1. In what ways is the court system better suited to protect the individual, than are the elected branches of government (such as Congress and the President; or the Mayor of NYC and the NYC City Assembly)? Give an example to illustrate your argument.

After reading the text and my understand, I believe the ways in which the court system better suited to protect the individual than are the elected branches of government such as congress and the president is that it’s administer justice fairly and impartially within the jurisdiction established by the constitution and congress, they’re designed to be independent ( the judiciary) , the branches of government are mostly along with the influenced and they have to get their second opinion which the judiciary they’re independent. An example would be judges are responsible for making the decisions based on the law and not any political considerations.

2) Think about how federal judges get to become judges – unlike Presidents, Mayors and members of Congress (and other legislatures), they are not elected, but rather appointed. Many Americans have thus called the federal courts system, and especially the Supreme Court, anti-democratic PLACES IN OUR GOVERNMENT. Do you agree that the Supreme Court, for example, is an anti-democratic part of our government? What could be the reason for this way of choosing judges in federal courts? (HINT: think about our discussion of “Federalist #10”, and which social class plays a leading role in our government system.)

Yes I do believe the Supreme Court is an anti-democratic part of our government because it ensures that people have equal justice under the law. The reason for this way of choosing judges in federal courts is because it can be fair enough for everyone and the deathly people tend to believe that they don’t want the poor to have too much power over the rights and the government, they don’t want the less wealthy people to have a “saying” into anything that involve the government so they believe selecting someone that is more highly of having the ability to be apart of the Supreme Court would benefit them in some way as possible, mainly because having a larger amount of people would be unresponsive for others and would mostly give everyone the same power and levels and for the wealthy people they don’t want that, they rather to have all the power.

1. P. Williams writes in her essay, that the war on terror is a new type of a war. What’s new about it, how is it different from traditional wars?

What’s new about it and different from traditional wars, based on the reading from P. Williams, a war of terror is a war of mind, whereas the enemy reflects on anybody that makes us afraid, rather than a war of land, or other resources, that’s what makes it different. It focuses on the Ideology rather than the terror, our minds, thoughts and what we think that’s going to happen/ tale place it focuses on.

2) In what ways does the “Roving Wiretaps” of the Patriot Act seem to violate the Bill of Rights? Which amendment(s) does it seem to violate and why?

Based on the reading and my understanding, The “Roving Wiretaps” of the Patriot Act seem to violate the Bill of Rights by leading to privacy violations of anyone, which can lead to innocent communications because of a person comes into casual contact with the suspect. The amendment(s) it seem to violate would be Forth Amendment’s protection, reasons why it helps to protect the rights of someone and to secure that person from any form of unreasonable searches that’s being displayed.

3) What about “Sneek and Peek” Warrants?

Based on the reading and my understanding, “Sneak and Peek” Warrants are known as delayed notice which allows FBI or any Law enforcements to conduct a home without notifying the target of the investigation/ that they searched or was there. This helps to gather any additional information needed without the suspect knowing or denying later on.

1. Describe how you understand the “Establishment Clause” and the related “Lemon Test”.

From my understanding and how I understand “Establishment Clause” it reminds me of ones beliefs and how each person has their own beliefs and how it separates us. It also reflects on preventing the government from participating in a religion. The “Lemon Test” is being used to ensure that the government doesn’t violates the “Establishment Clause”, so basically they can’t go against it, or show any form of action or violation towards the Clause.

2)  burning the US flag protected by the First Amendment? Explain by referring to the relevant court case discussed in the reading.

Based on the reading, Burning the US flag protected by the first Amendment it signifies a “symbolic speech” which is protected by the First Amendment and found by law which applies to flag desecration and it is also offensive to disrespect the flag and the court thoughts were criticized as they believe that if burning the US flag means desecration and symbolic reasons , why can’t we protect other areas that involves symbolic speech as well, a federal law was being issued for protection against the flag.

3) What does it mean when someone says “I’m taking the Fifth”?

From my understanding it simply means you refuse to share details on any personal questions/ criminal cases that’s related to you, simply protecting your self-discrimination and it protects individuals from testifying against themselves in criminal cases

1. Describe the primary differences in the role of citizens in government, among the federal, confederation, and unitary systems.

For citizens, they’re the ones that elect others in the federal government. For confederation, the main focus begins with the states and then the national government ( people are relatively involved). And lastly, in the Unitary system citizens are less involved, the central government is more concentrated.

2) Briefly explain how you understand the system of division of power

From my understanding, the system of division of power means the division of government responsibilities into distinct branches, preventing any one branch from becoming too powerful. A perfect example I believe which is somewhat similar but not similar at the same time would be from our previous discussion board whereas social classes are divided into different classes where people have the privilege to be where wealth, resources and influence are unevenly distributed.

3) How does the federal government shape the actions of state and local governments? Write your answer based on doing a bit of research on how the federal government has influenced the actions of NY state and local governments, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I believe one way that the federal government has shape the actions of state and local government is through distribution of grants, aid. By maintaining good programs and healthcare systems and education, the federal government help states and local governments.

Treatment research and public education along with vaccines and taking actions to proare one way the federal government has influences the actions of NY state and local governments during the COVID-19 pandemic, they provided for the local governments with much needed fiscal relief to help them. They also provided more laws to help the nation respond to and to also recover from the pandemic.

1. What concept that we have already discussed does “faction” remind you of

From my understanding and after reading the article, Faction would be similar/ reminds me of the social classes how everyone is placed in different class based on their income or other interests. Based on the article, is signifies faction as By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.

