6-Week Exam Essay Questions (Rev 1)

 

1.  How did the Constitution strike a balance between a strong national government and states’ rights?  Has that balance shifted too far in favor of the federal government, or have the states maintained their proportionate sovereignty?  Explain.

A. Constitution

1.   Enumerated powers – limits what the national government can do

2.   Article V – any changes to the constitution has to be ratified by the states

3.   Article IV, VI

4.   Amendment 17 – direct election of senators

5.   Supremacy Clause; Necessary and Proper Clause

B.  Federalism

1.   Dual Federalism – feds can’t exceed enumerated powers

2.   Cooperative Federalism – pro-national power; New Deal (social programs)

3.   Creative Federalism – pro-national power; funds local programs

4.   New Federalism – Reagan; cuts social programs

C.  Supreme Court

Expansion of Federal Power:                           Expansion/Protection of State Power:

1.   McCulloch v. Maryland                              1.  Dredd Scott. v. Sanford

2.   Gibbons v. Ogden

D. Patriot Act

1.   Allows INS to detain illegal immigrants indefinitely

2.   Denies right to free speech by taping terrorists with their lawyers

3.   Roving wire taps

 

2.  Discuss the role the Supreme Court has played in the drive for the abolition of slavery and civil rights for African Americans.  Examining that role, does the Supreme Court wield too much power, allowing it to overrule the democratic process?  Explain.

A. Applicable Cases

1.   Dredd Scott v. Sansford – taken to free state and returned; sued for freedom

2.   Civil Rights Cases of 1883 – private discrimination is allowed

3.   Plessy v. Ferguson

4.   Brown v. Board of Education – equal protection; deliberate speed to desegregation

B.  Power (somewhat of an opinion) – no, it is providing the check and balance it is intended to provide

 

3.  Discuss the danger of factions in government, and how the Framers sought to minimize it.  Did the Framers achieve their goals?  Give examples of how they did or did not.

A. The Federalist #10 (Madison)

1.   Factions arise due to property dispersion

2.   Only get rid of factions by destroying them or making everyone the same

3.   Can’t destroy, so try to control with a Representative government

a.   Controls passion, encourages each to see the big picture

b.  So no factions get too large

 

 

4.  What were the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.  How did the Framers address these weaknesses and balance the interests of the various states in order to arrive at a constitution which was acceptable to all?

A. Articles of Confederation weaknesses

1.   Unable to levy taxes

2.   Unable to regulate trade (interstate commerce)

3.   Needed 9 states to pass any measures or take any action

4.   Could not fund anything, even the Army

B.  Balancing state interests in the Constitution

1.   State Interests

a.   Southern Interests that were written in

·    3/5 Compromise

·    20 Year Compromise

·    Slavery is a state issue

b.  National powers enumerated; all other powers are reserved to the states

2.   National Power – Levy taxes, regulate trade, supreme power

 

 

 

 

5.  Compare and contrast the Gay Rights movement with the efforts of African Americans to achieve equal rights.  What methods has each group used to achieve its goals?  Has the system worked as intended by the Framers?  Explain.

A. African American effort

1.   Gained support and groups formed to lobby Congress – passed Civil Rights Act of 1964, Civil Rights Cases of 1883, Plessy, Brown

B.  Gay Rights

1.   Limited success in court (HIV discrimination, insurance, and some employment issues decided in their favor)

2.   President Clinton championed their right to be gay and in the military (compromised with Congress)

3.   1986 Powers v. Hardwick – upheld law’s ban on sodomy

C.  Both had trouble getting civil rights through the Supreme Court initially

D. General

1.   Courts to challenge minority issues

2.   Legislation to attack the issue once it is more debatable

 

6.  Examine the influence of Hobbes and Locke on the Framers.  How is their influence reflected in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the writings of Madison and Jefferson?  Were they more influenced more by one or the other?  Explain.

 

7.  In what ways has the government expanded its power in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks?  Are such expansions warranted, or has the government gone beyond its Constitutional limitations?  Explain.

A. Patriot Act

1.   Allows INS to detain illegal immigrants indefinitely

2.   Denies right to free speech by taping terrorists with their lawyers

3.   Roving wire taps

4.   “Unlawful combatants” not POWs

B.  Military Tribunals

 

 

8.  How is the right to “privacy” protected by the Bill of Rights if the word itself does not appear in that document?  Examine modern examples of actions which are or are not protected under the right to privacy.

A. Privacy

1.   4th Amendment – grants the right to be “secure in their persons, houses …” which is an aspect of privacy

2.   Also, 9th Amendment says the people are not restricted to the rights enumerated by the Constitution

B.  Modern actions not protected under right to privacy

1.   Right to die

2.   (formerly abortion, though now legal)

3.   Homosexuality