James Madison Essays (Examples)

The first is an arrogant pre-tension falsified by the contradictory opinions of all Rulers in all ages, and throughout the world: the second an unhallowed perversion of the means of salvation" (Boston).

Madison's document was successful in crushing Henry's measure, as opposition flooded the Virginia statehouse from every corner of the commonwealth, and the bill was voted down (Boston). Using this momentum, Madison pushed Jefferson's "Act for Establishing Religious Freedom" through the assembly, while Jefferson was serving in France as the U.S. ambassador (Boston). riting to Jefferson, Madison noted, "The enacting clauses passed without a single alteration, and I flatter myself have in this Country extinguished for ever the ambitious hope of making laws for the human kind" (Boston). It was not long before Madison had the opportunity to express these views to a national audience.

By 1787, it was obvious that the loose arrangement provided by the Articles of…

For Madison, the Constitution provides for a distinction between what he calls the "authority of human laws and the "natural rights of Man," the latter including the right of religious choice.

In the same document, Madison opposes interference from the government in matters religious on the grounds of five reasons. The most significant of these is the third reason: "They seem to imply and certainly nourish the erroneous idea of a national religion." (Madison)3. According to Madison, the idea of a national religion is erroneous, because the Constitution allows for choice of religion.

Furthermore, Madison recognizes religion as an entirely different area of philosophy and study than that of politics. Politics have a specific philosophical ground from which it operates. Politicians, according to Madison's document, cannot by any means claim themselves as experts of religion, as little as religious officials can advise their flock on political matters. Madison promotes the…

Without this strong early advocate for religious freedom divorced from civic interference, modern Americans would enjoy far less personal freedom and individual liberty.

From the early days of the development of the British colonies into an independent nation, Madison was involved. As a student of history, government, and law, he took part in framing the Virginia Constitution in 1776 and held membership in the Virginia Assembly ("James Madison"). Madison served in the Continental Congress and engaged in frequent debates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia ("James Madison"). Together with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, Madison made a major contribution to ratifying the Constitution by writing the Federalist essays, which were in favor of the creation of a more powerful federal government to replace the ailing Confederation. The essays earned him the title of "Father of the Constitution," although he claimed the document was "the work of many heads and many…

Each of these three elements of Madison's governmental plan served a different direct purpose but the combination served to ensure that government would provide order but would do so without growing out of control. The design of federalism would insure that local factions would not become too powerful while still permitting local issues a proper forum. The system of checks and balances would allow each branch of the government the authority to perform its proper function but limits it authority be virtue of the fact that the other two branches had the power to override such authority. In Madison's view this system would ensure that no one branch became too powerful. Finally, the separation of powers made it impossible for any one branch of the government to become too powerful. By dividing the power of government into three branches Madison guaranteed that power would not become too centralized.

Madison's contribution…

So too has this been true for male students as a whole population, as they have experienced ongoing declines in reader, social studies and science.

4. What are you doing as a school to improve the tested subject areas?

These groups will be subjected to greater scrutiny as the school seeks to offer some resolution to such declines. Especially in reading and science where assistance appears to be absolutely necessary, the department chair will use elective classes as an opportunity to remove students in need from class and offer them intense one-on-one instruction in writing, reading and vocabulary. This training diversion will occur across six weeks, with a test at the beginning and a retest at the end to measure and profile individual progress in subjects of the greatest need.

Among these subjects, science is clearly that subject area, with declines for the entire school, for all groups, and even…

" (the Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787, edited by Gaillard Hunt and J.B. Scott New York, 1920, p. 329 as cited in Riemer 46) According to some historians, Madison's contribution to the consolidation of republicanism has been underrated: "Republican ideology - not economic interest, not social class, not sectional outlook - is the key to his political thought and actions. Theoretically and practically, he was always hostile to anti- and pseudo-republicanism. He was the most original, most understanding, and most effective champion of republicanism against its enemies. For this alone, Jeffersonian Democracy owes Madison a debt which has not been sufficiently acknowledged." (Ibid. 63)

James Madison was a firm believer in republicanism. However, he was always aware of the dangers besetting the American republican experiment. In the Virginia ratifying Convention he had declared: "From the first moment that my mind was capable of contemplating political subjects, I never,…

On the other hand, to ensure the direct participation of the people, each state would have representatives based on population. Further, Madison's plan adopted a checks and balances system to prevent tyranny by any one branch. (Wills).

Madison's reasoning for his passions are best summed up in his pro-ratification public relations campaign outlined in what is now known as the Federalist Papers. Perhaps the most famous of these essays is paper number ten, one actually penned by Madison. In it he sums up his belief by explaining how one large country with numerous interests and factions could support a republican form of government better than a small country, which would be more vulnerable to catering to special interests. (Madison, p. 57).

ibliography

Hamilton, Alexander, Madison, James, Jay, John. The Federalist Papers. Clinton Rositer, ed. New York: Signet, 2003.

Wikipedia. Hamilton, Alexander. www.wikipedia.com,2006.

Wills, Garry. James Madison. New York: American Presidents…

Madison's Dilemma

What was Madison's Dilemma and what was his solution to it?

