Saturday, September 27, 2008

1st Presidential Debate

I don't know that much about the history of either of the presidential candidates, and I'm not going to pretend I do. Hearing the stand points of each of the candidates in immediate opposition in a debate is really helpful for me. I tried to think about the debate objectively like you suggested, even though I'm really behind Obama. This debate showed that each of the candidates have policies that are stronger in some areas than others and are therefore more convincing- McCain with foreign policy and Obama with the financial crisis. Overall the debate convinced me that they are equally qualified and equally as strong. I actually thought that McCain seemed more together than Obama and was a better speaker in this debate. I can understand why this election is still so close.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Issues Raised by the Madisonian Model

The Madisonian model of government raised several issues, many of them the conflicts between Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Some people believe it is an inefficient form of government because it takes so long for change to occur and responses to pressing concerns are not immediate enough. Also, it was a concern originally that it was created to take power out the hands of the people and put it back in the hands of the elite, a concern of the Anti-Federalists. Equality of the rich and poor was a major issue for them; they felt that the rich expected to get all of the seats in the government and therefore gain all of the power in a country that had just fought to get power back to the people.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Changes to the Constitution

The Constitution can be changed both formally, through the amendment process, or informally by changes in what is called the 'unwritten constitution.'
There are several different ways to formally amend the constitution, a process with two steps. First, an amendment can be proposed with a 2/3 vote in each house of Congress, or by a national convention by request of 2/3 of state legislatures. For all amendments passed ,with the exception of the 21st, Congress has proposed the amendment. Once an amendment has been proposed, there are two ways it can be ratified. Mostly commonly, 3/4 of state legislatures ratify the amendment, but through conventions called in 3/4 of states, an amendment can also be ratified.
Informally, there are four ways the Constitution can be changed. They are considered informal because the written Constitution is not changed, only the unwritten one concerning the tradition, practice and procedure of a country. Judicial interpretation, or the way the Supreme Court interprets the Constitution in court cases through judicial review is one way to change. With different judges, the Constitution could be interpreted differently. Changes in political practice can shape the Constitution and change the meaning. The current system of political parties is one change that has occured- when George Washington was president there were no parties, and so the Constitution applied differently to politics then. Technology has also advanced the way politics are viewed and speeds up the change in the unwritten constitution by exposing more ideas to more people all at once. Finally, demands on policymakers, due to both domestic and international affairs, are causing change. Growing and changing affairs create need for new policies, and these policies shape the Constitution in their own ways.
Sometimes, passing an amendments takes decades, sometimes only a few years. Change to the unwritten consitution has the same broad range. In some ways it is very easy to adapt the Constitution to fit our modern politics, especially informally, but no matter what, chage is always occuring.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Ticket

I have one. I'm really really really excited to go. I can't vote though so I feel like I'm stealing a ticket from somebody who could use it more than me. But I'm not giving it away. :)
They really should have him speak somewhere else. The orchard place holds like 1500 people? That's not nearly enough for a city of almost 150,000 in an important swing state. Bad call.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Madisonian Model of Gov't

The Madisonian model of government creates a balanced system where no one section has more control than the others. Madison's goal was to limit majority control (factions and interest groups), seperate the powers in the government and create checks and balances for those powers. His model centers around representation, with the public voting for people who represent them and who then vote for other people with higher power in the branches of government.
Madison's model was taken into great consideration when our government was formed and the actual structure almost exactly mimmicks his ideal structure. The people vote through the electoral college which votes for the president. They also vote for the state legislatures. Originally the state legislatures were in charge of electing senators, but now that power rests with the people as well. The senators and the president then work together to nominate and confirm the election of judges into the Supreme Court. Finally, the people vote for representatives in the House of Reps.
The idea of a balanced system where no branch has more power than another is reflected by the system of checks and balances that has been put in place. Each of the three branches of the government- Judicial, Legislative and Executive- all have the power to check the other two branches in some way or another. This means that none of them have complete control over any issues that arise.
The Madisonian Model of Government raises the issue of balance in particular because it is essential that one faction or group cannot gain and command all of the power over an issue in the government. Madison's model addressed this and gave us a solution to that problem.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

1st

I wasn't able to watch any of the speechs of the potential presidents or vice presidents but I was able to see some of the criticism of Obama's speech afterward. I also went to watch the debate between the potential US Senators at Two Rivers, which was really interesting but all of the yelling didn't really persuade me to vote one way or another.
Politics make me really tired. :)