Interest groups

Notice that the interests that all of these diverse types of organizations are expected to further are for the most part common interests: the union members' common interest in higher wages, the farmers' common interest in favorable legislation, the cartel members' common interest in higher prices, the stockholders' common interest in higher dividends and stock prices, the citizens' common interest in good government. It is not an accident that the diverse types of organizations listed are all supposed to work primarily for the common interests of their members” by Olson

        Groups interest are organizations with the same purpose and interest. Olson defines that groups interest seek for their own benefits and privileges. This passage suggests that citizens look for their own interest of having a good government who provides benefits. Also, big companies seek to benefit their own member from citizens. Every organization seeks a common interest of money. It can also be related to humans; every person has a common interest of getting money. There’s not organization without an interest. Organizations use strategies to accomplish the interest of their members.  Every member in an organization has the same interest. We can see this when companies promote their products trying to call citizens’ attention. This is seen a lot in politics when candidates give their speeches and promises to convince voters.

I chose this passage because the concept of group interest helps me identify how business work today. All organizations and people seek their own benefits. Organizations analyze how they can get what they want from citizens. Also, citizens want better opportunities, jobs, money and benefits from the government.  I can visualize this concept from two different point of views.  On one hand, it’s good because it promotes unity and help us achieve our goals. It makes me understand that a group of people with the same idea and purpose can achieve whatever they want. On the other hand, it helps me realize that we’re living in an egoistic society where everyone seeks for their own interest and advantage. Companies seek to get money from citizens and citizens seek better job opportunities and get money as well. This is reality we are living in a world in which everyone seeks their own goal and interest no matter what.

the judiciary

“In June, 1958, two residents of Virginia, Mildred Jeter, a Negro woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were married in the District of Columbia pursuant to its laws. Shortly after their marriage, the Lovings returned to Virginia and established their marital abode in Caroline County. At the October Term, 1958, of the Circuit Court of Caroline County, a grand jury issued an indictment charging the Lovings with violating Virginia's ban on interracial marriages. On January 6, 199, the Lovings pleaded guilty to the charge, and were sentenced to one year in jail; however, the trial judge suspended the sentence for a period of 25 years on the condition that the Lovings leave the State and not return to Virginia together for 25 years. He stated in an opinion that: "Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And, but for the interference with his arrangement, there would be no cause for such marriage. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."This is a case involving Loving v. Virginia

            This case shows racism and segregation between blacks and whites.  In the past, blacks were considered inferior than whites. Everything including bathrooms, schools, resources, communities and parks were separated for blacks and Caucasians . The law prohibited marriage between whites and blacks. The court suggests that a white and a black can’t get married because it would influence family genes and race. They separated the couple for twenty-five years because of their anti-miscegenation law.  Something that called my attention is when one of the judges said that God separated races in different continents with the intended purpose of keeping races separate. In my opinion every human is free to choose who they want to marry, that’s something very personal and not law should interfere on that. The couple pointed out that the anti-miscegenation law goes against the fourteenth amendment. The fourteenth amendment protects citizens’ right of liberty, but judges said that the amendment doesn’t specifically talk about mixture of races. Judges decided that if any white and black person get married will be incarcerated for 1 year and up to five years.  

This case caught my attention because it reminds me segregation times, and how blessed we are today for not living under those laws. It’s sad how black people were treated and how citizens ‘rights were invaded just because of imposed laws by racists. This couple deserved to choose what they want, to have children and live together.laws and beliefs enforced on otheres  by people with power can deprive most people and make their lives difficult. I think that this case is important because this make us feel grateful of the time we are living today. In the past there was a lot suffering, racial deprivation, injustice and no freedom. Today every human is free to marry who they want and everyone has the freedom to obtain what they want. However, I think that some people may be emotional  and anger because of the racial history of the nation

the presidency

John F Kennedy stated that,“To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required--not because the communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man” 

            Kennedy is considered the 35th president of the United States. He became president in 1960. This quote reflects his first speech as a president. The way he talks in this speech reflects honesty and kindness.  In this quote he is basically demanding peace and unity in the nation. He believed in freedom and generosity. He is proposing to help the poor at any time. He believed in citizens’ rights and freedom of speech. He is proposing a nation in which all can work together to make a better country. I like his speech because he seems honest and compassionate with citizens. I like when he says ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man”. I think that unity is power and working together is the key to succeed for a nation. He wanted citizens to be unified to fight for their rights and freedom. Finally, Kennedy was assassin in 1963 by a former marine.

