Self Reliance And Political Equality example essay topic

Senior Seminar 10/15. Liberals think democratic principles are sometimes flawed - like when it doesn't protect people's rights... Conservatives - the leveling of the masses. Populism - arises in the 1890's - disaffected farmers come together as the People's party. Granger movement and Alliance movement - oppose railroads and threatening corporate power - want gov't control of railroads, gov't control of warehouses, and want to make it easier for farmers to get loans. 1891 - farmers frustrated - form Populist Party.

Dem. - William Jennings Bryan - tries to co-opt populist party. Christopher Lasch - died in mid 90's - argues that Pop. Tradition goes deep into American history - it has endured varying strength - roots lie in Calvinist theology (especially Puritanism) - key ideas from Calvinist: . Belief in human limits. Distrust of materialism.

Belief in the power of the work ethic. Lasch, Tom Paine, Cobbett, Browns on, Ralph Waldo Emerson - form of populist radicalism, highly democratic - skeptical of capitalist notions of progress - high value that comes from working the land - accused of being "hayseed socialists" - says it's most concerned with virtue of the small producer - attacks capitalism not because it produces poverty or want to destroy ownership but b / c they think it destroys PRIVATE property - undermines the regime of small producers (small farmers, mom and pop stores) - not a form of socialism. Capitalism squeezes out all but the biggest fish in the pond. Socialism focuses on poverty on working class - Populism more concerned with loss of independence. Lasch thinks consumerism is a big problem - okay if we have enough money to buy cheap products. John Locke - a lot of emphasis placed on work - it makes you who you are.

More concerned with comfort than freedom. "Culture of narcissism" - self love to the point of pathology - Lasch thinks it's a modern characteristic of Americans. Lasch - "Revolt of the Elites" - today elites are in many ways, worse than the robber barons of the nineteenth century. Elites - like to think of us as meritocracy - Lasch thinks it is part of the problem. Contributes to the decay of elites through social mobility - legitimizes inequality and drains the natural elites out of the community that needs them the most - it becomes an excuse not to help them or go back to them because "they could have made it too"10/17. "Think tank" - oxymoron - already have preconceived notions about what they should do.

Democrats typically back Savings and Loans. All begins with deregulation - 1970's - Carter Administration - wanted to deregulate banking so that they could compete - take off some restrictions of loans - do risky loans - go into debt - must be bailed out because it is ordinary people's money. Mechanisms corporations use were brought up by anti-corporate people. Mechanisms for popular support. Anthony Downs - Economic Theory of Democracy - rational actors in politics with limited information and time - the rich and powerful teach them what they want them to know.

Rational politics gets us in this situation to begin with. No one is looking out for the larger public interest. Populists usually know problems but don't know what to do about it. John McCain - swayed by Savings and Loans. Greiner - cut off contributions from those that you have committee dealings with 10/22 Libertarianism. It is a radical version of liberalism, not very democratic.

Goes back to when liberalism split - property rights (John Locke). Defense of property rights allowed Locke to attack the king and the aristocracy - achieves desired political ends. 1700's - key thinkers developed a liberal economic argument that grew from Locke's standpoint. Mid 1700's - Physiocrats - group of thinkers in France. Key Physiocrats - Francois Quesney - "laissez faire" - let it be... hands off approach to economics. The reason for this was that they looked at how wealth was created.

Set amount of wealth - zero sum gain - mercantilism. For someone to gain wealth, another would have to lose it. Quesney thought that wealth could be generated and increased. How is wealth produced - Physiocrats - agriculture - goes back to Locke.

Countries that promote agriculture will generate wealth internally. Physiocrats believed the gov't should keep its hands off the money - keep it unimpeded. Adam Smith - Scottish economist - 1776 - Wealth of Nations - argues that economics works according to self-interest - deliver goods for a lower price than their competition - also works for the benefit of the public - "not for the benevolence of the butcher that we expect our dinner, but their self-interest". Individual self interest leads to public interest.