James Madison's dilemma primarily hinges on the idea that "men are not angels," that if the contrary was true, then no form of government would be needed. However, because men are truly not angels, government is a necessary system. This brings about a dilemma to Madison, who views this roundabout thinking as a paradox: even with government, how does one prevent man from his non-angelic, corrupt behaviors? What separates government from the common man? Madison's solution, then, is a separation of powers, a "checks and balances" system in the judicial, legislative, and executive branch. In this manner, each branch limits powers of the other branches, and can also resist major influences within the separate branches.

What is the process of incorporation and what is its constitutional basis?

The incorporation doctrine -- or the "incorporation of the Bill…

As a Secretary of State was the next path to Monroe's political career with whom President Madison appointed him in 1811. Monroe tried to prevent the war with Great ritain but was unable to do so because of unavoidable reasons. Monroe became the intelligence of the war and later acquired the position Secretary of War while maintaining his responsibilities as a Secretary of State (History Central Online, 2000).

Monroe as a President of the United States

Monroe won the 1816 presidential election because of his anti-Federalist actions and with the support of President Madison. He had good strategic choices for his Cabinet members, favoring Southerners, Northerners, and Westerners for his Cabinet. However, due to a contradiction from Henry Clay, Monroe was not able to elect a Westerner in his Cabinet (iography of James Monroe).

Monroe's presidency was termed as an "era of good feeling" because of political talent and skills.…

Federalist Relevance

Madison's Relevance Today: Modern Echoes of Federalist No.

The Federalist Papers penned by James Madison, John Jay, and others in defense of the Constitution during the hotly contested period of its ratification remain some of the most significant documents in American political history to this date. Detailing the arguments of some of the men who helped to frame and influence the composition of the foundational body of laws and structure of government of what is now the most powerful nation on Earth, reading the Federalist Papers is akin to reading the minds of those that have helped to shape global politics and political ideals. At the same time, the fact that so many of the arguments made in these documents are now foregone conclusions, and that the rights and reasons invoked (not to mention the language in which they are invoked) seem so antiquated can make the Federalist…

In fact, during the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Slonim notes that the need for a bill of rights was not even a topic of discussion until Virginian delegate George Mason raised the issue just several days before the Convention was scheduled to rise on September 17; Mason suggested that a bill of rights "would give great quiet to the people." Following this assertion, Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts moved that the Convention add a bill of rights to the Constitution and Mason seconded his motion to no avail: "The Convention unanimously rejected the proposal by a vote of 10 to 0, with one state absent. Failure to heed Mason's counsel was to plague the Federalists throughout the ratification campaign" (emphasis added).

The first major confrontation concerning the ratification of the Constitution involving the need for a bill of rights occurred in Pennsylvania several weeks after the close of the Constitutional Convention; at…

The innate need to not let any person or any entity overpower the rights that have been given will allow for a balance of power that will in the end work to produce a functioning government.

In excerpt 5, as posited by Madison, he states that the reason why a stable and structured government is necessary in the first place is because men are always hungry for more power. When given just a little bit of governance over a bigger crowd of people, they will naturally want more, as they see their way as being the right way, and the only way in which problems could be solved. But because men are inclined to want aspects to turn out in ways where their best interests are in mind and where they come out best in the end, a necessary system needs to be implemented to make sure that one branch…

Dolley Madison (1768 -- 1849), one of the most renowned American first ladies, was President James Madison's wife. She was born in North Carolina and spent her life's early years in Virginia in a very simple environment. In 1790, she married John Todd but he died only after three years due to the yellow fever epidemic. In 1794, Dolley married Madison and became the fourth first lady of the United States of America.1 In the subsequent years, Dolley proved herself as a charming, tactful and graceful official White House hostess for both President Jefferson and President Madison. It won't be incorrect to state that her guts, courageousness and the manner with which she conducted herself shaped the role of first lady in the Unites States of America forever.

When Madison took the office in 1809, Dolley took up her role as the first lady very seriously and concentrated on the…

He seems to draw easy causal connections between policy and personality that deny the exterior circumstances of history. For example, he suggests that Hoover's rigid personality made him unable to accept changes in classical economic theory during the beginning of the Great Depression, and to adopt a more Keynesian approach. Barber asserts that it was not the conventional wisdom of the time that hampered Hoover as much as his own character, despite the fact that few people really could assuredly state they had the 'answer' to the financial crisis at that time. The adaptive-negative aspects of Johnson's personality made that president similarly resistant to the idea of pulling out of Vietnam, and his egoism made him unwilling to be seen as 'losing' the war -- but what about the pressures of the Cold War during that era? Historians also might find some objection to Barber's psychoanalyzing so many major presidential…

Marbury v. Madison (1803) impact on the daily lives of American citizens
In 1803, Marbury v. Madison made the US Constitution as the supreme law, affirming the authority of the Court over judicial review. The U.S. Supreme Court concluded that the federal courts are allowed to overturn the decisions of the other arms of government in the event that they act contrary to the Constitution (GROSSMAN). This is one of those "checks and balances" that are the core of the national government's function.

In 1800, Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican, beat John Adams, a Federalist in becoming America's third president. Right before Adam's retirement, he introduced new positions in the judiciary, which he gave to his political partners. After Jefferson became president, James Madison, the State Secretary, refused to submit the commissions responsible for allowing judges to go back to work. Some of those who had been appointed, in inclusion of…

Marbury v. Madison case is a Supreme Court case that is studied due to its legal and historical significance. In the United States, this is the pioneering as well as most influential legal proceedings ever experienced. The case was the first one of that kind as it looked into the administrative that has been classified given that the law involves all interactions involving the Federal Government (Law.com, 2015).

