Chapter 10

1. The majority public were not happy because the electoral college runs our elections. This situation shows how unfair our voting system is. Gore would have actually been our president if it were really up to the people's votes. This problem is the reason why you hear so many people in American saying, "Why should I vote? My vote doesn't matter."

2. I believe fundraising shouldn't be set at a certain amount. That makes running for office unfair. Having low funds, can cause a candidate to be knocked out of the race. If they are the right person for the job, then they should be considered as well as the rest of the people wanting to run for office. Making the fundraising part of the nomination, just makes things harder for the people without the funds to do what they want to do and easier for the people with all the money in the world.

3. Like I mentioned before, I believe people don't want to vote because they think their ballot doesn't matter. It usually ends up being the electoral college's vote that only matter in the end. If we had a system that maybe put our votes and the electoral colleges vote together and deciding the winner that way, then maybe more people would feel they matter.

Chapter 9

1. I wouldn't necessarily say I identify with any certain party. I usually go with whatever is right during that certain time. Considering I don't associate with any certain party, there are multiple things that I don't agree with. With that being said, that means there are also plenty more things I do agree with. It's hard to really be particular when you don't really have a "pick".

2. I believe America does need political parties. Without them everything would be a big mess. I believe that keeping things separated helps everyone from being confused. Sometimes it's hard to remember who is in what party, but when voting it makes things easier by what they believe in. America wouldn't work good with out them because they keep everything in line just by being separate. (in my opinion)

3. I found a political party that wasn't so much about a bunch of government issues but more of their own. The "Guns and Dope" Party was a big joke at first. It was started by Robert Wilson in response to the Cali election which was won by the famous Arnold Schwarzenegger. These people believed if the gun lovers and drug users came together, they could form a huge unique majority. They came up with silly slogans and tried to convince people to write their own name on the ballot. That's how serious they felt about the government. They almost felt like it didn't matter what name the "wrote" on the ballot because the election was already "fixed" anyway. I don't really identify with this group, I just thought it was interesting to share. Like I said before I don't really identify with any particular group. It's just whatever is going on at the time. I really thought this group was interesting though.

Chapter 8

1. I chose the National Education Association (NEA). I learned they are the largest professional organization and largest labor union in the US. They represent public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators and college students preparing to become teachers. I thought it was interesting seeing there is a group out there helping teachers. I work in the school system and seeing how much teachers are unappreciated makes me happy to see a union out there wanting to be there for them.

2. I realized that I associate with the NEA and AFT positively. They both work hard to help teachers out. If the teachers didn't have help then it would reflect back on the students. When this happens, where is the future for our children? If there wasn't unions out there willing to be on the teachers side, then people simply wouldn't want to be in that field. As if the field isn't flowing over enough.

3. I believe they have enough power, because if they didn't then people wouldn't care much about them. If they had to much power, you would hear more people arguing over the excessive amount.








I commented on Gabby Miller, Albert Munoz, and Melissa Ray.

Chapter 5

1.) I believe the government can do more to reduce against racial discrimination. The government allows different rules that basically permit discrimination in "certain situations." They engage in public and private discrimination. Public is discrimination by national, local or state governments, which should not be allowed. Private is brought on by private individuals or businesses. There isn't much we can say to someone on behalf of their own personal view on racial discrimination, but we can try to keep businesses from discrimination people, privately or publicly owned.

2.) I believe in someways the government needs to improve with gender rights. It isn't fair that men get paid more than women. Some women work just as hard or even harder as men. I also believe that government is doing better though because before they wouldn't put a woman on trial for statutory rape. Women can have sex with underage kids just like men. It shouldn't be OK regardless of gender type.

3.) I believe the government does way too much to protect sexual orientation discrimination. The government makes a bigger deal out of sexual preferences and the discrimination with it instead of worrying about bigger issues involving discrimination. I believe the government needs to look into other problems more and this one a little less. This is just a personal opinion about the government not on the individuals in general.

I attempted to comment on Gabrielle Miller, Jessica Tucker and Rachel Bunch. I really don't think it worked because it isn't showing up on my computer that I have commented on them. So Mr. Whaley, if it hasn't showed up I do apologize.

