate become polarised into the red and blue nation we had by 2012? (45 marks)

How and why did the US electorate become polarised into the ‘red’ and ‘blue’ nation we had by 2012? (45 marks) In the run up to the 2012 Presidential Election it became evident that both the Democratic and Republican party were fleeing from the political middle and becoming more left and right wing respectively. The two parties have become characteristically split over issues such as civil rights and cultural issues such as abortion, homosexual rights and school prayer. So why has this departure from central ground occurred and why do most of the US electorate have a partisan alignment? During Barack Obama’s first term as president the US economy fell into significant decline with gross domestic product shrinking 3.9 percent in 2009, indicating the worst slump since the Great Depression. In the 2012 Presidential debates Romney took advantage of the publics discontent with Obama’s economic policy, stressing that he would take a more right-wing capitalist approach on the economy, promising to subsidizing primary industries such as shale gas. This, according to the Economist have the potential to transfer the US from an importer of gas to an exporter, thus improving the budget deficit and creating jobs in regions such as North Kansas, which consequently voted Republican in the election. Unsurprisingly, the promised advancements towards ‘unclean’ energy angered

  • Word count: 720
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Politics
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