A Federalist, President John Adams, ran for reelection and lost to Thomas Jefferson of epublican Party. It was the same election that saw the federalist lose control over Congress. However, Adams and Federalist Party maintained their control for a few months. This was before the newly elected President and the new Congress took office. It was during this time that Adams decided to persuade the Judiciary Act of 1801 to be passed by the Congress into a new law. The act gave…

Bridges of Madison County" by Robert James Waller. Bridges of Madison County is this author's first novel and is a love story of a photographer and a farmer's wife. The paper will give an overview of the main characters and the basic story line of the book.

The Bridges of Madison County

The Bridges of Madison County is written by Robert James Waller and is the author's first novel. Bridges of Madison County is a romantic classic of the 1990s' based on a romance between a photographer and a farmer's wife who happen to come into each other's life and experience a passion and love which lasts with them forever. 52-year-old divorcee Robert Kincaid travels to Iowa's Madison County to photograph the seven covered bridges for National Geographic. Once there, he asks directions to the home of Francesca Johnson, who at that time is alone at home while her husband…

Paine explains: "A government of our own is our natural right: and when a man seriously reflects on the precariousness of human affairs, he will become convinced, that it is infinitely wiser and safer, to form a constitution of our own..."

His concept of independence as a nation-state is no different from people's common notion of independence of the individual as a human being's natural right. Each American has the natural right to be free; and so, upon the creation of a nation in America, the country itself attains 'collective independence.' Paine speaks of independence in the purest and natural sense, where every individual shall actively participate in the process of nation-building of a newly-independent America.

While Madison shares Paine's argument that independence should be given to America, his was an altogether different kind of independence. He firmly believes that the American nation should have representative or a "minority" who…

Baltimore Advertiser, 18 Mar 1788)

(2) the second class was reported as comprised by "those descriptions of men who are certainly more numerous with us than in any other part of the globe. First, those men who are so wise as to discover that their ancestors and indeed all the rest of mankind were and are fools. We have a vast overproportion of these great men, who, when you tell them that from the earliest period at which mankind devoted their attention to social happiness, it has been their uniform judgment, that a government over governments cannot exist - that is two governments operating on the same individual - assume the smile of confidence, and tell you of two people travelling the same road - of a perfect and precise division of the duties of the individual." (No. 10 -- on the Preservation of Parties, Public Liberty Depends, 18 Mar…

Comparing Madison's ideas against Karl Marx's proposition of a new form of government (or aptly, a new social order) through Communism, salient differences emerge that highlight how Madison's democracy and Marx's Communism can be found in the opposite poles on the spectrum that is the political school of thoughts. Marx's The Communist Manifesto reflected human history's transition from a traditional to a capitalist society, and eventually, to a Communist society. This transition was a result of a history-long struggle of the "oppressed," who Marx referred to as the "proletariat," the social class that will eventually elevate the status quo of society from an oppressive to an egalitarian one -- that is, through Communism. Marx argues that transitions throughout history prior to the establishment of a Communist societydid not offer any the "class antagonisms" that existed in society:

The history of all past society has consisted in the development of class…

" Of course, he expressed opposition to the first method, simply because it defeats the purpose of the American Revolution, which was to gain independence and autonomy as a nation composed of individuals with free will and liberty. The second method, however, is not also feasible, since to grant the interest of one faction would force the government to grant the other's interest, and the resulting state is a government in conflict with different factions who want to govern the people.

These problems will be resolved, according to Madison, through a republic. In the republican form of government, "a scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect, and promises the cure for which we are seeking." This form of government will provide an avenue or platform in which all factions, groups, and individuals will be able to voice out their concerns, opinions, and arguments regarding important issues about governance…

Factions: Help or Hindrance

James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, aided by John Jay, were responsible for writing eighty-five anonymous essays for the New York Journal in 1787 and 1788. These articles were known as The Federalist Papers, and they were intended to persuade people into ratifying the proposed Constitution. In The Federalist Paper Number 10, Madison responded to critics who had argued that the United States was too large, and had too many groups, or "factions," to be ruled democratically by a single government. Madison acknowledged the importance of factions in the opening paragraph, stating that, "Among the numerous advantages promised by a well constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction" (Rossiter, 1961). In prescribing how to rule and control the effects of factions, Madison detailed their relationships with other important concepts, such as liberty and property,…

achievement of independence left the American statesmen in a serious institutional dilemma. The new state founded, what was to be its form of organization on the other hand, if decided on the federal organization, the statesmen obviously needed to decide both on the states' representation in the institutions, but also on what these institutions would be. James Madison's notes from May 30 are eloquent in describing the debates around these issues.

