Chapter 4 Discussion

 Freedom of speech is vital in running a democratic nation. Without the freedom to voice opinions, the United States would more closely resemble a communistic country. Our elections, protests, debates, etc would be directly affected; how does one vote for a president or other political figure without the right to voice his or her opinion? On the contrary, there are certain opinions and such that should not be allowed to surface in an inappropriate setting. I’m not okay with the freedom of people to put others down because of their race, ethnicity, sex, orientation, etc. I’m not saying each person should have to agree with another person’s aspect of their life; however, it should be accepted nonetheless. America is a country people come to because diversity is thought to be widely accepted, not hindered. The right to voice opinions may be included in the first amendment but let us not forget the other rights given and protected by that same amendment allowing us to be who and what we are. 

  I believe a separation of church and state is very important. If the two were not separate, I think it would cause many issues between the citizens and government because of the diversity among Americans in a religious sense. Many of our ancestors came to America for the freedom to practice the religion of their choice and I think it would be contradictory to have a set religion for laws and such to be based around. 

  I believe a defendant’s rights are very important. If a defendant didn’t have rights, people could be wrongfully imprisoned. I don’t think that defendants have too many rights; however, I do think that sometimes the rights they do have are manipulated to get the guilty off the hook. 

Chapter 3 Government Blog

          Personally, I believe it is important to have both a strong national government and state governments. If state governments were not able to be partially involved, I think the national government could get carried away with having too much power. I also don’t think the national government officials would necessarily be able to take into consideration the opinions and troubles of individual states without solely looking at the big picture because they wouldn’t know the state as well as a representative whose main focus would be that particular state. Not only that, but the national government could become overwhelmed trying to solve trivial problems that state officials could easily solve themselves.
           During the Great Depression, the shift change was necessary to keep the states united. It was a time in which togetherness was needed and the national government could try to help the states do what they could to boost the economy back up after the war. 

           State/local governments should have partial say-so in the matter of education; however, the national government should be able to intervene in some cases, provide some educational funding to better schools, and approve drastic changes made to the curriculum/standards set by the federal government. I think if the national government was solely regulating the education system, they would become too caught up in crunching numbers instead of solving the real problems in schools. When Bush issued the No Child Left Behind Act, giving the federal government more power educationally, I believe the real goals of education started getting lost in the shuffle. Teachers have gotten so caught up in teaching only what will be on the standardized exams (in which X amount of children have to do well for them to keep their jobs) rather than preparing children for furthering their education. I don’t think anyone can ever be fully prepared for life after high school, but if educators were able to teach what was important rather than what was mandatory for answer sheets, most people would feel more confident in their abilities to make something of themselves and their futures. Children are the future and their education should not be hindered in order to meet a number dished out from the national government.

Chapter Two

The Constitution was the start of a new era for America in that the country began to functionally exist as a whole for the first time. It was the first major establishment of rules to live by for Americans and allowed the U.S. to operate in a less chaotic manner. If Americans were still living solely by the Articles, I don’t think America would have become as successful as it is today, mostly because of how limited their newly found independence was under the Articles of Confederation.

The Bill of Rights acts as an insurance policy in which very important powers that we possess as citizens of the United States cannot be taken away. If the Bill of Rights didn’t exist, Congress would be allowed to abolish those rights no questions asked.

In severe cases, such as murder, rape, etc, I believe capital punishment could be constitutional if a substantial amount of hard evidence is found against the person in question. By committing crimes such as those listed above, the criminal is infringing on their victim's personal rights. Death isn’t something that should be taken lightly because it is permanent, therefore it should be proven beyond reasonable doubt that a person has committed the crime in question. They can't bring back their victims or take away the eternal pain from the friends and families of the people who have lost their lives from the criminals acts; however, if a person was found to be innocent after death, there is no undoing lethal injection or the electric chair

Chapter 1 Discussion

Americans have taken for granted the freedom of being able to choose the fate of our own country. Some Americans do not even participate in voting for the president as well as the other officials in the federal government. Many countries are still stuck under dictatorships in which they have very limited personal freedoms. Democracy allows us to possess the personal freedoms we exercise daily such as freedom of speech, religion, etc. There will never be a perfect candidate for presidency but that does not mean active participation is not crucial for the United States' well being. I also believe the concept of democracy could be largely misunderstood or simply not fully known. We could educate Americans on the importance of voting by making the subject more personal to them. For example, families of soldiers who have been away from home for lengthy periods would want to vote for someone who would bring them home sooner.

The branches are vital to the existence of a successful democratic nation; if everyone involved in our government were responsible for everything, it would be complete chaos. By dividing responsibilities up, a system can be created and kinks can be worked out as time progresses. Separating powers also keeps one person or group from becoming overly powerful and taking over.

On the scale of political parties, I think I relate to the moderate views mostly but also with certain aspects of the liberal views. We should be moralistic, motivated, and conscious enough to make the right decisions when it comes down to it, without the government telling us how or what to do.