US 1 & 2 Flashcards
Why must america be seen as liberal society
o ‘Right maximising liberal system’
♣ Rights maximised and government kept in check
o Individuals building blocks of society
what are some discrepancies of the us belief system and its realities
Competitive Individualism
= (Concentrated Corporal Powers)
Equality of Opportunity (equal playing field)
= Entrenched elites in Congress
Limited Government (as government is a threat to society) = An "Imperial Presidency"
what are the four key components to modern american liberalism (greenberg)
competitive individualism
private property
limited governemnt
free market
explain the key component of competitive individualism
- Society: an amalgamation of selfish, inherently self-interested individuals
- Equality of opportunity/ level playing field
o Society= benign; offers opportunities and no important impediments
o Opportunities in life= individual ones (not class/institutionally-based)
explain the key component of private property
- Success and private property= due to individual efforts
- Inequality =product of individual differences in effort/innovation/diligence
o NOT class or collective dynamics - Inequality is inevitable and desirable= provides incentives to work hard
explain limited governemnt
- As individuals are source of ideas, skill and initiative, institutions that would interfere w/ individual enterprise must be limited
- potential for harm and small good
- Must be limited to a Nightwatchmen State
what are govs potential for harm and good
- Governments potential for harm is great
o Restrictive of individual freedom + impose laws and penalties using coercion - Governments potential for good is small
o They are bad innovators and producers
explain key component of free market
- coordinate the socio-economic order?
- The Free Market and the Price Mechanism = signals and incentives WITHOUT government
- Self-interest of seller and buyer control each other through “Mutual Negation” (Smith)
- THE RESULT: Efficient, uncontrolled economic activity that is SELF-REGULATING and requires no big role for government
what were the pos + neg of colonies to states
o Good: no British power
o Bad: each state= separate (own currency, laws) > Open to attack
what are the four principals for controlling gov power in the US constitution
- written constitution
- bill of rights
- separation of powers (checks + balances)
- federalism
explain a ‘written constituion’
- Codifies governmental duties, terms of office, responsibilities, powers, interrelationships
- Reduced ambiguities, informalities
- Elevate the Const. above the politics of the day
explain the bill of rights
- Individuals rights and freedoms guaranteed; governmental power= limited
- Example: 1st Amendment
o “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
explain the separation of powers principal
o “the accumulation of powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands…may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” (James Madison: Federalist Essay, no. 47)
explain the principal of checks + balances
o “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.”
o “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.” James Madison: Federalist Essay no.51
what enables checks and balances
overlap/ shared duties and powers