As it is suggested in the beginning of the note, there were generally three issues that needed to be addressed at Confederate level and upon deciding on the form of organization. These were "common defense, security of liberty & general welfare"

. On a scale describing the level of integration, one had to decide upon establishing a national government or leaving things at an inferior level of integration and achieving the three issues based on a common treaty between…

American Constitution: A living, evolving document -- from guaranteeing the right to enslavement in the 18th century to modifications in favor of freedom in the 19th century

Constitution today protects the rights of all in its language, but this was not always the case in its text and spirit. As a political tactic as well as out of personal conviction and experience, Frederick Douglass' characterization of the American Constitution as an anti-slavery document is certainly an admirable piece of rhetoric. Douglass stated that although the America he spoke to at the time of his autobiography My Bondage and My Freedom, was a nation divided between free and slave states and territories, fundamentally America was and "is in its letter and spirit, an anti-slavery instrument, demanding the abolition of slavery as a condition of its own existence" (396)

Slavery, Douglass stated, deprives an individual of his or her dignity, deprives an…

Property owners were thought to have a more long-term stake in the republic, rather than potentially transient, mobile citizens.

Only later was universal suffrage given to all American men, regardless of whether they owned property. The Founding Father's tempering of the direct, democratic will of the populace was further expressed by the fact that in the original constitution, members of the U.S. Senate are elected by the (democratically selected) state legislature, rather than by the direct will of the people. The 'removed' or representative, republican element of the constitution in its original form was even more extreme in the original constitution, in terms of the electoral process and the incomplete enfranchisement of even the male populace.

Another fear, besides the fickleness of the populace expressed by Madison was that of factionalism, that in a pure democracy the populace would have the ability to form self-interested factions and exert an undue…

Miracle at Philadelphia

The convention began gathering here on the 14th of May (Bowen), but the condition of the roads have kept many of the delegates away. The men already assembled from Virginia and Pennsylvania believed that this is going to be more than just a reaffirmation and strengthening of the old Articles of Confederation (Library of Congress). Since the Articles of Confederation is only a loose contract between the thirteen new states, it is assumed that a completely new document will have to be drawn up. The concern is that there is a great deal of conflict between the factions due to geographical and ideological differences which may subvert the process before it starts.

The roads into Philadelphia were a problem, but the delegates finally began to assemble on the 25th in some strength. It was on that day that a quorum of states was attained when those from…

Second Reconstructions

One of the most dramatic consequences of the Civil ar and Reconstruction was that the South was effectively driven from national power for roughly six decades. Southerners no longer claimed the presidency, wielded much power on the Supreme Court, or made their influence strongly felt in Congress But beginning in the 1930s, the South was able to flex more and more political muscle, and by the 1970s some began to think that American politics and political culture were becoming 'southernized'.u How did this happen and what difference did it make to the development of the South and the United States?

Under segregation most blacks in the U.S. still lived in the South and were employed as sharecroppers, laborers and domestic servants, but the system of segregation and discrimination was also found everywhere in other sections of the country. Certainly virtually nothing was done for civil rights during the…

Roger Wilkins presents perhaps the most complete picture of the Founding Fathers in his book Jefferson's Pillow: The Founding Fathers and the Dilemma of Black Patriotism. It is Wilkins' argument that Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, James Madison and George Mason were not the idyllic seekers-of-justice and equality that we have been taught, but rather they were wealthy slaveholders with political powers that were not always exercised is an "American" way. In light of this newly presented information, our former ideals need to be reevaluated against the ideas of black patriotism, as well as against our thoughts on patriotism in general. How could all men have been created equal, when African-Americans were not considered to be men at all? Indeed, Americans cannot fully come to understand themselves until they are able to understand who the aforementioned individuals were - no matter what the results.

Slaveholders were great politicians in our nation's…

eligious tolerance and freedoms do come out from holly scriptures of any religion, they are stated in Koran and in Bible nearly in the same way: "avoid unfaithful" not persecute them but simply avoid. These words have a deep meaning, which refers not just to the religion but also to any other belief and views. oger Williams was the first minister who introduced the principles of modern religious liberties into the civil practice as he wrote in the Bloudy Tenet of Persecution (1640):

No man shall be required to worship or maintain a worship against his will." Until then, Europe and America had endured what Thomas Paine later called, "the adulterous connection between church and state."

In order to defend the representatives of different confessions and guarantee free participation of citizens in country's public life, there had to be taken measures that would preserve from the dominance of one religious…

Marbury, the president of the United States appointed him a justice of peace... And that the seal of the United States, affixed thereto by the secretary of state, is conclusive testimony of the verity of the signature, and of the completion of the appointment; and that the appointment conferred on him a legal right to the office for the space of five years...he [Marbury] has a consequent right to the commission; a refusal to deliver which is a plain violation of that right, for which the laws of his country afford him a remedy" (Marshall 1803). However, "the authority, therefore, given to the supreme court, by the act establishing the judicial courts of the United States, to issue writs of mandamus to public officers, appears not to be warranted by the constitution," so Marshall stated the U.S. Supreme Court had no direct authority to issue the writ under the Judiciary…

The Hartford Convention was a gathering of Federalist Party delegates from five New England states that met in Hartford, Connecticut, between December 15, 1814, and January 5, 1815. Its members convened to discuss their long-held grievances against the policies of the successive Democratic-

Republican administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

After that, the party never regained a national following. Its beliefs and actions during the War of 1812 helped seal its fate. y 1828 the Federalists became the first American political party to die out because it could not adjust to an increasingly democratic national spirit, especially in the nation's towns and cities. And among most Americans, mainly farmers suspicious of government, its policies of strong federal involvement in the economy kept it un-popular. Inconsistency in its stance toward military action (first undertaking a naval war with France, then treating for peace with that same nation, then actively opposing…

45, for instance, where he argues that "the State governments may be regarded as constituent and essential parts of the federal government; whilst the latter is nowise essential to the operation or organization of the former. ithout the intervention of the State legislatures, the President of the United States cannot be elected at all." (Rossiter, 287) This is a position which suggests not only that the Federalists felt that significant power had already been entrusted to leaders at the state level, but also that this power is seen primarily as a function of the power of the federal government. Thus, we are given further confirmation that the Constitution was inherently a federal document.

