Padlet Project by Damon Fitzgerald https://padlet.com/damon_fitzgerald/zzm0qrziac5f Government en-us 2018-05-08 15:28:48 UTC 2018-05-18 13:56:47 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Basketball.png John Locke's Principles of Natural Rights and Limited Government damon_fitzgerald https://padlet.com/damon_fitzgerald/zzm0qrziac5f/wish/261880445 Locke believed, contrary to claims that God had “made all people naturally subject to a monarch”, that people are “by nature free". This belief was the foundation of his philosophy on Government. Locke's principles of natural rights include liberty, life, and property and he believes these rights are God given. His principles state  that the highest priority be given to individual self-preservation and whatever is necessary to achieve the preservation of the individual. He expressed the radical view that government is morally obliged to serve people, namely by protecting life, liberty, and property. He promoted the principle of checks and balances to limit government power. He favored representative government and a rule of law. He denounced tyranny. He insisted that when government violates individual rights, people may legitimately rebel. 
Locke also lays out a system for a limited government which advocates that a restrained government is the best way to protect rights. For example, the right to property is one of the natural rights and therefore pre-political. As a result, government cannot violate this right. The government cannot transfer power. They also cannot take a persons property with no basis. They cannot rule with arbitrary power. Lastly the government cannot create extemporary decrees. These limits are seen in American government today.
John Locke believes that all citizens are created perfectly free and perfectly equal. He is free to do whatever he pleases that falls under the rights of life, liberty, property, and health. He also states that no man can harm another's rights or himself. Man also has the right to punish any offense against his rights in the state of nature. The state of nature also provides a setting for perfectly free and equal rights that can be defendable.]]> 2018-05-18 11:47:13 UTC https://padlet.com/damon_fitzgerald/zzm0qrziac5f/wish/261880445 American Founding Ideas damon_fitzgerald https://padlet.com/damon_fitzgerald/zzm0qrziac5f/wish/261880855 1.Declaration of Independence
-  Since God has given each person the desire to pursue happiness as a law of nature, the government should not try to interfere with an individual's pursuit of happiness. Thus we have to give each person the freedom to live as he pleases, the freedom to experience his or her own kind of happiness so long as that freedom is compatible with the freedom of others to do likewise. We derive the basic right of liberty from the right to pursue happiness. Even though Locke believed the path of virtue to be the greatest path towards everlasting happiness, the government should not prescribe any particular path to happiness. The Declaration of Independence aligns with Locke's ideas.  
2. Constitution]]> 2018-05-18 11:49:07 UTC https://padlet.com/damon_fitzgerald/zzm0qrziac5f/wish/261880855 damon_fitzgerald https://padlet.com/damon_fitzgerald/zzm0qrziac5f/wish/261881885 3. Federalism
- The United States government is based on federalism. Federalism is a method of government that allows two or more entities to share control over the same geographic region. Each person in the United States is subject to the laws of that city, county, state and our federal government. In a federalist government, the power is divided between the national government and other governmental units. In the U.S., this means the power is divided between our federal government and our state and local governments. This is different from a unitary government, where one unit holds the power. It's also different from a confederation, which is an association of independent governmental units. The Articles of Confederation originally established the United States as a confederation, where each of the states operated separately and independently from one another. 
4. Separation of Powers
- Separation of powers is the division of government responsibilities into distinct branches to limit any one branch from exercising the core functions of another.  The intent is to prevent the concentration of power and provide for checks and balances.  Locke claims that legitimate government is based on the idea of separation of powers. First and foremost of these is the legislative power. Locke describes the legislative power as supreme in having ultimate authority over “how the force for the commonwealth shall be employed. The legislature is still bound by the law of nature and much of what it does is set down laws that further the goals of natural law and specify appropriate punishments for them. The executive power is then charged with enforcing the law as it is applied in specific cases. Interestingly, Locke’s third power is called the “federative power” and it consists of the right to act internationally according to the law of nature. Since countries are still in the state of nature with respect to each other, they must follow the dictates of natural law and can punish one another for violations of that law in order to protect the rights of their citizens.