An invisible hand is at work in the marketplace. When the gov't gets too involved, it undermines the invisible hand. Gov't should be limited to securing the law of trade and contract, provide for infrastructure, national defense, and public education - some room to provide for the poor as well. American founders were sympathetic with these ideas. Defenders of agrarian life, not capitalism, pick up the laissez-faire ideas - Jefferson and Madison pick it up, not Hamilton. It is a tool of equality.

Happy when they are governed locally - decentralizes power. Jacksonian's liked laissez-faire economics - very Democratic - believed it was best for the American public. Everything changes with industrialism. Call upon farmers to ease conditions of the poor. Reformers wanted gov't to actively help the poor. Strong, centralized gov't.

Defenders of capitalism begin to defend laissez-faire economics. 1870's - Gilded Age - wealthy industrialists oppose changes in the system. British thinker - Herbert Spencer - 1820-1903 - "new Liberalism" - radicalizes the concern for property rights - the only truly important rights - it becomes absolute. The Man Versus the State - 1884 - man born bad, possible to become good through evolution. Social Darwinism - related to Spencer's ideas - sometimes thought to be before Darwin. Spencer coined "survival of fittest" - God separates the worthy from the unworthy.

Economic marketplace is the survival of the fittest. La mark - evolution, occurred, animals adapted - he just didn't tell how. Key differences: . Darwin works at the species level - changes take place over a vast amount of time.

Spencer concerned with individuals - changes take place rapidly. Unit of analysis and time frame is different. Since it is God's hand, it is wrong to interfere with it. Spencer - ant state aid to the poor is morally wrong - it violates God's will - property is the only measure of moral worth. Even private charity would be morally wrong. The rich are moral examples simply by being rich.

Spencer - "as for the poor, they will die... as they should". Sumner - Spencer's disciple - professor at Yale - talks about laws of nature - gov't has two responsibilities: property of men, honor of property (? ). Spencer and Sumner - both critical of democracy - poor and the weak are dead weight and a burden on society - middle class is not significant. Classes do not have responsibilities to another class, just with each other in their own class.

Oligarchy. American business leaders pick up on these ideas. They think gov't should keep them out when necessary. Frederick Martin - "we are the rich, we own America, we intend to keep it". Carnegie defends philanthropy for the good it does for the rich - why leave it to an ungrateful kid - have a building with your name on it. Becomes dominant theory regarding American politics.

1890's - becomes the primary constitutional doctrine - idea that constitution was written to protect property rights - laissez-faire principles - gov't shouldn't interfere - dominant ideology for a while in the Republican party (McKinley, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover) - not Teddy Roosevelt. New Deal killed this doctrine - things can have serious economic consequences (Depression). Social Darwinism fades. Hayek - Austrian economist - teaches at the London School of Economics - Road to Serfdom - doesn't want economic liberalism back - 194410/24. Libertarianism - radical, economic wing of liberalism. Socialism is the road to totalitarianism (fascism, communism, etc).

Socialism - centralized, gov't planning. Pursuit of equality is not necessarily socialist. Nationalization of industry - core of socialism. Externalities - something that is not normally taken into account within marketplace relations.

Environmental factors are externalities. Hayek will be occasionally pragmatic. Doesn't like redistribution, but he doesn't discount it. Believes in minimal gov't interaction for the poor - not as calloused about the poor as Spencer is. Providing the poor with jobs and they reap benefits because they have individually and the choices they are able to make. Moral wealth isn't defined by wealth or the amount of property you own.

Hayek never talks about evolution being part of the marketplace system - no survival of the fittest. Hayek's understanding of laissez-faire capitalism is more compassionate than Spencer's that is why he is more compassionate to the poor. Not always sure he likes the term "laissez-faire". Hayek likes John Stuart Mill. Hasn't witnessed the backlash of Communism at the time that he wrote this book. We have separation of powers in order to fragment power.

Representative gov't in Britain and France - advantageous to this. Hayek ignores practical institutions - electoral process. Things like that tend to be self fixing. What does Hayek thinks defines the Nazis? Nationalizing business, taking away private property. Hayek doesn't mention them killing Jews, which we see as the core of Nazism.