In key segments of the debate such as that shown in the Anti-Federalist Paper No. 17, we can see that those who stood in opposition to the empowerment of federal authority derived from the Constitution were a…

Constitution provides depicts what is necessary to amend the Constitution. Either two-thirds of both Houses of the Congress, or an application by the legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, can call for a convention proposing amendments to the constitution. Ratification requires that the Legislatures of three fourths of the several states or Constitutional conventions in three-fourths of the states approving the ratification of those amendments. herefore, the Founding Fathers simultaneously ensured that the Constitution would be a living document, while also taking steps to preserve the Constitution and make it somewhat invulnerable to the changing whims of people.

he Founding Fathers appear to have had some trepidation about the idea of changing the Constitution. After all, the Constitution was the result of literally years of debate. It was not the first document to govern the former colonies after gaining independence from Great Britain, and the first system proved untenable.…

Judicial review allows lawmakers to reflect changing morals and ideals when enacting legislation, but prevents them from allowing the hot-button topics of the moment to determine the laws of a nation. In fact, to really understand the success of judicial review, one need only look to the election in the Ukraine, where the Ukrainian Supreme Court may be the only body far-enough removed from party politics to ensure that Ukrainian voters have their say. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Justice Marshall should be very flattered.

orks Cited

The Gathering Storm." John Marshall: Definer of a Nation. 2003. DuPage County Bar

Association. 9 Dec. 2004 http:dcba.org/brief/sepissue/1997/art20997.htm.

Hugo Lafayette Black." Arlington National Cemetery ebsite. 2004. Arlington National

Cemetery ebsite. 9 Dec. 2004 http:www.arlingtoncemetery.net/hlblack.htm.

Judicial review/Marbury v. Madison." National Legal Center for the Public Interest. 2002.

National Legal Center for the Public Interest 9 Dec. 2004 http://www.nlcpi.org/pdf/JudicialReviewMarburyvMadison.pdf#search='judicial%20review%20marbury'.

Linder, Doug. "Judicial…

independent United States shed colonial past begin a direction, politically

Political and Economic Unity

In order to properly understand the methodology employed by the newly independent United States used to effectively shed its colonial past and begin a new direction politically and economically, one must first understand how the country operated on these two fronts as a series of British colonies prior to the waging of the Revolutionary War. Politically, the colonies existed as an extension of the British crown, were governed by the monarchy which ruled the foreign kingdom, and had little say in matters that were mandated by Britain. The colonists preferred a form of salutary neglect in terms of British involvement with their daily political lives, but when Britain intervened (particularly in the years leading up to the revolution) in the daily affairs of the colonialists, there was little they could actually do about it -- save…

S. Congress' prohibition of the practice and the Court's refusal to allow the practice, conflicted with the rights of individuals engaged in such practice. The actions of a religious group which are normally protected under the First Amendment and the laws of states like Utah that might wish to turn a blind eye to the practice were not allowed.

The states claim the social contract has been broken because the U.S. government has infringed upon individuals' liberty to marry more than one person and the states' rights to regulate matters not specifically delineated in the Bill of Rights. However, if this were the case that a state could secede every time the federal government disagreed with a state's definition of individual liberties. Virtually every constitutional dispute in the history of the nation, regarding the Bill of Rights, from abortion, to affirmative action, to gay marriage, to free speech, could justify…

International Terrorism & Crime: Trends & linkages

Define "LOOSE NETWORKS"

Loose networks describe autonomous terroist groups that do not directly depend on state sponsorship. These networks operate covertly, using clandestine methods such as cellular lines to communicate and shield their activities from scrutiny, which makes gathering intelligence on their activities more difficult. Subgroups exploit local opportunity, allowing their leaders to simultaneously encourage terrorist activity and to deny responsibility.

The impact of the "Former Soviet Union and the alkans"

Institutionalized corruption in regions such as the FSU and alkans has not only domestic, but world-wide implications. For example, the Kosovo Liberation Army has used its connections with drug traffickers and international criminals to fund its paramilitary campaign against Serbia. Likewise, Serbian criminal groups helped fund militia groups in the alkans. The Russian military has become so corrupt that many fear their participation in trafficking biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. About 200…

American history as it relates to the first five Presidents of the United States. Specifically, it will discuss the impact of early leaders of America on the democratic government, and how the first five presidents impacted early American government. It will also look at the accomplishments of each president and different facts about each that contributed positively and negatively on America as it formed as a nation. The first five presidents of the United States were George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. Each man influenced American history in his own unique and significant ways, with both positive and negative results. These leaders were really creating the office of President as they tried to run the country with intelligence and finesse. Their accomplishments were not always perfect, but they did the best they could with the knowledge and resources available at the time.

