Third Reading Reaction
The most interesting reading to me that we have done since the second reading reaction is the reading we did about Civil Rights, which is in chapter six in the textbook. This topic in particular interested me because of the long process our country has gone through in an effort to try and get every person regardless of race or gender to have equal rights. I’m a big fan of United States history so learning more about Southern Reconstruction and everything Lincoln did to try and help the slaves was very eye opening. Another interesting part of the reading was learning about the different types of discrimination because I did not even know these forms of discrimination had names. Now that I know the difference between dejure and defacto discrimination I feel like my understanding of discrimination is broadened. It was also cool to read about all the different peope who made efforts to end discrimination like Jackie Robinson and Rosa Parks, their bravery is such an inspiration and I believe they deserve all of the recognition they get.
I believe that this reading is somewhat relevant to current events but more so over seas than in the United States. In the United States I feel like we have done a pretty good job to make sure that everyone is treated equally, but in certain countries like Iran and North Korea still fall behind in this category. Personally, I think this is a travesty and countries like this really need a civil rights movement like in the United States to get away from what they currently are. The way the government handles civil rights now is debatebly the way the founders wanted it handled. The founders believed that all men should be treated equally but then again they also had slaves so I am not sure how they would react to the equality that is exists in the present day. Purely based on what the founders said about everyone being treated equally though I would have to imagine they would be pleased with the way civil rights are now. There were a couple parts of the chapter that did confuse me. For example, the part about how courts decide cases involving civil rights really confused me. I do not understand why the government needs to have “compelling interest” to for legislation when if there something wrong they should just fix it. Another part I did not understand was the part about legal approaches and how an entire class of people can file a lawsuit. I do not understand how a select group of the class of people can determine what the overall desires are for the class and make decisions for the class as a whole. Overall I agreed with the points made in the lecture and in the reading.
The reading we did on civil liberties, found in chapter five, was also of interest to me. I think one of the greatest parts of living in the United States is that we have limits on the government, being able to freely excercise our rights is what makes our nation so great. I love that our country has laws like the Establishment clause and the Free Practice clause because everyone should have a right to be able to pracitce their religion and be free from people trying to change their religious views. Stuff like that made this reading very intereting to me because I believe passionately in people having rights and that no one should be able to take these rights from them. It was intersting to learn the difference between libel and slander, both of which I did not know were actual crimes. It was also really interesting to read about things like “Clear and Present Danger” and “Fighting Word” because I had never hear of these before.
The topic of civil liberties is very relevant in today’s society because citizens of the United States must still fight to make sure their civil liberties are upheld. For example, the NSA spying on citizens is breach of our right to privacy but the government still allows it. If we do not stand up for civil libertites they will slowly be taken away
Related Documents: Civil Rights and Liberties and Government Essays
Civil Liberties (And how they differ from civil rights) "If the fires of freedom and civil liberties burn low in other lands, they must be made brighter in our own. If in other lands the press and books and literature of all kinds are censored, we must redouble our efforts here to keep them free. If in other lands the eternal truths of the past are threatened by intolerance, we must provide a safe place for their perpetuation." Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1938 (Isaacs 66) Freedom of speech…
issue. Though the Constitution doesn’t specifically states that there is no express right to privacy, this invention will contradict with the Fourth Amendment. The Bill of Rights protects the people of the United Stated from being searched. Law Enforcers or the government has to have a probable cause to even watch a person. The person has to give officials reasons to watch or search them. To do so the government or law officials must have permission from a judge to perform the search. “The text…
Conservative Prefer smaller government, less regulation, most services to be provided by the private sector in a free market, and a literal interpretation of the Constitution. Government should tax less and spend less. Cutting spending to balance the budget should be the priority. Higher income earners should have an incentive to invest (credits). Charity is the responsibility of the people. Opposed to gay marriage, abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Support the right to bear arms, death penalty…
disposal that provide an effective protection of civil liberties in the UK. However, in practice there are several shortcomings that make these protections weak in the face of Parlimanetary pressure, which will be demonstrated in this essay. In terms of rights protections, perhaps the most important development in the protection of rights in the UK has been the installation of the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law via the Human Rights Act 1998. This act effectively has provided a concrete…
HABEAS CORPUS TERESA WATSON AMERICAN NATIONAL HISTORY PROFESSOR BRENT SCHINDLER FEBUARY 4, 2013 Habeas Corpus in its most familiar form has played an important role in “Anglo American history as a safe guard of individual liberty. It is defined as being a writ directed by a judge to some person who is detaining another, commanding him to bring the body of the person in his custody at a specified time and a specified place for a specified purpose. In contemporary practice, the writ…
Habeas Corpus and Civil Liberties POL201: American National Government Introduction In the society we live in civil liberties has become just another thing we as Americans are entitled to. However if you were ever accused of a heinous crime you would appreciate those civil liberties. Habeas Corpus to some is a thing of the past but when you have been wrongfully accused or convicted you will appreciate its history and debate. Freedom of Speech Our forefathers made it clear that we as a…
what, when, and how?” Government: a system for exercising control over a body of people Institutions: structures of mechanisms of social order that govern the behavior of a specific set of individuals Ex. schools, hospitals, prisons, religion, marriages Rules: set of requirements for how institutions function Authority: power to enforce decisions Legitimacy: level of support for the enforcement of government’s authority Diffuse (high levels) support: legitimate government Concentrated (low levels)…
American National Government POLI 201 First Exam Exam Date and Time: The second exam will be given on Wednesday, September 18th. I will begin handing the exams out no later than the start of the hour; you will have the whole of the class period to complete it. While the exam is not designed to require to entire 50 minutes to complete, I would suggest that you do not arrive late, or it is possible you will not have sufficient time to complete the entire exam. Exam Structure: The exam is will…
the only international humanitarian rights. In wartime the country can mobilize all of its resources, military arms, troops, intelligence, to defeat the enemy. It can invade a country and depose its leadership. It gives the country the right to kill or capture combatants in the field. It gives a country the right to hold combatants until the end of the war and interrogate those prisoners. War also gives the government the weight to leverage foreign governments and intelligence services. The purpose…
contract that allows mankind to create a civil society and eventually form government. 2. Tocqueville argued that Puritanism was closely related to political theory because of the way churches were formed. Puritans would simply vote on the idea of adopting another church. This method was very democratic compared to the way Catholic churches were formed. That idea was carried over into their social contracts and eventually their government. In order for any government to exist, it needed to have the consent…