Collectivism - Nazism - When it's seen as a left-wing movement - take away property. Free markets will stop Nazis, Hayek thinks. Once you begin giving up your freedoms, you become used to being dependent. Not individuals any longer, now collectivists.

Cites Tocqueville for individualism, but Tocqueville was kind of wary about individualism. What line of thought does he place himself in? Liberal, not conservative. Kirk - suspicious of libertarians like Hayek. Gov't protects conservatives privilege - they want gov't interfering in the moral realm.

His view of economics: . Why should we worry about monopoly when businesses fail? Hayek isn't worried about it. Rule of law - how Hayek thinks to solve large businesses; rules of the game to ensure an open market.

Hayek thinks there is really no advantage to being a large business. He said people create monopolies, not the corporations themselves. Hayek skeptical of democracy - no such thing as public opinion - there are only individuals. Are times when authoritarian gov't provide more freedom than a democracy 10/29. John Stossel - libertarian because he doesn't want gov't interference in anything (as long as it doesn't cause physical harm).

1960's - began as economic laissez-faire and into the cultural realm. Had trouble justifying Vietnam. Libertarians believe in freedom of contract. Conservatives believe in transcendent moral order. Both believed in freedom of property (but for different reasons). 1960's - begin to see let-wing movements with libertarian sympathies.

1960's - cultural force was the growth of rock and roll. Free and on the road - unencumbered by responsibilities. Rules and limits are inherently totalitarian. Inhibition was seen as bad - suppressed self expression. Gentle form of hedonism - saw drug use as okay - it could open the doors of creativity. Counterculture often merged with a group called the "New Left", which was somewhat socialist and radically Democratic.

Counterculture more interested with dropping out - Timothy Leary -famous for acid experimentation's - drugs are the path to truth. Skeptical of social elites. New Left wants Democratic - counterculture wants people to drop out of America's culture. Individualism, anti authoritarianism, skepticism of power.

Wanted to be left alone. Jeff Riggenbach - turned it into a political movement - 1979 - In Praise of Decadence - wrote it for the Libertarian Review - choices are equivalent unless they do harm to others - freedom of choice - argues that decadence should be celebrated a that which opens up new possibilities for people to pursue - produces innovation and change. Left libertarians - change is good - tradition is a prison. Murray Rothbard - geared toward liberal anarchism - state is an unnecessary evil - people basically good, gov't is evil - evil comes from gov't. Rothbard - people better off if they join private associations - focus is on consent (goes back to John Locke). But when did we consent to this gov't - tacit consent by living in this gov't (driving its roads, etc) - he thinks we need to actually consent to it - gov't controls us by force and coercion.

Libertarian party - first convention in 1972 - statism - great danger - have never been able to break through as a major party - minor party - most are happy within the Republican party - care most about property rights - makes them reasonably comfortable as Republicans. Shouldn't have police powers or fire departments. Liked Madison's gov't - some libertarians liked Jefferson due to his laissez-faire ideas. In opposition to libertarianism - communitarianism. Also called civic Republicanism and civic humanism.

Think American liberalism is too one sided - too much about rights, not responsibility. Emphasizes public virtue and participation. Gordon Wood, Bernard Bail un, and John Pocock - shaped the Republican revision of the American founding. Think John Locke given too much importance. Republican tradition - Aristotle, Cicero, James Harrington - "Republic is an empire of laws, not men". Willingness to sacrifice private interests for public goods.

Gov't should have balances in order to avoid corruption. Concerned with separation of powers. Liberalism - private freedoms. Arendt - most important political thinker of 20th century - freedom during founding meant public happiness. 1980's - this was picked up - communitarianism movement.

Thought liberalism undermined civic virtue. Alistair MacIntyre - 1981 - After Virtue - which human virtues led to the good life - emotion ism - it's all about how you feel - wants a return to Aristotle - what makes someone a good human being - someone of character - one who can exercise moral reasoning. Michael S andel - 1982 - Liberalism and the Limits of Justice - argues liberalism based in a false notion of human nature - begin by assuming an atomized individual that existed before gov't (state of nature) - said it never existed - without society, one is not human - they are situated self - product of various social relationships that define us - must understand individuals and their relationships to society. Liberals - unencumbered self.