THE IMPACT OF…

status of federalism within the U.S. It is the thesis of the paper that the President, the Courts and Congress have assumed influential and significant roles in the shaping of federalism in recent decades. Initially, a conceptualization of federalism will be offered as established by the founding fathers. Current literature will then be used to identify factors associated with and the role assumed by the presidency, the Courts and Congress in federalism as it exists today within the U.S.

Conceptual Framework unique federal system of government to replace the original Articles of Confederation was established b the U.S. Constitution. On the basis of federalism, the Framer's of the Constitution delineated that national concerns were to be handled by a national legislative branch and executive branch of government while concerns at the local and state level would be handled by state legislatures and governors. It was the intent of the Framer's…

10 was written so that people could see the good in the Constitution and why it was so very important that it be ratified and accepted by all of the states in the U.S.

Federalist Paper No. 10 (Madison, 1787) is an excellent primary source because it has been verified by scholars and historians throughout the ages, because it can be safely attributed to Madison as the author, and because it has so much historic significance for the United States overall. However, understanding that Paper in context is vital, or some of what Madison had to say will be lost. For that reason, a secondary source is needed. In this case, hodenhamel's (1987) Letters of liberty: A documentary history of the U.S. Constitution helps to show how Madison's (1787) Federalist Paper No. 10 was used as a part of something much greater. Taken by itself, the Paper is still significant.…

Alexander Hamilton carried on an affair with the wife of "a notorious political schemer," Maria Reynolds. Andrew Jackson married Rachel Jackson before her divorce from Lewis Robards was finalized and therefore was accused of marrying a married woman. Jackson's opponent in 1828, John Quincy Adams, was in turn accused of "corrupt bargaining" during his term. Jackson also championed Margaret O'Neill Timberlake, who married his secretary of war, John Eaton. "Peggy O'Neill" was considered a woman of "questionable virtue," and as a result Martin Van Buren became Jackson's successor in the presidency. After the death of Jackson and Eaton, Peggy married a 19-year-old dance teacher (which raised eyebrows, as she was 59), who embezzled her money and ran off to Europe with her 17-year-old granddaughter.

Other scandals concerned Richard Mentor Johnson, who ran for vice president in 1836 with Martin Van Buren. He supposedly shot Tecumseh during the ar of 1812,…

" It is course legitimate editorial decision-making to spend less time on one aspect than another writer might invest on that issue; but this points out the way in which Berkin makes her history more like journalism, bringing in as many quotes from a diverse set of speakers whenever she can. It was interesting to know that Jefferson was dead set against the proceedings going private.

Middlekauff (630) writes that by putting their Virginia Plan out first, the Virginians "had framed the terms of the discussion." And for the next two weeks the delegates supporting the Virginia Plan "had forced the pace of deliberations, and, for the most part, controlled the Convention." The momentum was on the side of the Virginians and their supporters; the Virginia Plan called for an executive branch, a judiciary, and a "supreme" legislature - and that the representation in the legislature should be allocated according…

Federalist No.

Primary Source Analysis

On September 17, 1787 the Constitution of the United States was signed by 39 delegates from 12 states in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after spending the summer debating the final form in the first Constitutional Convention. The Constitution represented in part an attempt to prevent the dissolution of the confederacy of states formed by the shared goal of independence, by forming a strong federal government (hodenhamel, 1987, p. 6).

Once the Constitution had been signed it had to be ratified by at least nine states before the federal government could be formed. To urge the states to ratify, a series of influential essays were published in New York newspapers by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, under the pseudonym Publius (hodenhamel, 1987, p. 45). This collection of essays was called The Federalist Papers (Genovese, 2009).

Historians have since recognized that the most influential of…

Furthermore, while it established Canada as an independent
nation, it also established America. As a war over its previous colonizer,
America can be said to have won a second war of independence. This is
further reflected in considering President Madison's war message to
Congress. Madison appeals to the "honor" of his country, as if Britain has
violated it and it is America's responsibility to retain it (Madison,
1812). Although the war was fought primarily for economic reasons, the
"honor" Madison is referring to was regained during the war as Great
Britain was unable to dominate the United States. In fact, the United
States did more than a good job of fighting the British. Thus, it appears
that the war was fought somewhat over honor, and the United States
maintained their honor in the war. This means that the United States
established itself, and its pride, in the war, and this…

Mill and U.S. Constitution

None of the issues being raised today by the Occupy all Street (OS) movement are new, but rather they date back to the very beginning of the United States. At the time the Constitution was written in 1787, human rights and civil liberties were far more constrained than they are in the 21st Century. Only white men with property had voting rights for example, while most states still had slavery and women and children were still the property of fathers and husbands. Only very gradually was the Constitution amended to grant equal citizenship and voting rights to all, and even the original Bill of Rights was added only because the Antifederalists threatened to block ratification. In comparison, the libertarianism of John Stuart Mill in his famous book On Liberty was very radical indeed, even in 1859 much less 1789. He insisted that individuals should be left…

American Political Philosophy: epublicanism

Within this paper, the general theory of republicanism will be presented. The conceptualization of republicanism discussed within the paper as an American political philosophy will be based on The Federalist Papers written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison in 1787. Initially, a brief overview of relevant background information on The Federalist Papers will be provided. This will be followed by a discussion of the primary components of republicanism as set forth within the works of Hamilton, Jay and Madison. A summary and conclusions will then be provided.