Chapter 4

Freedom of Speech:
Freedom of Speech is important because it allows people to express their views. Everyone has a voice that should be heard. There are limits with freedom of speech. The limits can keep people from getting out of hand with their verbal actions. I don't believe it goes too far because of the restrictions. Something are always obligated to get out of hand but with these certain restrictions, I think freedom of speech is under control.

Freedom of Religion:
I believe the wall of separation is not necessary. I agree with the accommodationists. If the government doesn't favor one certain religion over another they could support practices. As long as the government isn't pushing a certain religion, it shouldn't matter.

Criminal Procedure:
I believe the rights to a defendant have become crucial overtime. Without their rights they wouldn't be treated as US citizens because everyone has rights. They become more crucial to our government everyday because they try to protect the wrong people for the wrong reasons. They have way too many rights. The government is more worried about how they will look due to a certain punishment instead of looking at the crime or the victim.


I commented on Gabby Miller, Amber Waters, and Rachel Bunch

Chapter 2

Please Everyone bare with me on this post because I still learning about the whole "blogging process."

1. Why is the United States Constitution stronger than the Articles of Confederation? How would history of the US have been different if the country still operated under the Articles of Confederation?

The Articles of Confederation was not very strong. There wasn't enough structure or organization. It seemed as though, they didn't really have many boundaries. The book claims, "too much freedom and not enough order." Congress had full authority over foreign military and Indian affairs. They couldn't tax citizens or products directly and it could only be requested. The governing was not very good because each state had one vote in Congress with consent of nine of the thirteen required for most important matters. The Constitution today had made more rules for the government to go by and helps out the citizens. If the government has more rules, then they are less likely to hurt us in the long run. I believe since the Constitution has been around for this long, something must have been done right. If the government still ran off of the Articles of Confederation, our country would be in worse shape than it really is today. There was no control and that can lead to way to many problems.

2. The first three articles of the Constitution establish/define the three branches of government-read these articles. What did you learn about the government that you didn't already know?

After taking a few government electives in highschool, there was a few things I already have heard about the government. I was very familiar with these articles. One thing I may have known but not realized is that the Congress assembles on the same day every year. They are required for a meeting once a year and it's always the first Monday in December. This date only changes if the law appoints to be changed.

3. How important is the Supreme Court ruling in Marbury v. Madison and why?

It was very important because they used judicial review. Judicial review is the authority of the court to strike down any law passed by congress if the courts believe the law violates the Constitution. The law was conflicting with the Constitution, so therefore the Supreme court had rule for the judicial review.

4. Looking at the US government today, is it more like what the Federalist or AntiFederalist envisioned and why?

I could be wrong about this agruement, but this is just what I took from it.
I believe the government is like the Federalist envisioned. They believed if we started making a certain type of list of our freedoms people would start saying things that were left out. Here we are today, and all people do is argue about what kind of freedoms we have. They say something vulgar and afterwards, "I have freedom of speech." They go to assemble and petition, but get in a huge fight. "I have the freedom to assemble and petition." They forget about the slander rules. They tend to forget they have to assemble and petition in a peacefull manner with no disturbance. The Federalist believed that people would get out of hand with a bunch of "list of freedoms." Which I am not saying that I don't agree with having our freedoms listed, that is not my intentions at all! I could have taken the Federalist wrong on this whole topic but this is how I believe it was.

Introduction to the class

Hello everyone! My name is MacKenzie King-Adkins. I am 20 years old and this is my second year at Roane State. My name hasn't been changed through Roane State yet so that's why I am still under King. I am newly married to Josh Adkins, who is a graduate from Roane State's radiology program. We are excepting our first child, Caleb Rylan, in just a few short weeks. We are both very excited! I am currently in the paralegal program, but I'm still unsure of what I would like to do as far as a career. I was once reminded from a wise man named Del Suggs that you never do anything forever. I work in an Elementary school as a teacher aid. I love the children, so maybe one day I can find something that works with children and helping their needs. But for now, I will stick with the paralegal program. I hope to learn a lot from this class. I had an American government class in highschool and absolutely loved it! The idea of politics and the rights of one person just interest me so much. I love to know things about the government and how they work. So, with all that being said I am hoping I can learn something new to go along with the knowledge I already have about this subject. I hope everyone enjoys this class and has a great semester!