Members of organizations t which we have obligations whether we consented or not. Must be concerned with citizenship - must cultivate it. Gov't has an active interest in character formation in order to become a decent citizen. Most important virtue is citizenship 10/31. Libertarians see the communitarian's as soft fascists.

Communitarian's see libertarians as whiny teenagers. No such thing as an absolute right. We talk as if our rights are absolute. American Rights Dialect - talk about rights out of context. Makes it difficult for us to come to reasonable decisions. American politics is, therefore, conflictual.

"Mere assertion over reason-giving" - politics over policy. Produce consensus and compromise. Locke - good storyteller - state of nature - property is his key right - wrote it to go against the absolute monarchy - Americans took him literally. Argued that all men and women were property of the king - Locke appeals to notion of self ownership. It existed before gov't - he explains property as an extension of yourself - de legitimizes the king.

Therefore, we talk about rights in an absolute way. Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights - no mention of fraternity or responsibility to others. Duties go along with rights. We got rights without the accompanying virtues. Individualistic and legalistic cultures today. Communal standards of morality are now restrained.

Replaced by law are the reminder of obligations to others. Our court system is more adversarial than Europeans - British go after truth - we just want to win. A man's home is his castle. Thinks Americans confuse desires and rights. Trust democracy - that is the answer - full public debate. Libertarians put no faith in democratic bodies to make reasonable decisions - they always run to the courts.

As time has gone on, property rights were de-emphasized. Right to privacy emerged - the right to be left alone. Paparazzi were the inspiration for right to privacy. 1965 - Supreme Court gets involved - Griswold vs. CT - married couples - protects a socially important relationship - protects family against gov't. Becomes suspect to Glendon when it turns to individual rights 11/2. Glendon argues there are no absolute rights.

Cease to be concerned with the common good. Civic participation is important. Communitarianism appeals to human nature with the development of character and virtue. To some extent, sacrifice personal interests for the public concerns. Bad Samaritan laws - someone who refuses to help. Olympic swimmer - sees a toddler drowning and pulls up a chair / grabs a beer and watches the kid drown.

The swimmer had no obligation to the kid. Good Samaritan laws - protection to people who were simply trying to help out. Glendon thinks we should find a way to punish those people. We tend to separate law and morality.

Legal realism - Oliver Wendell Holmes - law and morality are two totally different areas. Glendon thinks law and morality should be seen as more closely related. Law should remind people of their moral responsibilities. Should be a civic penalty.

Make a public offense subject to fines or a very short imprisonment 11/5. Democratic Socialism. Religious vein and economic vein - reforms against industrial capitalism. Social gospel movement - Walter Raushenbusch - 1861-1912 - was a conservative Evangelical Christian - saw capitalism as a profound moral evil - produces social and economic degradation - anti Biblical laws of competition.

Focus on church commitment to social reform. Thought individual conversion was not enough. Believed in post-millennialism - that Jesus would come back in 1000 years. Henry Delirus Lloyd - journalist - Wealth Against Commonwealth - capitalism leads to monopoly naturally - competition is not self-sustaining - thinks not much difference between monarchy and monopoly. Might require democratic socialism.

Socialism picked up some prominence under Eugene Debs - he used to be a leader of the union, then socialism - imprisoned after a railway strike - unions created to combat the power of the capitalists. Mid 19 teens - socialists fragmented due to intra party squabbling about what socialism was. Left-wing groups sometimes polarize. Fallout due to the Russian Revolution. Non-socialist side of the movement - the Regulators - did not advocate a nationalization of industry - thought best approach was to regulate the capitalist economy. Henry George - Progress in Poverty - 1879 - argued democracy depends on widespread ownership in the land.

Solution, he thinks, is the single tax - use tax code to create disincentives throughout the land - have one big tax on land - more land you own, more tax you pay. Convinces people in the progressive movement that the tax code can be used to distribute wealth - get a constitutional amendment - tax those who make more money at greater rates. FDR - use regulatory ideas - wages, hours, working conditions, in order to preserve capitalism but under gov't control. 1960's - resurgence of socialism - "New Left".