2) According to Federalist #10 (written by James Madison), what is the sourceof wealth (private property)? What factor explains why some people get to possess wealth by owning private property, and others don’t (thus remaining poor)? This is a key question, because it shows how the authors of the Constitution thought about the difference between different classes of Americans! HINT: focus on the passage that begins: “The diversity in the faculties (WHAT DOES FACULTIES mean or refer to?) of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not les….”

According to Federalist #10, the source of wealth (private property), James Madison identifies the unequal distributions of properties which is the most common source of factions. Some individuals inherit wealth or they have access to capital which includes money and property, which allows them to acquire property while others lack the resources and struggle to afford it.

3) Do you agree with this explanation of wealth and poverty?

I do agree with this explanation of wealth and poverty, it gives us a wider understanding as to the wealthy having the ability to obtain their property while the poor they have to work hard for it. Even though it is wrong because the poor have to work hard for a property that is given to the wealthy people at the end of the day.

4) What is the core mission (“first object”) of the US government? Does this surprise you, does it sound different from what our society today seems to suggest the core mission of the government is? Explain.

The core mission (first object) of the US government is the protection of facilities. It doesn’t surprise me in today’s society mainly because the wealthy people are still over powering a lot of rights and the lower classes has no voice or saying in anything. At the end of the day, the believe that because they have all this money they can do whatever it takes, whenever and how they would like the outcome of it.

5) Given the discussion in questions 1-4, are you surprised that Federalist #10 is not in favor of democracy, and supports a Republican (representative) form of government? Why would d the author dislike a (pure) democratic form of government? Hint: think about how this question connects with the social classes…

I’m not surprised at all, just as much as how they view lower class people as struggling and upper class people as being wealthy, I wouldn’t say they look down on others but favoritism somewhat plays a huge role in these selections as it varies for everyone. They dislike a pure democratic form of government because they don’t like peace and happiness within everyone and I do believe we all have a voice and it should be heard, it also reflects back on how they view people in society these days as upper and lower and how they both get treated and welcomed differently.

1. Based on the arguments presented in Readings 6.1 and 6.2, which social class wrote the Constitution, and which class was excluded and not allowed to participate in this process? In your comment, make sure you clearly specify the difference between the two classes by giving examples from the readings.

Based on my reading and understanding of 6.1 and 6.2, the wealth owning capitalist classes wrote the constitution. The social classes that were not allowed to participate in this process is the working classes, the Non-wealthy classes. They were not allowed to input their ideas that involves shaping the government system due to them being wealthy enough they wouldn’t want to include other social classes but themselves.

2) Would say that the social class structure of early United States society was the same as ours today, or different? Explain.

I would honestly say that it is somewhat the same as our today, because the upper classes are still considering themselves as higher classes than others and if you’re in a lower class they’re more likely to not help you enough and things are as much harder on your side compared to the higher class. But in today’s society they’re more focus on education, wealth and income.

3) Why were the people who wrote the Constitution so afraid of democracy? Hint: think about how to answer this question by discussing it in terms of social classes.

I would honestly say that the people who wrote the Constitution so afraid of democracy because they know what the outcome would be if the allow/let the lower Class get more power it would be much harder for the upper class people because they would make few changes which will make all the classes (slightly) the same which means no comparison against the classes and that’s the main reason why they were afraid of them because they were afraid they have more (power) to change the idea of things that they had control over and they’re upper class they wouldn’t want to be associated with the lower classes, they prefer their separate beliefs.

1. Which statistic on wealth inequality in the US (discussed on p. 29) made the biggest impression on you? Explain why?

After reading P.29, I can honestly say that, “40 percent of families own some stocks or bonds, but almost all of them have investments of less than $2,000” made the biggest impression on me mainly because even though that 40% of families own some stocks and bonds, the majority of those investments on the other hand are very small especially with most families holding less than $2000 in investments.

2) What could be some of the implications of living in a society that has such huge wealth inequalities? Do you see this dynamic getting played out in everyday life in our society? How so? Example?

Some implications of living in a society that has such huge wealth inequalities would be poorer health outcomes or the less wealthy. I do see this dynamic getting played out in everyday life in our society, healthcare, access to education and housing and even our social interactions with individuals out side in society has changed rapidly, depending on that person’s background and the group they’re placed in or viewed a lot of people tend to surround themselves with people that matches their status/ social background whether you’re from lower economic background, people with lower tend to have fewer opportunities to participate in such as education, career choice advancement and quality of healthcare services. These are all happening in our everyday life/ society.

1. As we learned thus far, the capitalist class consists of people who own wealth, as well as the means of production in American society. An important question in understanding how this class works is to ask: how does a capitalist remain wealthy? The answer to this question depends largely on understanding the diagram M-C-M’. So, let’s practice by explaining what happens in this diagram in our own words (but basing our ideas on Reading 5.1). Respond to the following question:  Explain M-C-M’ to show how capitalists maintain and increase their wealth. (hint: your answer should weave a summary that includes what you reviewed in the self-assessment exercise question 1-7)

Based on my understanding and readings in DB 5.1, M-C-M’ which represents circuit of capital, means Money-Commodity-Money. Capitalist starts with M (Money) which then being used to buy commodities (C) like for example labor power, then it leads to new commodities to a much greater value which is M’ (plus/more money) which is the final amount of money being received after selling the produced commodities. Capitalist maintain and increase their wealth by investments and also selling goods and services to maximize their gain.