I chose this passage because I like his kindness and generosity. All presidents usually make promises that don’t accomplish, but Kennedy seems sincere and caring.  When he says, “ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country”, I agree because usually citizens expect to receive from their country. Also, we usually expect everything to be good in nation, but how can it be good if we are the ones who destroy it?  For instance, littering on the floor, damaging buses, communities and doing crimes. If all citizens take care and behave appropriately, there would be a better and unified nation.

congress

What does all this mean? It means states can actually control the extent of gerrymandering. Take New York, for example. It's the one state among the eight that has shown a meaningful decrease in the level of gerrymandering across multiple congressional terms. New York also has also set up an independent advisory commission that recommends congressional and state redistricting plans to the state legislature. This commission was set up in 1978, and shortly thereafter the level of gerrymandering in the state peaked and has been declining ever since.
While the New York legislature is not bound to follow the advisory committee's recommendations, this does suggest that subjecting legislators to some oversight in the redistricting process could rein in their enthusiasm for rigging that process in their favor" as stated by Ingraham

 In this quote, Ingraham described  the decrease in gerrymandering in New York to demonstrate how gerrymandering is an issue that can be resolved . He had explained how even non binding oversight can limit and help control this issue and that the avenues to limit gerrymandering are there but the legislators of some states simply don't want to pursue them.

I chose this quote to discuss because it breaks the complicated issue of gerrymandering into much simpler terms; if there is no oversight then the legislators will not hesitate to do everything in there power to rig the process. The legislators, much like everyone else, are flawed human beings and although it is completely reasonable to expect our leaders to not take advantage of our system, we still need to be cautious and take steps to ensure that they at least have to think twice before they gerrymander. 

EQUAL RIGHTS

Marshall states that,“the civil element is composed of the rights necessary for individual freedom. By the political element I mean the right to participate in the exercise of political power, as a member of a body invested with political authority or as an elector of the members of such a body. The corresponding institutions are parliament and councils of local government. By the social element I mean the whole range from the right to a modicum of economic welfare and security to the right to share to the full in the social heritage and live the life of a civilized being according to the standard prevailing in the society. The institutions most closely connected with it are the educational system and the social services” 

 He stresses  that citizenship is divided into three different categories which are civil rights, political rights and social rights. In this quote he explains the meanings of each right. The civil rights which means citizen’s freedom of speech, religion, justice, liberty, right to own property and equality. Political rights which means the right to become president, the right to run as an elector member and the right of political power.  Social rights which means right of education, welfare, social services, security and the right to enjoy ourselves. Marshall fought for citizen’s rights and their liberty. He believed in justice and equality.

I chose this  quote because Marshall proclaims citizens’ rights. We have the right to speak, the right to follow any religion, the right of owning houses and businesses, the right to vote. This quote called my attention because it reflects freedom and liberty. We humans have rights that we should be aware of. It called my attention because there are rights that the government can’t not interfere such as citizens’ freedom of speech and liberty.  However, social rights like education and social services, insurance is in danger since the government can do what he wants. I think that social rights are not rights at all because not all citizens can have access to them for economic reasons or rules. Marshall is defining that we should have access to all these rights without prevention from  the government.  

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

"What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy-- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour. "

This quote from  Frederick Douglas,an African american who was addressing a mass of people during the independence day celebration of United States of  America.In his sermon, the preaches of the injustice and inequality in the country.For a country that pushes the agenda of equality and democracy to the world,its very hypocritical on its citizens.he expresses that the fourth of July is meaningless to the men and women who are oppressed by the same people who enjoying the day of celebration.

This quote caught my attention  because  Fredrick Douglass unveils the hypocrisy of American slavery. He is candid in how any celebration in the name of liberty, equality, triumph over tyranny is offensive to every individual who has been denied these most basic rights. He took this opportunity to hold a mirror up to the U.S and its practices and reveal how they contradict the very ideals this nation was built on.many African Americans are treated with disdain.since abolishing slavery there have been no reparations to even help ease the pain of torture but we celebrate independence with joy and merry.

seventh of march speech

Mr. President, "in the excited times in which we live, there is found to exist a state of incrimination and recrimination between the North and South. There are lists of grievances produced by each; and those grievances, real or supposed, alienate the minds of one portion of the country from the other, exasperate the feelings, and subdue the sense of fraternal affection, patriotic love, and mutual regard" (Webster).

