Chapter 4

1. Freedom of Speech:  How important is it?  Does the freedom "go too far"? What areas of speech should be protected?

Freedom of speech is a wonderful concept but can be taken advantage of if not careful.  People often use the excuse of freedom of speech to just say anything they want in public settings which is not good.  People need to have restrictions when it comes to their freedom of speech.

2. Freedom of Religion:  Is separation of church and state necessary?  Why or why not? 

It is very important to have freedom of religion.  If we did not have separation of church and state, it would be virtually impossible to teach all the religions of the world which would only be the fair way to go about it.  There are hundreds of different religions and a school could not choose just Christianity to be taught in school.  Separation of church and state is very necessary for our country to thrive.

3. Criminal Procedure: Are defendant's rights crucial to our system of government?  Why or why not?  Many argue that defendant has too many rights - do you agree?  Why or why not?

  Accused criminals should have some rights until they are convicted. After that happens all their rights should be taken away.  I don’t think necessarily that defendants have too many rights because many of them are actually innocent so they deserve what rights they have

Chapter 3

1.       Is a strong national government necessary or should the state governments have an equal share of power? 

In my opinion, I think our national government should have more power. If the states had equal or more power than the national government, our country would be fighting itself. Things such as armies and overall power need to be conducted on a national level.

2.       National power increased during the Great Depression but then power began to shift back to the states (somewhat) during the Reagan administration?  Why did that happen and is that shift appropriate?

The power shifted back to the states during the Reagan administration because Reagan fully supported The New Federalism idea. Reagan wanted to greatly reduce the power of the government because he thought that was where the United States problems were.

3.       Education stirs much discussion relating to the issue of federalism.  Should the national government regulate education or is it a matter best left to state and local governments?  Why

I believe the national government should have a role in education to some degree.  If there was one set “standard” for every state to follow, I feel like that would be fairer.  It seems like some states are much further behind than others in education because some states just don’t find it necessary to fund education the way it should be funded.

Chapter 2 Blog

1. How important was the switch from the Articles to the Constitution?

The United States under the Articles of Confederation operated as a loose group of individual states. States were able to interfere with one another with no power over them to make them act as equals and the federal government had little authority to act as a government with foreign nations. If the switch hadn’t been made to a government with a stronger federal system, individual states would have probably gone their own ways as they tried to do before the Civil War.

2. How important are the Bill of Rights?

The Bill of Rights is very important.  One reason why it is so important is that it was used by Antifederalists as a gathering point to argue in favor of the independent states operating under the Articles of Confederation.  Another reason that the Bill of Rights is important is that it implies that the federal government's power is limited and gives the individual certain rights that neither the government nor majority can infringe on.

3. Is Capital Punishment constitutional?

The Fourteenth Amendment says that life cannot be taken without due process which suggests that it can be allowed with correct proceedings.  My opinion in this matter is that someone who has committed a horrible crime shouldn’t be put out of their misery by the death penalty.  For instance, a person who raped and murdered a victim should have to, in my opinion, work 18 hour days and sleep on a concrete floor with soup for every meal.  Someone who is that evil and mean should have to spend the rest of their lives thinking and regretting about what they did; they shouldn’t be put to death, instead they should suffer like their victims had to.

Chapter 1 Blog

Americans take democracy for granted to some extent.  We Americans are very blessed to live where we do and most of us don’t even realize it.  People who are born here in America have always lived this great free life and we can’t even imagine any other way to live.  In other countries, such as Iraq and Libya, freedom is very limited.  In a nutshell, Americans do take democracy for granted but often don’t realize it because they haven’t experienced anything else.

Having a separation of powers is very crucial to the American government in that one branch of government cannot overpower another branch.  Separation of powers evens everything out and doesn’t let dominances get out of hand.

As for what I am politically, I would say I’m liberal.  I agree with their side the most.