SDS - Students for Democratic Society - occasionally carried from the "Old Left" - wanted to make it more inclusive. Rejected all sectarianism - wanted to be broad based and include people - decentralized approach to democracy. Though grassroots localism would be a cure for the nation's ills. Thomas Hayden - used to be married to Jane Fonda - intellectual leader of the SDS movement. 1962 - Port Huron statement - statement of purpose for the SDS - America suffers from apathy / disengagement - remedy in political process - participatory democracy at the grassroots level. Marginalized groups - minorities, alternate lifestyle groups, women's groups, consumer advocates, etc...

Ordinary American citizens sometimes left out of process. Opposed bureaucratic gov't, centralized power, and the rule of experts. "Personal is political" - "Think globally, act locally" - left-wing social protest 11/7. Concern of this movement is global cultural hegemony. Marx loved global capitalism 11/9.

Gaventa - went to Vandy - President of student body. Condition of miners in Appalachia. Purpose: why they don't rise up - why do they remain quiescent in gross, unequal situations. Understands quiescence according to power. 1. Pluralism - power involves normal political mechanisms - open mechanisms of power that generally anyone can use - goal is to win - A gets B to do something that B did not really want to do - it is legitimate because everyone has opportunity to participate.

Advocated by Robert Dahl and Pols by. Leaves out human tendencies to stack the deck against others. 2. Mobilization of bias - Schatschneider, Bacharach, Barat z - put people in positions that help your issues - you change (rewrite) the rules so the odds of you winning are even more in your favor - B can no longer compete on an equal footing - actively exclude people from voting, campaign contributions, etc... Labor unions no longer collect bodies - had to get permission to raise the money - Bush trying to get that through. Gaventa is worried about cutting off participation - excluding people.

Democrats wanting to expand, participation is ok. Keeping third parties out of debates is exclusionary by the Democrats. 3. Opinion control - Lukes - Gaventa interested in this - media helps - socialization and public education are used to shape B's wants and interests - b now thinks that A's interests are the same as what B wants. Ex. - Germany - the Jews helped for the orderly transfer of Jews to concentration camps.

Their powerlessness makes them see things differently. Ex. - blacks thought that segregation was okay and the happy slave syndrome (the advantages in the system). So powerless that they really didn't see where their interests were. How colonial societies maintained their dominance. Exercise power through quiet legitimacy.

Apathy by the dominated is what makes the powerful truly powerful. Liberalism - equal independence capable of autonomy about our own self interest - Gaventa doesn't agree. False consensus - looks like people agree, but the consent is an illusion - it is manufactured by power. Conservatives - identify with local elites - their power is benevolent - Gaventa thinks it is a sham - excludes the lower classes so much that they no longer understand their own wants and needs and interests. History is recalled from the winner's standpoint. Ex. - everyone now believes that the whites victory over Native Americans was beneficial for everyone.

Create a working class consciousness. Agreement by consent is not in everyone's interest. Transformation of Marxist ideas. You come to know yourself by what is told around you. Appalachia: in particular, Middleton, KY - interested in independence, wanted to be confined to the city. Has lots of coal - wealthy region, un wealthy people - American Association (run by the British) - run by Alexander Arthur - wants to make it the "Magic City" of the South.

1. Bought the land - made alliance with local elites. Most of the wealth left the region - corporate colonization. 2. Created culture of fear and intimidation.

3. Miners begin to think that they are inferior - try to maintain submission. Power can be used to perpetuate inactivity 11/12 Religion in Politics. Saw MA as the "shining beacon on the hill" - the Puritans. The frontier allowed for splinter groups to change location. RI - founded by Puritan orthodoxy dissenters.

RI - founded on religious tolerance between church and state - think state corrupts church (puritans). Roger Williams wants to protect church. Madison, down the road, concerned with both problems. 18th century - religious diversity.