]]> 2018-05-18 11:53:52 UTC https://padlet.com/damon_fitzgerald/zzm0qrziac5f/wish/261881885 Legislative Branch damon_fitzgerald https://padlet.com/damon_fitzgerald/zzm0qrziac5f/wish/261883212 -Congress, the legislative branch of government, makes the nation's laws
-Congress has vast but not unlimited powers
-Each state has equal representation in the Senate, while votes in the House are apportioned based on population.
-Headed by Congress, which includes the House of Representatives and the Senate. The main task of these two bodies is to make the laws. Its powers include passing laws, originating spending bills, impeaching officials, and approving treaties.


]]> 2018-05-18 11:59:12 UTC https://padlet.com/damon_fitzgerald/zzm0qrziac5f/wish/261883212 Executive Branch damon_fitzgerald https://padlet.com/damon_fitzgerald/zzm0qrziac5f/wish/261890867 - Headed by the president. The president carries out federal laws and recommends new ones, directs national defense and foreign policy, and performs ceremonial duties. Powers include directing government, commanding the Armed Forces, dealing with international powers, acting as chief law enforcement officer, and vetoing laws.
  • President is most powerful individual in US government
  • Constitution charges president with ensuring that laws are faithfully executed, commanding the military, and filling executive and judicial offices
  • Beyond that, Constitution leaves definition of presidency fairly vague

Article II of the Constitution lays out the president's role very briefly. It states that the "executive power" of the government shall be vested in the president and that he shall be responsible for a handful of tasks:
  • He is to make sure that the laws are faithfully executed
  • He is to periodically inform Congress of the "state of the union" and recommend to Congress issues that need attention
  • He is responsible for directing American foreign policy, and he is the commander-in-chief of the armed force
  • He has the power to fill, by appointment, offices in the executive branch and to name judges to the Supreme Court
]]> 2018-05-18 12:25:03 UTC https://padlet.com/damon_fitzgerald/zzm0qrziac5f/wish/261890867 Judicial Branch damon_fitzgerald https://padlet.com/damon_fitzgerald/zzm0qrziac5f/wish/261891696 Headed by the Supreme Court. Its powers include interpreting the Constitution, reviewing laws, and deciding cases involving states' rights.

  • Judicial branch of government interprets the law and settles disputes among states
  • Constitution created the Supreme Court; Congress later created all lower courts
  • Judicary's most important power, judicial review, was not named in Constitution but rather established in 1803 case Marbury v. Madison

The writers of the Constitution drafted Article III in order to establish a federal judiciary a branch of government that would serve not only as a device to check the power of the executive and the legislature, but also as a national institution that could settle disputes among states and unify the country under a central judicial body.

]]> 2018-05-18 12:27:39 UTC https://padlet.com/damon_fitzgerald/zzm0qrziac5f/wish/261891696 Citizens in a Democratic Government damon_fitzgerald https://padlet.com/damon_fitzgerald/zzm0qrziac5f/wish/261916670 John Locke proposed the idea of a legislature who receives power from civil society to make policy decisions that benefit all of its citizens. In Two Treatises of Government, Locke describes the current state of voting rights in the District:

For he being supposed to have all, both legislative and executive, power in himself alone, there is no judge to be found, no appeal lies open to anyone, who may fairly and indifferently, and with authority decide, and from whence relief and redress may be expected of any injury or inconvenience that may be suffered from him, or his order.



]]> 2018-05-18 13:39:44 UTC https://padlet.com/damon_fitzgerald/zzm0qrziac5f/wish/261916670 damon_fitzgerald https://padlet.com/damon_fitzgerald/zzm0qrziac5f/wish/261916894 2018-05-18 13:40:18 UTC https://padlet.com/damon_fitzgerald/zzm0qrziac5f/wish/261916894