Class Activity #2
United States Government
September 2-15, 2020
Name: ___________________
The class activity #2 sheet is available in Doc Sharing under Module 2. You can download and save this activity sheet in the form of MS-Word to your computer.
Complete your activity in MS-Word, create your file using your last name (i.e., Choi_activity2.docx), and submit your activity sheet to the proper submission folder.
Activity #2-1: Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers, a collection of 85 essays covering the most fought-over provisions in the Constitution, laid out in clear logic and powerful prose why each element was necessary. The position of the Federalists was strengthened by the Federalist Papers, written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay as an explication and defense of the Constitution. This series of essays published in New York newspapers were designed to sway public opinion towards ratification of the Constitution. In our day, they are viewed as the most important work of political theory in U.S. history.
Q 1-1. How many essays are in the Federalist Papers?
85
Q 1-2. Click on No. 10, which is Federalist Paper No. 10. Who is the author of this paper?
Madison
Q 1-3. What is the title of Federalist Paper No. 10?
The Same Subject Continued as Ch.9
The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection
From the New York Packet
Q 1-4. What is the main point made and advanced in Federalist No. 10? Do you agree or disagree with the author? (You are required to write 100-150 words).
Q 1-5. Click on No. 51, which is Federalist Paper No. 51. Who is the author of this paper?
Q 1-6. What is the title of Federalist No. 51?
The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks
and Balances Between the Different Departments
Q 1-7. What is the main point made and advanced in Federalist No. 51? Do you agree or disagree with the author? (You are required to write 100-150 words).
Activity #2-2: Debating the Issue: Should the Constitution Be Fundamentally Changes?
Go to Doc Sharing under Module 2 Documents on D2L. You can find a MS-Word file named “Debating the Issue Constitutional Change.” Read three different papers in this file carefully and answer to questions below. Basically, I want you to provide well-thought and well-organized answers.
Q 2-1. Most of the time, people become critical of the Constitution when they do not get the policy results they want. When Congress fails to pass legislation because of the power of small-state senators, when the Supreme Court issues a ruling they oppose, or when the president makes a decision regarding the use of force that they oppose, the immediate impulse is to blame the system and call for change that would make their preferred policies more likely. Is this a valid reason for wanting the system to change? Why or why not? (You are required to write 100-150 words).
Q 2-2. The Constitution was written more than 230 years ago by a group of white men who had very “unmodern” views about democracy and equality. On what basis should we be bound by the decisions that they made? What would be the result if each generation were permitted to remake the rules, as Abbott suggests? Do you agree with Olson’s concerns about the constitutional convention? Why or why not? (You are required to write 100-150 words).