Anglicans, Catholics, Quakers, Jewish - got the notion of a denominational society - each must tolerate the others in order to preserve their freedom of worship. Last state to do away with the establishment - 1833 - MA. Churches in U.S. always have had to compete for adherence - created a religious marketplace. Leads toward Evangelicalism - notion that the active production of converts is central to your religious missions. Leads to widespread religious pluralism - variety of different religions.

Generally Protestantism is the largest. Many different sects related to Christianity - Mormonism, Jehovah's Witness. Islam has also been growing in recent years. Cultural religious marketplace. Against what goes on in the secular world have advantages in gaining adherence. Christian populism has often been a negative phenomenon.

Great Awakening - 1730-1740's - led by powerful ministers - Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield. Edwards considered the most important theologian - fiery sermons - merges some Locke with his Calvinism. Strong influence on education in U.S. - religion. Lots of schools started as religious schools. Help to produce political movements. Abolitionist movement - mid 1800's.

Populist movement - late 1800's. Evangelicalism has gone along side Democratic movement. Attack the entrenched elites of their day. The elites are seen as secular and liberal, by and large.

The elites and the social forces they stand against - what defines the movements. Falwell - fundamentalist. Pat Robertson - charismatic. Fundamentalism - emerges late 1800's - as a protest against all innovation in religion - worried about progressive Christianity - to jump on the bandwagon of the notion that one can improve it materially. Fundamentalists of late 1800's think this is a little dangerous. Liberal Christianity too open to science.

Urge a stricter and more Puritanical moral code - individual conversion. Early fundamentalists - - when interpreting Bible, wanted to uncover the dispensations for mankind - ending in the millennium - concerned with apocalyptic Biblical text - figuring out when Jesus is going to come back. Apostasy - falling away from God. King James Bible - translates under divine inspiration.

What matters is a strict, literal reading of the text. Second coming is central. Charismatics - Pentecostals (mainly) - radical offshoot of Methodists - focus on charismatic gifts - take inspiration form Acts II - where they began speaking in tongues - taken as a sign that Christ was preparing to return - emphasis on faith healing - outpouring of religious emotion matters. Evangelicals pushed out of political arena: . William Jennings Bryan - Scopes Trial (won) - makes Evangelicalism the laughing stock because they are unable to deal with science.

Prohibition - 1930's - when it was repealed. By and large, evangelicals retreated from politics. Brought back by Jimmy Carter - evangelicals voted for him in massive numbers. Evangelicals saw a secular world that was moving away from their beliefs - don't like segregation, busing, Roe vs. Wade, advance of gay rights issues, Equal Rights Amendment, prayer in school, welfare spending, textbooks without religion. Jimmy Carter not a champion for them. In 1980 - they switch over to Reagan.

Jerry Falwell - evangelist - Old Time Gospel Hour - Lynchburg, VA - thought Christianity was abused in politics - started a conservative political movement - 1979 - founded the "Moral Majority" - wanted to push Christian politics. Dies out in mid 1980's - replaced by the Christian Coalition (run by Robertson). We think we are God's chosen nation - we become corrupt and decadent. America is a Christian nation in its inspiration.

Current TV show - Listen America. Takes things to indicate that God had a hand in America's founding. Have a sense of a profound moral mission 11/14 Falwell. Sees America as a Christian nation. Thinks Christianity must work to spread Christian goodness across the globe. Must be guarded by free market, laissez-faire economics.

Quotes that God basically wants us to get rich - Falwell. Loss of moral leadership - particularly in family issues. Human nature is deeply sinful. We must be reborn in order to accept the truth of the Scriptures. America in a state of moral decay. 1970's - became a secular country - became more liberal - religion out of education, etc...

National sins: abortion, pornography, collapse of American family, homosexuality. Good vs. evil - even in political parties. Must have a religious revival in which we restore moral authority. Gov't should strike down evildoers. Two swords doctrine - not far from the Christian doctrine. State should be open to religious influences, but church should be utmost in power - separation of church and state should not be.

He defends free market capitalism. Carter. Main argument - concerned that people are unable to bring religion into political debates. They somewhat have to bracket their beliefs in order to participate in politics.

