Brooke Teferra
October 27, 2015
AP Government – 5R
Quarter 1 Essay – Statement One
A representative democracy is often characterized by the phrase, majority rule with minority rights. Throughout the history of this country the U.S. Constitution and by extension the U.S. government has been unsuccessful at keeping the majority from abusing the rights of the minority in many cases; one of the most widespread examples is the abuse of the rights African Americans, another more recent example being the abuse of rights of gay Americans. But these are not the only times the Constitution has failed at protecting citizens’ rights, the trials faced by Japanese American citizens during World War II are prime evidence for the abuse of minority rights.
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In 1996 President Clinton passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which cited marriage as between one man and one women, and gave the federal government the ability not to recognize gay marriages, thereby violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment that guaranteed equal protection/treatment under the law to all citizens (citizens are citizens, regardless of their sexuality). Though the Supreme Court never upheld DOMA it did take 17 years until they began to deal with the unconstitutionality of it (Barnes). And gay couples did not actually gain the right to marry until June of this year (Vogue). This showed overt failings on the part of the executive and legislative branches; who following the opinion of the majority of the country at the time and took it upon themselves to restrict the rights of a specific sect of the population. And the Constitution created no explicit ways of dealing with cases like this, though the Supreme Court did establish judicial review, it still leaves violations like this in the hands of court cases that have to go through years of trials to get to the Supreme Court where they may not even be struck …show more content…
Most often it’s evidenced by the Supreme Court, a branch that should be apolitical, being heavily swayed by politics and upholding Unconstitutional laws and actions, through judicial review. Considering that the Constitution was built to create a limited government that would not be able to violate civil liberties, by framers that were extremely wary of big government, its failures are even
Obergefell v. Hodges (2014) The Obergefell v. Hodges (2014) case involved the marriage of same sex couples. Groups of same sex couples sued their state agencies to challenge the constitutionality of them refusing to recognize legal same sex marriages. Plaintiffs argued that the states’ statutes violated the Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Eric Harris Rough Draft Friday Paper 10/29/2015 Zinn vs Schweikart and Allen In A People’s History of the United States (1980) by Howard Zinn, he makes the argument that the US Constitution was written to protect the selfish economic interests of the wealthy. Zinn has plenty of logical information to back his statement up, but in A Patriot’s History of the United States (2004) by Schweikart and Allen opposes the idea. They argue that the constitution was written to promote selfless ideas of unity and political truth like it should have. Schweikart and Allen feel that true patriots are ignored due to too much emphasis on political correctness.
Volk’s Moral Minorities and the Making of American Democracy, is an incredible study. This book will keeo the attention of the readers today because it is still relevant to our lives today, to a much lesser degree. The people who were involved along with the situations change, but the extremist groups, homosexuals, immigrants, veterans, and ex-cons are all trying to find their role in society. Believe it or not, they are using similar strategies that were used in the 1830 's and 40 's. But, even with all their success, these groups will still face discrimination on their journey for full equality.
If one read the Lawrence v. Texas case one will understand that upon further review of the constitution one can see that there is no violation in the constitution that insinuates homosexual sexual activity being against human right. It is only logical that if sexual practices are taking place in the privacy of ones homes regardless of the gender there is no conviction of wrong doing. Equal protection due process protects against discrimination regarding sexuality therefore making it unconstitutional to discriminate anyone based on their sexual orientation. Discrimination of race was overruled unconstitutional due to the famous words of “all mean are created equal… by having life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” (Andersen, M, E.), with life there is liberty of human rights, and with liberty comes happiness with the acceptance of an individual’s identity as one.
