Harriman Beepat
Prof. B Murdaco
POL 166
October 29th
2013
Assignment (Due 10/29): Choose a passage from one of the Anti-Federalist writers,
write out the passage and give your interpretation of the passage, then explain
what this passage means to you or why you chose it.
From anti-federalist # 17: “It might be here shown, that the power in
the federal legislature, to raise and support armies at pleasure, as well in
peace as in war, and their control over the militia, tend not only to a
consolidation of the government, but the destruction of liberty. I shall not,
however, dwell upon these, as a few observations upon the judicial power of
this government, in addition to the preceding, will fully evince the truth of
the position.”
The author
of this anti-federalist paper, Brutus, questioned Madison on every one of his unsubstantiated
beliefs, about the good quality of this new government created in the
Constitution. While Madison argues that a large nation will benefit
citizens by balancing out the dangers of local factions, Brutus argues that
such a system will be run by snobby aristocrats, uncaring of the common citizen,
and sharing little of their daily concerns. Furthermore, Brutus wrote
that democracy would be best served in smaller territories, where the people
share common views. While the federal government grew larger, the
Anti-Federalist concerns over a dictatorial government never materialized. Though
in the end, they did gain the passage of the Bill of Rights, which remains one
of the most important political documents of the United States.
Most
of the concerns that the anti-federalists wrote about, did indeed came to pass.
If one looks at the behavior of our present government, it's as if the writings of the anti-federalists are coming to pass. They saw in the new constitution, threats to their rights and liberties won from
England. They not only discuss the issues of the constitution, but numerous questions
of this new system of government were also debated. They also questioned
whether members of the government should be elected by direct vote of the
people? Or whether slavery had its place in a nation dedicated to liberty? These
were some of the queries of the anti-federalists, but most importantly, they voiced
many viable arguments about the Constitution, and as stated above, they were
indeed responsible for the Bill of Rights being added to our blueprint for
governing this fledgling country.
Go to the link for "American Politics." Look up the section "Federalism" and explain the differences between horizontal and vertical federalism.
What is Federalism?
Federalism is a political concept in which the
member groups are bound together by covenant with a governing representative
head. This term is also used to refer to a system of the government whereby,
the sovereignty is constitutionally divided between constituent political units
and a central governing authority, the power to govern is shared between
provincial/state governments and national, creating a federation. The
proponents are called federalists.
What
is horizontal federalism?
Horizontal federalism refers to the different ways
state governments relate to one another.
What is vertical federalism?
Vertical federalism is
the relationship among central, states and local governments vertically.
Central government is at the top of the vertical line, and then state
government and then local government.
The main difference between horizontal and vertical
federalism is the relationship between the national and state governments,
referred to as vertical federalism, and horizontal federalism, which is
the relationship that exists between the various states.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_horizontal_federalism.
