The weaknesses were greater than the strength, the National government couldn’t force the state to obey its law which means that the states was pretty much running wild. They didn’t have the power to tax, they couldn’t enforce the laws, congress was lacked of leadership, we had no national army or navy, we didn’t have a national courts, and Each state could issue its own paper money also they were putting tariffs on trade between the states. Many citizens were concerned that the government was too weak. “The Articles gave Congress the power to pass laws, but no power to enforce those laws” (Article of Confederation). There were no courts to settle conflicts between the States.
In May of 1787 fifty-five individuals gathered for the constitutional convention in Philadelphia. The issue that was discussed in this convention was how the constitution guard's against tyranny, or absolute power in the hands of one person or party. Many solutions were discussed however I believe that separation of powers, and federalism provided the best protection against tyranny. Federalism was the stepping stone used when it came to solving the problem of preventing tyranny. James madison said "hence a double security arises to the rights of people the different government's will each control each other ,and at the same time each will be controlled by themselves" which simply states that Federalism prevented tyranny by dividing the power between the nation and the state.
The Magna Carta acknowledged some of the basic human rights such as property rights, protection from over taxation, and the rights of due process. Essentially, the Magna Carta was the beginning stages for our modern democracy, a document that would start limiting the power of the king and expressing the freedom of men. The government is divided into three bodies within the Constitution: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial branches. The first article in the Constitution focuses on the establishing of Congress, which immediately shows the authors' view on the significance of the representative side of government. Congress would compose of elected officials from all states, and have the power to propose and pass laws.
There seems to have been a very strong opposition towards democracy at the Constitutional Convention, although the framers were in the midst of creating democratic principles to appeal to the majority of the country. This led to the creation of democratic principles such as separation of powers, checks and balances, bicameralism, and the electoral college. Article I of the US Constitution establishes the legislative branch- Congress. Article II of the US Constitution establishes the executive branch - the presidency. Article III of the US Constitution establishes the judiciary branch - the Supreme Court.
Tyranny is a government in which a single ruler is vested with absolute power. The Constitution had guarded against tyranny in four different ways which were Federalism, Separation of powers, Checks and balances and big states vs. small states The beginning guard against tyranny was Federalism, which is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant. James Madison had stated in a “Federalist Newspaper” about Federalism and how it basically worked for the Colony. Federalism protects against tyranny because Federalism isn’t an absolute power, it’s a division of power to certain members of a covenant. The additional guard against tyranny was Separation of Powers which means the government was separated into different branches.
Strict vs. Loose Interpretation of the Constitution Many argue what were the intentions of the Founding Fathers when creating the U.S Constitution. "Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have. The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases," quoted Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson believed in a strict view of the constitution while he was an advisor.
In Anthem the people cannot choose their own jobs, it is all specified by the Council of Vocations and people have no say in it. All the ideas in the society are controlled by the Council of Scholar, they don’t accept changes. There are no families in this society, the children are separated from their mothers and they never know their parents. The government is their parent. This way government can control them and there is no rebellion.
There are many complex issues but in this paper I will argue that the practices of our government frequently undermine the original notions of the social contract theory. In this paper, I will discuss why the current federal system of government in the United States is failing to meet its social contract obligations to the American people and why certain laws make us question the acceptance of the authority of the government. However, I also believe that abolishing the authority of government would only bring chaos into our society. The fundamental basis for government and law in the United States is based on the concept of social contract. The government's main and only goal in the social contract is to protect its citizens.
The parliament would have been able to muster volunteers, but there was no money to equip them with weapons, and the only way that the Parliament would have been able to make money, would be by introducing taxes. However, the Parliament simply couldn’t just create money from taxes as everyone refused to pay the taxes. The payment of taxes could have been enforced, but there was no army to do the enforcement. There were no consequences to the people of the German Empire if they disobeyed the decisions of the Frankfurt Parliament, so decisions were not followed by the people. This was not surprising, as there was no previous history of a democracy in Germany before the Frankfurt Parliament, therefore there was not much support from the ordinary people for the new concept.
What is the relationship of the United States to other nations? What are the roles of the citizen in American democracy?). 4 – C1.0.3 Describe the purposes of government as identified in the Preamble of the Constitution. 4 – C3.0.2 Give examples of powers granted to the federal government (e.g., coining of money, declaring war) and those reserved for the states (e.g., driver’s license, marriage license). Content Objectives: TLW recall the roles of citizens in the American democracy TLW describe the purpose of the federal government as defined in the Constitution TLW explain why a limited federal government is important in American democracy.