Hodges (2015) the Supreme Court held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees the right to marry as one of the fundamental liberties it protects, applying to same-sex couples the same as opposite-sex couples. This case was brought forward by numerous groups of same-sex couples who were suing their relevant state agencies to challenge the constitutionality of those states’ same-sex marriage laws. The Supreme Court found that there is no difference between same-sex marriages and opposite-sex marriages, therefore, the exclusion of same-sex couples from the right to marry violates the Due Process Clause. This is policy making because the Supreme Court forced states to change their laws by deciding that it was against the constitution to not only ban the recognition of same-sex marriages that occurred in states that allowed it, but also making same-sex marriage legal in all states. Government officials even those who do not believe in the law change must abide by it, by allowing same-sex couples their now legal right to be married and receive the benefits that opposite-sex married couples receive; changing the way that citizens and the government interact in societal ways but also financial
Skrentny's book, The Minority Rights Revolution (2002), provides a historical and critical analysis of civil rights laws and policy in the United States from the 1960s. Focusing on ethnic groups that benefited from the rights protection secured by African-Americans with the 1964 Civil Rights Act, he argues that the extension of those rights to those groups were supported by politicians because of the political power those groups held. Skrentny's position toward Latinos is quite critical because “[he does not] understand how [Hispanics] won new policies so easily despite weak mobilization” (vi). In the chapter, “Learn, Amigo, Learn!: Bilingual Education and Language Rights in the Schools”, Skrentny provides a critical analysis of bilingual education
The continuing struggle to achieve civil rights despite the Civil Rights Movement highlights the ways in which the Madisonian Democratic system is failing in the United States. Madisonian Democracy and a majoritarian understanding of democracy are based on similar ideas but have a distinct and important difference: protection of minorities and individual rights. A majoritarian democracy is one in which the majorities win without consideration for minority rights and is, perhaps, democracy in it’s simplest form – the people or the elected officials vote, and the majority vote wins. A Madisonian Democracy is a composite form of government. Like a majoritarian democracy, the majority opinion holds most the power, however, checks and balances are put in place to ensure a protection of minority and individual rights, as well as minimize the risk of abusive uses of power.
Within the state of California, the judicial branch was inconsistent in their decisions when regarding same-sex marriage. While the California Supreme Court democratically upheld the decision of the people, it directly went against the federal constitution in the eyes of the majority of the United States Supreme Court justices. The short timespan within the state court’s two rulings confirms the inconsistent nature of the California government. Constitutional amendments such as Proposition 8, add to the long list of amendments that are forced to be corrected in the state’s
This couldn't have been made any clearer. All powers not expressly given to the government (and those necessary for it to carry out its duties) rest in the hands of the states and the people. What the Supreme Court has done today is over step its boundaries and directly violate the tenth amendment to the Constitution. Nowhere in the Constitution is federal government given the power to dictate the terms and legality of marriage, yet that is exactly what they have done by forcing the legality of gay marriage in all states, and forcing all states to recognize the validity of gay marriage. This was a decision that should have rested in the hands of the states and the people to decide for themselves, but instead the supreme court decided to completely ignore the tenth amendment and deliver its own ruling, which is as good as law.
Even today, the Electoral College ensures that “the preferences of minority voters count for almost nothing” (Hoffman). The popular “winner take all” system of distributing electoral votes at the state level fundamentally disenfranchises the conflicting opinions of minority votes (Hoffman). In alternative systems of distributing electors proportionally or using the national popular vote, the ballots cast by minority voters across the country would significantly add to one candidate’s total. In this manner, the effects of the Electoral College with regard to suppressing minority votes is appallingly similar to the types of political gerrymandering banned by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. (Kelkar)
For the first time in our nation’s short history, citizen’s voices were beginning to have more and more of an influence on our governing body. However, during this era, political freedoms were also being restricted. Despite the Fifteenth Amendment granting the right to vote to all male citizens, some—specifically those who were black or poor—were discouraged or even barred from voting due to “…literacy tests and residency and registration requirements” (Foner 701). Despite gaining political freedoms during the Progressive era, many were still restricted from doing so. Much like political freedoms, there were also expansions and restrictions of economic freedoms during the Progressive Era as well.
“Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944), illuminates the difficulties for the Supreme Court of maintaining protection for individual liberties” (Takagi). The inability for Korematsu to protect his individual rights displays the the Supreme Court’s refusal to help Japanese
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a large portion of Americans were restricted from civil and political rights. In American government in Black and White (Second ed.), Paula D. McClain and Steven C. Tauber and Vanna Gonzales’s power point slides, the politics of race and ethnicity is described by explaining the history of discrimination and civil rights progress for selective groups. Civil rights were retracted from African Americans and Asian Americans due to group designation, forms of inequality, and segregation. These restrictions were combatted by reforms such as the Thirteenth Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, the Fifteenth amendment, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, etc. Although civil and political
The 1950s was a gilded age; although it was a time of cultural changes and entertainment for most people, it was a harsh life for minorities. At this time, African Americans and Women were the most discriminated minorities. Anne Sexton, a female poet from the 1950s, and Langston Hughes, an African American poet, were both minorities that communicated the thoughts of the minorities to which they were categorized to. Anne Sexton and Langston Hughes proposed the issues that their minority had with their social status. Women in the 1950s had many different issues they could not communicate.
“America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense human rights invented America,” declared President Jimmy Carter. America is a country famous for supporting human rights. America is considered a cultural ‘melting pot’ or ‘salad bowl.’ Racial discrimination is frowned upon in this country.