Studii Culturale EN curs 4 ~Concept of Government ~ 2 important clauses included in the Constitution: article 1, section 8, clause 18 Congress can

n make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers. (necessary and proper clause) gives the Congress an enormous power it can act as a supreme power the 10th Amendment The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. the problem here lies in the vagueness of the statement the elastic clause (because it leaves room for interpretation).

Both these clauses have created heated debate over the centuries and are still debatable. Government all the institutions & representatives (including the Presidency) which rule/govern a country (in a very general sense) The monarchy was considered without point in the US because of the lack of aristocracy. Class difference: wealth was acquired as a consequence of (how much) work and not by inheritance.

Restlessness a very important factor which was determinant for the concept of Government.
(social and geographic movement) people had no attachment for places . also a positive characteristic because it contributed to development. Another factor which contributed to the creation of Government was education. The Power had to be placed in the hands of people who knew how to use it = educated people; people who were knowledgeable of political issues. The First Government: The Articles of Confederation (first Constitutional framework) 1777 approved by the Continental Congress (-> acted like a Government) which met once a year ~ weak Government the states had more power. The Congress was summoned again, and instead of correcting the old document, decided to create a new one - Constitution. The Virginia Plan James Madison -> much of what has been included in the plan was also taken up in the Constitution. James Madison & Co. = the Nationalists (later the Federalists) acquired the name of Fathers/Framers of the Constitution. The Anti-Nationalists were lead by William Paterson. (problems)

How powerful should the Government be How powerful would the States be -> they wanted to reach an equilibrium between the two.

The Constitution created a strong Government which was based on three branches legislative, executive and judiciary/legal branch which interpreted the laws. ! The fear was that one branch would acquire too much power -> the principle of checks and balances was created -> a system that insures that for every power in Government, there is an equal and opposed power placed in a separate branch to restrain that force. This idea triggered another feature of the new Government the separation of powers. (the powers of Government are separated in the three branches, thus preventing the accumulation of too much power in any one branch). Representation proportional representation they tried to fight a system that would delegate representatives to the Government. Supremacy clause: written in Article 4 and holds that in any conflict between federal laws and treaties and state laws, the will of the National Government always prevails.

The Result of the Constitution-making process

all the objectives of the Government were spelled out in the preamble the powers of Government horizontal powers (which are shared) and vertical powers (federalist) The Anti-Federalists rejected the ratification of the Constitution. The battle for ratification was carried out in newspapers, in hand-distributed leaflets. The Federalists who wrote the Federalist Papers James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay put together 85 essays which they issued in the New York newspaper. They signed the essays with the name Publius which in latin means public man, thereby seeking to influence the NY State in favor of the ratification. The Articles were meant to answer the arguments that the new Government would be the right Government would be capable of holding the states together and govern them. !!! John Locke Second Treaty on Government (download main ideas and organization of his book) !!! Thomas Hobbes Leviathan (-//-) -> THEIR VIEWS ON GOVERNMENT!!! Aristotle first.