09-07-2007
1)Does the constitution provide an efficient and realistic balance between national and state power?
Some people would argue both yes and no. If you are going to argue that yes they do provide equal balance. You might touch on the 10th amendment which states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." As well you should mention the House of Representatives and the Senate. When combined they are called Congress. The Senate is made up of two candidates from each state giving each state an equal amount of power. This part of Congress gives smaller states more power. In the House of Representatives the number of Congressman to a state is dependent on the population of that state. The House of Representatives has a humongous amount of power. You can search around and find quite a bit of info on their powers.
If you are going to argue no you might talk about the fact that all Federal Laws supercede any State Law. Some smaller states have less power in the Federal Govt.
2)Are individual liberties adequately protected in the constitution?
For this you are looking right into the Bill or Rights. Or the first 10 Amendments. You can literally go through the first ten and pull stuff straight from them and put it on your paper.
3) Are Americans participating enough in our democratic system? Do citizens have the understanding of our government processes to be heard and to make a difference?
This question can be answered yes or no. I will play Devils advocate and say no. Not enough people are voting in elections because they don't think that their one vote can make a difference. The only problem with this idea is when one million people think that their vote won't make a difference and stay away from the polls that is a large number of voters. A lot of people don't pay any attention to what each candidate has to offer to the US. I would say a fair majority of individuals take what they see from Fox and take it to heart. I can't stress enough that people should not make political decisions based off of a biased TV station. Those stations only show parts of certain stories. People need to watch the debates and actually have an understanding of how the government actually works.
4) Doe the evolving constitutional system, including political parties and interest groups, strengthen fair and effective representation of the people?
This is another one that can be answered yes or no. IMHO I think that they do and they don't. Our nation is to the point where unless you support the Republican or Democratic party you really have no chance of making it into office without either parties support. So this would show that it isn't fair. On the otherhand, groups like these offer people with the same ideals to get together and try and recruit others who share the same opinions and it allows them to reach more people and show their point of views.
All of these questions are subjective and can be answered yes or no. The answers are biased because this is what I think but you should formulate your own opinions. I am going to assume you will just copy this straight word for word but seriously give it some thought and make some decisions based off of your knowledge. Any other questions just PM or IM.
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