This somewhat trivializes religious beliefs and treats it as if it's unimportant. He uses abortion as his example - became obsessed with removing religious language from political debates. Carter is moderate - sometimes agrees with / sometimes doesn't. He is a black Episcopalian. Martin Luther King, Jr. - as an example - how effective would he have been if he didn't use religious terms. It would reduce his argument to self-interest 11/16.

Stephen Carter - religion has become trivialized. Some people say we are hostile to religion in politics. Neuhaus - journal "First Things" - about hostility. Carter thinks not hostile, but we treat it as a hobby. Can't argue with people when they simply point to the Bible - we want them to rephrase arguments in secular terms. Madison and Tocqueville are his models for religion in politics.

Doesn't like establishment clause or free exercise clause. They conflict - free exercise could entail imposing beliefs through the political system. They must be balanced. Establishment - Lemon test - Lemon vs. Kurtz man - 3 pronged test. 1.

Law must have primary secular intent. 2. Primary of effect of law neither to enhance or effect religion. 3.

Must not involve gov't in excessive entanglement in religion. 1. Is biggest problem - should not be invalid because they are animated by their reasons - ex. Civil Rights Act. Doesn't give us anything to replace it with. Can't tell Martin Luther King to stop talking about God - it's who he is and it made him more effective.

Free exercise - we don't allow enough room for this - Supreme Court doesn't allow enough scope. If a law is written for a legitimate purpose, then the law is constitutional. We need to accommodate people's religious beliefs by giving them exemptions from such laws (Carter thinks). Differences Carter picks up on - must be a group and must impose obligations on the individual. We don't think the state should infringe on the exercise of religion. Polygamy issue - Mormons did away with it - the state persecuted them and wrote laws against it 11/19 Race in Politics.

Conflicts over race have been strong. Slavery caused a division. Our constitution seems to dictate the exact opposite. Became institutionalized in the U.S. - became part of the social fabric. Founders recognized the moral issues at stake.

Resigned to compromises. 1787 - Constitutional Convention - issue came up in unexpected ways - raised by George Mason from VA - argued that it was wrong - he owned hundreds of slaves. Argue for abolition generally, not individually. No way to get the Southerners to do this - it would cause disunion. Agreed to a compromise. Issue was over representation.

Southern states didn't want slaves to vote. Voting was a privilege. Put a hold on the importation issue - stop slaves - said they couldn't do that for twenty years. Fugitive slave provision - would be returned. Hoped slavery would die out o its own. Slavery was then not profitable when running a farm.

Cotton gin - widespread use - slavery became profitable. Less realistic that slavery would die out. 1820 - MO Compromise - bans slavery at the 36 30 parallel. Under that line could practice slavery. Slave revolts occasionally - Nat Turner led one - he was promptly caught and hanged. James Madison and James Monroe - 1817 - relocate freed blacks to Africa - group included some slave owner feared free backs running around - race prejudice inevitable - they needed to return to Africa - this how Liberia was formed - this group has a lot of critics - basically gave in to racism.

1830's - abolitionism gained strength - leaders - William Lloyd Garrison - used language from the Declaration of Independence. Slave owners viewed slavery as essential to money. Abolitionists became more radical - Garrison remained a pacifist. Frederick Douglass - the voice of free blacks - very intelligent - wants to convince people that blacks can be trusted to be free - capable of education.

Southern reaction grew - 1830-1840 - pro slavery arguments get more intense - Biblical justifications. Racial inferiority doctrine - not a permanent feature of American political culture. Did that in order to justify slavery. Racism - modern phenomenon.

Southern apologists - John C. Calhoun - defend slavery - argues for states rights perspective on Constitution - doctrine of nullification - states should be able to not do acts of federal gov't - they can nullify it within their own boundaries - Disquisition on Gov't - argues for stronger states - not enough to have separation of powers - need a concurrent majority - can veto gov't decisions - North and South interests should both have veto power - both must be concurrent to push policies through. Fitzhguh - Cannibals - argues there is no principle higher than power - freedom and equality are myths - no justification for freeing the slaves - they are better off than industrial workers in the North - happy slave argument - they are taken care of. Civil War alters political landscape. 13, 14, 15 Amendments. Supreme Court didn't want this to mean anything - takes away power of the amendments - separate but equal - nothing wrong with segregation - gave Southern states a free pass to segregate - formed Jim Crow laws - segregated socially and disenfranchised politically. Powerful debate over the best way to produce racial equality.