  In this quote, the author is describing the acrimony between the North and the South. He talks about how both sides have complaints against each other and this animosity is threatening the unity of the country and dividing it. Webster goes on to discuss a specific grievance that the South has from the North, his opinion on which I found disappointing especially coming from a man who only thirty years prior to this speech stated that an “African slave-trader is a pirate and a felon; and in the sight of Heaven, an offender beyond the ordinary depth of human guilt” .

   I chose this quote because the sentiments Webster is referring to sound all too familiar given the current political climate of our nation. Although the two opposing sides are no longer North and South but rather the political parties, the sense of division and resentment is one that has grown over the past year or so. This parallel between our current political climate and the political climate of this country more than a century ago is one I found fascinating, albeit disheartening. modern day progressive democrates are pushing for impeachment of the current president whiles conservative republicans are trump fanatics with no middle ground.this wide gap goes in on many socio-econmic issues such as healthcare,immigration,science and technology.

ANOTHER STAB OF THE CONSTITUTION

Rachel E. Barkow states that,"We are a nation dedicated to liberty and equality. So it is a particularly tragic irony that America leads the world in imprisonment and that a large proportion of those serving sentences are people of color".

this quote gives us a clear view of american injustice and defiance of the constitution.the american prison system has majority of African  Americans incarcerated as compared to other races.As a nation of equality and dedicated to liberty,this must not happen ,however we see it on daily basis how the judiciary institution append different sentences for people of color and Caucasian whom have committed the same crime. African american get longer sentences with ridiculous probation periods as compared to white people.this is not the american we all inspire or try to portray.

this quote caught my attention because i see a lot of people of color in jail for petty crime or misdemeanor acts.they receive unusually long jail sentences which in most cases should be a fine or warning.certain counties pass legislation targeting African american norms and culture.recently an american american got 12 years prison sentence for switching her zip code to get her child in a good school but a white woman who paid bribe to get her child accepted in University of Southern California gets 9 months probation.this  injustice and inequality that exists in american judiciary must be fixed and reformed.  

CONSTITUTION AND FEDERALIST

"Notes on the State of Virginia," p. 195. "All the powers of government, legislative, executive, and judiciary, result to the legislative body. The concentrating these in the same hands, is precisely the definition of despotic government. It will be no alleviation, that these powers will be exercised by a plurality of hands, and not by a single one. One hundred and seventy-three despots would surely be as oppressive as one. Let those who doubt it, turn their eyes on the republic of Venice. As little will it avail us, that they are chosen by ourselves. An ELECTIVE DESPOTISM was not the government we fought for; but one which should not only be founded on free principles, but in which the powers of government should be so divided and balanced among several bodies of magistracy, as that no one could transcend their legal limits, without being effectually checked and restrained by the others.
For this reason, that convention which passed the ordinance of government, laid its foundation on this basis, that the legislative, executive, and judiciary departments should be separate and distinct, so that no person should exercise the powers of more than one of them at the same time.

This quote from the federalist 57  talks about how one person must not hold all the power.the founding fathers were very much against authoritarian or dictatorship rule.they set up these different institutions to moderate power and effect the rule of law.they wanted a system based on principles of equality that makes no one above the law.in the end its the people who have the final check on both legislative and executive branch when they vote to elect their representatives .through those selections,they also influence the potential makeup of the judiciary branch

I like this quote because the checks and balance as name suggests makes limits the powers of each branch whiles empowering them of different roles.People in power will most likely not abuse its power or turn into a dictatorship due to variance in branches.This is an important  decision to give specific powers to each branch and to ensure no one branch is too powerful than the other or control too much power.the branches must work together for the prosperity of the nation.its up to us as a generation to see that the integrity of the Constitution structure for a free society is maintained by exercising our rights to vote.this helps preserve the system of checks and balances to essential limit and balance the government
   