Overview of The Federalist Papers

The Federalist Papers have been suggested as representing one of the most important writing in American political thought (Yarbrough, 1986). It represents a collection of 85 letters written by Hamilton, Jay and Madison under the pseudonym of Publius. The letters were written to the American public and were initially published in a…

Military

The colonists' most revered military institution was the militia, a model inherited from their forebears in England. The philosophical underpinnings of the militia model are easy to understand: "fear of a standing army," (Millet and Maslowski 1). A standing army can turn against its people, staging what now would be called military coups one after the other. During and especially after Independence, the validity, effectiveness, efficiency, and relevance of the militia model was called into question. This is why the United States Constitution eventually included the provisions for federalized systems of national security. Naturally, the existence of a standing army to "provide for the common defense" would be required. Independence required an organized military strategy against a powerful Empire; to protect the new nation, it was certain that the military would be necessary to preserve all that hard work. The Constitution therefore enabled the creation and maintenance of standing…

In the period between the evolution and the drafting of the Constitution, Jefferson noted that the eventual existence of a dictator in place of a king in Ancient ome clearly indicated the existence of real failings within the oman system:

dictator is entirely antithetical to republicanism's "fundamental principle...that the state shall be governed as a commonwealth," that there be majority rule, and no prerogative, no "exercise of [any] powers undefined by the laws." "Powers of governing...in a plurality of hands." (Zuckert, 1996, p. 214)

As a result, Jefferson, like the philosophes before him (and the Iroquois) would turn to ideas that would balance the necessary evils of government power with the rights of the people. James Madison agreed wholeheartedly, and urged in "Government of the United States" that a constitutional government based on separation of powers was the only sure way of preventing the country from taking the "high road…

Origins and Characteristics of the Law and Legal Systems in the U.S.

The Origins and Characteristics of the Law

and Legal Systems in the United States

The origins and characteristics of the law and legal systems of the United States

It is a commonplace observation to state that the Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the U.S. are the origin of and provide the characteristics of the legal systems of the U.S. But in order to truly understand the ideas behind these landmark legal documents one must delve deeper into history. What of the texts that influenced America's Founding Fathers? Most may know that the Magna Charta, the English charter from the year 1215, was an influence. But the English weren't the only influential opinion-makers for revolutionary Americans. The Scottish and the French were too. The Scottish Declaration of Arbroath, for example, has been linked by scholars as an…

In his Virginia Resolution,
Madison maintains that in the aforementioned Alien and Sedition Acts,
Congress "exercises a power no where delegated to the federal government,"
however he does not have an argument against the federal government's power
to rule on the constitutionality of its own legislation (Virginia
Resolution). Furthermore, Madison maintains the state has power because
the states agreed to the Constitution, yet this overlooks the power that
the states vested in the federal government by the Constitution. In the
Kentucky Resolution Thomas Jefferson also opposes what he believes to be
abuses of power by the federal government. He believes the states have
banded as a commonwealth and not a federation, and thus the Kentucky
Resolution is his hopes that the "commonwealth does now enter against them,
its solemn protest" meaning that it protests against the power he and other
Republicans believe that Congress has used to overstep its designated…

Barbary Terror: America's 1815 ar against the Pirates of North Africa

During the 19th century, pirates were far from an abstract threat on international seas. Nor was piracy merely due to the actions of some rogue elements. The nations of Algeria, Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli used state-sponsored piracy to profit off of ransom money. Sailors who were not ransomed in a system of state-sponsored forced labor. European nations had long taken the attitude that piracy was inevitable, and rather than fight it, they rationalized that "paying Barbary rulers a 'license' for trade was less expensive than constantly convoying ships or attacking the Barbary powers in their heavily fortified ports" (Leiner 14). Remarkably, the still relatively weak and young American nation under the leadership of President James Madison was able to challenge and defeat the Barbary nations at the piracy game. The book The End of Barbary Terror: America's 1815…

The presidents that served between 1789 and 1840 helped shape the nation during its formative years. During this critical period in American history, statesmen laid the foundations for political culture, philosophy, and institutions. Although all the presidents during this fifty-year period had some influence on the early republic, several left a more outstanding mark and legacy. As a Founding Father and author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson undoubtedly deserves recognition as one of the most important presidents in the entire history of the country. As a slave owner who believed in a small central government, Jefferson also set a precedent for what would become a series of contentious compromises between Americans who supported racism and the slave trade and those who recognized the ways slavery contradicted the underlying principles of the democracy. Likewise, James Monroe carried on the American legacy of compromise, and is remembered most by the…

.." And with that that party "controls the spoils of office" by appointing people friendly to the president's election to positions of influence and by keeping the party's masses happy by giving them what they asked for.

In defining HO and HY, and UNDER HAT CONDITIONS the CHANGE CAME on the national political scene that vaulted Andrew Jackson (a roughneck frontier and war hero with little sophistication vis-a-vis national politics and diplomatic elitism) - i.e., Jacksonian Democracy - into the hite House, University of Chicago social science professor Marvin Meyers writes in American Quarterly (Meyers 1953) that there are three distinct phases to examine. Put in the context of published volumes that would cover these three phases, Meyers lays it out: one, "the revolt of the urban masses against a business aristocracy"; two, "simple farming folk rise against the chicanery of capitalist slickers"; and three, "...tense with the struggle of…

American Government Politics. Discussed is the fourth amendment and the current policies of searches and seizures. Four sources used. Footnotes.