Booker T. Washington - spokesman for blacks - Tuskegee Institute - argues blacks are best off seeking accommodation with whites - work for gradual progress through economic development - invest in vocational educational skills - received praise from whites for his moderation. WEB DuBois - Fisk, then Harvard - helped found NAACP - edited its journal - "The Crisis" - thought Washington's proposal was toothless - did not challenge white American enough - must pursue self-reliance and political equality - must pursue higher education - cultivate the talented tenth 11/26. Affirmative action - quota system to make sure that minorities are represented - does not necessarily include quotas. Late 60's - pushed by Nixon.

LBJ wanted to enforce nondiscrimination policies. Republicans usually opposed to affirmative action. Wanted to create large black middle class quickly - riots breaking out in the inner cities - policy reason. Political reason - when people started to dislike it, it would fall onto the Democrats - would throw voters to the Republican party and work to his own partisan advantage - Philadelphia Plan.

Opposition came from conservative Democrats. Cose thinks a ff. Action should not be kicked out of college - there are flaws but it is better than the alternative. Want diversity.

Bakke - 1970's - California Berkeley Medical School - they had a quota system. Hopwood case - Texas - throw out affirmative action all together. Asians - affirmative action may hurt Asians. Put pressure on California schools to do away with ACT / SAT scores.

Cose argues more whites think they " ve been screwed than actually have been... Modern liberals attack entrenched privilege. Libertarians - property rights. Communitarianism - responsibility; sacrifice privacy interests for public goods 11/28. America is a melting pot. Salad bowl - mixing of different groups.

Great diversity. Martin Luther King - liberal version of politics. White rights come from white way of thinking. Real aim of civil rights movement - should be black liberation - affirm black identity and black power. Radical strain - identity politics - what defines you - stigmatized due to group belonging - must be attacked with group based solutions. Only when blacks have cultural and racial pride, can they stand with pride - group belonging.

Multiculturalism - appeals to salad bowl model - appeal is ingredients. Affirms equality of different customs. Afro centrism - fight against white racism and Anglo-Saxon culture. Deeply embedded racism - must be sensitive to public sentiments concerning racism. Fuller appreciation for slavery by everyone. Doesn't understand notion of culture borrowing.

Radical - Leonard Jeffries - tried to explain rise of racism between the sun people and the ice people. Physiological changes as result of climate - blacks are superior. Paul Butler - system infused with whit racism - black jurors should refuse to commit guilty black defendants 12/3. Multiculturalism reevaluating the past. Race - more specific problem in America due to our special circumstance. Women's rights - never formally discussed at a constitutional convention.

Abigail Adams - spokeswoman - "remember the ladies... be more generous to them then your ancestors" - 1776 - John Adams - "I can not but laugh". Early 19th century - emerging from Jacksonian, egalitarian instincts - some developments - women considered citizens - few legal rights - couldn't vote - married women were "coverture" - their legal rights were covered by their husbands - lost control over property, wills and contracts - could not go to court without husband's permission - denied educational opportunities - weren't allowed in some occupations. Lots of women were anti-slavery - 1830's - began to break away in 1840's due to women's rights. Issues - anti-slavery leader focused on that first - formed a splinter group.

1848 - Seneca Falls - Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton - discuss condition and rights of women - declaration of sentiment - echo Jefferson: all men and women are created equal - all laws that go against this are contrary to nature - gave a good catalog of what the situation was. "The Solitude of Self" essay - women must be understood as individuals - we are all alone - face mortality on our own - something about us all that is fundamentally the same - women are capable of citizenship but were denied it - bad for society because they don't have to do their part of civic responsibility 12/5.