Week Eleven Assignment and Discussion Links Now Active

This week you'll be discussing one of the greatest achievements of the Enlightenment, that is, the creation of the second Constitution of the United States.  You'll also have the chance to get to know another influential writer and statesman of the Enlightenment, one who--like Jefferson, Washington, and Patrick Henry--happened to be from Virginia.   

You'll discover that the controversy and debate surrounding the constitution is never ending.  Indeed, the Constitution is designed so that such reasoned debate and controversity can happen and result in changes to the Constitution.  You'll also find out that the Constitution is just a document, and it had to be drafted, debated, and revised to become acceptable by most of the citizens of the new United States.  Don't get me wrong.  The Constitution is a very important documents.  We  use it to order the structure of our government, define and limit the powers of the government, and define how we interact act with the government.  This is why we call it, like Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, a foundational document  

This week you will read about the debates surrounding the Constitution's creation in 1787, and you will learn that folks like Madison, Hamilton, and Patrick Henry were just people, having to create arguments which explain why their take on the how to construct a government was better than others.  

You'll learn that the greatest fear of many, like Hamilton and Madison, was that the government would not be strong enough to prevent factions or parties from taking power away from the people, and you'll learn the crucial difference between direct democracy and a republic, that is, that our Constitution fosters a republic, where decisions are filtered through those who are elected to represent and spend time understanding the minutiae of issues and the law most individual citizens will not have the time or inclination to understand.  

Hopefully, you'll also learn that politicians are not bad people.  Most spend their lives trying to use the power given them by the people with wisdom, but they've got to make compromises to get others to support their positions.  They are, in the final analysis, just people, and like all of us this means they make mistakes and bring all their experience and baggage into their jobs.

Your blog prompt for the week (500-750 words) is to challenge or extend Madison's take on factions and their powers in his No. 10 Federalist Paper.  Factions are simply groups, like a political party, a special interest group, or other groups of citizens who band together to try and influence government. Feel free to use the wikipedia or spark note summaries Madison's argument as a means of getting a handle on the argument or aspects of it with which you want to agree or disagree.  Your job is discuss Madison's insights in light of the modern era.  Do each of his arguments hold?  Why or why not?  How might you change them?  

In the class forum discussion for the week, you will and discuss and debate the following question:  If you were a member of a new constitutional convention--like the one meeting in and prior to 1787 but meeting today--what specific changes would you suggest to the Constitution to make it better?  Why?  

Enjoy the exploration of the Constitution.  Every citizen should read it.  It's the document that our our leaders and armed forces swear and oath to protect and defend, but the truth of the matter is that every citizen needs to protect the Constitution and understand their rights and--equally important--the responsibilities which come with the rights.

As always, write with questions.  We're now five weeks from the end of the course.  Keep plugging.  

Steve