Fourth Amendment

Americans hold very dear the Bill of Rights. Among the ten amendments that make up the Bill of Rights is the Fourth, one many refer to as the most ambiguous of the all the amendments. Search and seizure law is drawn from the Fourth and over the years the Supreme Court has come to view that its main purpose is the protection of a citizen's property and privacy. However, according to the conclusion of the Court, the Fourth Amendment does not "protect all property interests or apply to all situations where people might wish to protect their privacy." Perhaps, never has this amendment felt more threatened than today. The attacks on the orld Trade Center on September 11th, spurred the hite House Administration to create the office of…

Constitutional Models and Political Parties

Constitutionalism and noble representative government are concepts and practices that have existed longer than the American epublic. The existence of these concepts provided the foundation for the formation of the American Democratic Experiment through acting as ingredients towards this process. Since the foundation of American epublic, there are various constitutional models that have been established. These different models have been established in attempts to respond to several governance issues that emerge from time to time. Actually, these different models have provided the foundation for governance models and practices for better governance of the society. Some examples of constitutional models include the 18th Century Madisonian and Hamiltonian constitutional models and Barker's normative democratic theory, which differ with regards to their major components.

Madisonian and Hamiltonian Models v. Normative Democratic Theory

The 18th Century constitutional models basically relied on principles introduced by Madison and Hamilton. Madisonian constitutional…

Such differences may lead us to question whether there are any universal moral principles or whether morality is merely a matter of "cultural taste" (Velasquez, Andre, Shanks and Meyer: 1).

If there is no transcendent ethical or moral standard, then cultural relativists argue that culture becomes the ethical norm for determining whether an action is right or wrong. This ethical system is known as cultural relativism. Cultural relativism is the view that all ethical truth is relative to a specific culture. hatever a cultural group approves is considered right within that culture. Conversely, whatever a cultural group condemns is wrong (Relativism: 2).

The key to the doctrine of "cultural relativism" is that right and wrong can only be judged relative to a specified society. There is no ultimate standard of right and wrong by which to judge culture. Proponents of cultural relativism believe this cultural diversity proves that culture alone…

People

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered a brief but stirring speech while the country was in the process of tearing itself apart in a civil war. During that speech President Lincoln stated a phrase that has helped to capture what democracy means. Lincoln told the audience that had gathered to dedicate a soldier's cemetery that the government that had been formed "of the people, by the people, for the people" would not "perish from the earth." In that phrase, Lincoln summarized what the founding fathers had hoped to capture in documents that shaped the system of government they believed was essential for prosperity and happiness for all mankind. The fact that the United States has remained in existence for more than 200 years does not necessarily mean that the ideals Lincoln spoke of are in existence today. In fact, many would argue that the concepts Lincoln captured in his…

Essay Prompt
Naturalize Me
Click the link below to visit the Naturalization page:
https://www.uscis.gov/graphics/index.htm
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Complete the following:
Define naturalization.
In your own words, list the requirements to become a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Review the sample Naturalization Self Test that may be asked on the naturalization exam.
Answer the first twenty questions. Be sure to include the questions in your assignment submission (for your instructor).
Which question(s) did you find to be challenging?
Are the questions asked of those persons wishing to become naturalized citizens fair?
Do you think most U.S. born citizens could answer these questions? Why or why not?
Naturalization
Most of the people in the United States on a permanent basis are born as United States citizens. However, there are many other people that are present in the United States on temporary visas, on permanent resident cards or that have…

(ipley 2002) There is also an increasing presence of Middle Eastern expats within the metropolitan Detroit and its suburbs. Bush genuinely, believed, according to his supporters that ideologically driven Islamic youth might perform terrorist's acts from within despite any efforts by the Transportation Safety Authorities to ensure that no terrorists came into the country from without.

This gave rise to the first critic of President Bush, invoking the American Defense Act to allow security officials to perform security related wire taps on telephones and electronic surveillance on computer activities of suspected terrorists. This was in direct violations of the FISA (Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act). The violations involved non-compliance with FISA. The FISA rule involves the ordering the surveillance of suspects only after such a surveillance is court-ordered. (Apuzzo 2007) the uniqueness of the FISA construct is that for security reasons the court does not have to be informed of the…

In Medieval times Christianity took over as the dominant form of ethics and through feudalism, divine law organized social and political hierarchy. As religiosity was replaced by humanism, and the Catholic church by alternative viewpoints (Protestantism) political and social structures were torn apart, forcing change and a decline in the structure of feudalism and the opening of a new, more individualistic, some say greedy, system of capitalism. Philosophies of the Age of Englitenment further distanced themselves from using religion as the sole basis for structure with such philosophers as John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Rene Descartes and others holding that human existence was more individual -- and therefore more dependent upon individual morals and judgements. Romanticism took these ideas and, through fusion, merged them with ideas on nature, emotion, and the grand capacity for actualization, but again, through the individual (Tumin and Plotch, 1977; (luhm and Heineman). The modern age is…