CITIZENSHIP AND AMERICAN IDENTITY:what is america

          We are all foreign-born or the descendants of foreign-born, and if distinctions are to be made between us, they should rightly be on some other ground than ingenuousness. The early colonists came over with motives no less colonial than the later. They did not come to be assimilated in an American melting pot. They did not come to adopt the culture of the American Indian. They had not the smallest intention of ‘giving themselves without reservation’ to the new country. They came to get freedom to live as they wanted to. They came to escape from the stifling air and chaos of the old world; they came to make their fortune in a new land. They invented no new social framework. Rather they brought over bodily the old ways to which they had been accustomed. Tightly concentrated on a hostile frontier, they were conservative beyond belief. Their pioneer daring was reserved for the objective conquest of material resources. In their folkways, in their social and political institutions, they were, like every colonial people, slavishly imitative of the mother country. So that, in spite of the ‘Revolution,’ our whole legal and political system remained more English than the English, petrified and unchanging, while in England law developed to meet the needs of the changing times.
        This quote by Randolph Bourne summaries the concept of immigration.Immigrants from European countries who settled here either through exploration,wars or persecution did not discard their cultures or norms.they rather integrated it with the already existing society.the american culture basically was assimilated by these foreigners from Europe.It can be read that while European culture changed,american society was resistant to changes that was brought forth by immigrants from other continents other than European. american culture was basically an European culture.the american identity must therefore be fluid and adaptive to changing times.immigrants must not be coerced to assimilate the borrowed norms of the colonials but rather embraced.
      I chose this quote because it speaks on the recent immigrant-phobia of america.it must be known that European settlers were not required to speak native language nor adhere to traditions and culture.however, they allowed the freedom as immigrant to express their foreign norms without any threat or fear from natives.however recent immigrants are seen as threat to american identity which was the identity of old Anglo-Saxon .the requirement to speak English only enhances communication but forcibly asking immigrants to discard culture and take up the norms of the new world is rather un- american. one american identity is freedom and it implies that one can do anything as far as it doesn't interfere with others.identity in current american is color,race,income and many superficial indices.we have lost the appreciation of  a deeper identity that manifests itself through a person's character.

TOTALISTARIANISM

Sheldon Wolin states that "Representative institutions no longer represent voters. Instead, they have been short-circuited, steadily corrupted by an institutionalized system of bribery that renders them responsive to powerful interest groups whose constituencies are the major corporations and wealthiest Americans. The courts, in turn, when they are not increasingly handmaidens of corporate power, are consistently deferential to the claims of national security. Elections have become heavily subsidized non-events that typically attract at best merely half of an electorate whose information about foreign and domestic politics is filtered through corporate-dominated media. Citizens are manipulated into a nervous state by the media’s reports of rampant crime and terrorist networks, by thinly veiled threats of the Attorney General and by their own fears about unemployment. What is crucially important here is not only the expansion of governmental power but the inevitable discrediting of constitutional limitations and institutional processes that discourages the citizenry and leaves them politically apathetic".

The author makes valid statement of our current times.the branches of government such as the congress and senate are lobbyist for mega rich companies that seek only their self interest and growth.the passage seeks to explain how dysfunctional the institutions that was created to help in democracy are in lieu a force of suppressing for the voters.although elections are held but media, technology and foreign influence dictate the the results as far as rigging elections through technology hacks and other means.the voters social problems are ignored always for the co-operations that donated to get them elected.hence the people feel voiceless and powerless because their means of getting their problems solved has been corrupted.the media which plays a major role in peoples lives are also interest groups that seek their own agenda.

I chose this reading because this passage portrays the current political environment in the country. people of power does almost everything to retain power and votes almost on political lines.the current issues of this country including waves of anti-abortion laws  in states although federally its allowed speaks for itself.the lack of respect for institutions that must enforce the constitution is virtually  powerless as leaders pit one law enforcing agency  against the other.political leaders join with media to sow discord among voters on race,color and sex.i believe this government first efforts must to bring its people together to foster unity for growth .Currently most of the issues in this country has all the attributes of an inverted totalistarism,with fox news on the far right and cnn on the left.the leader of the free world must not align itself with a media house and castigate institutional leaders for either having a brown skin or been a woman.it must not pass laws based on religion but rather the listen to the voice of its people