The supreme court ruled against filing a judgement in the class-action with the key issue being commonality. For something to qualify as a class-action lawsuit, all individuals in the group must all have faced the same effect caused by a common policy or practice in the workplace. Being that the women weren’t all denied the same pay raise by the same manager in the same location for presumably the same reason, there technically weren’t any grounds for a lawsuit.

Williams argues the War on Terror is different from previous wars because it does not follow the traditional rules of war. It’s an open ended battle between external factors such as terrorist organizations since it lacks any specific opponent, battlefield, or conclusion unlike previous wars. Williams also adds that this conflict makes it hard to distinguish between civilians and active participants, and is often used as an excuse for excessive monitoring, government authority, and violating civil rights restrictions.

“A war against terrorism is a war of the mind, so broadly defined that the enemy becomes anybody who makes us afraid.” – P.Williams

The Patriots Act’s ‘roving wiretaps’ seems to be in violation of the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and calls without specific warrants. The search is unreasonably wide because the wiretaps allow the government to track someone’s conversation across multiple devices without being able to identify the individual or the device in question. Since people may be hesitant to speak freely if they know that they are under surveillance, it could also have an effect on the First Amendment.

The Patriot Act allows ‘sneak and peek’ warrants which gives law enforcement the right to enter somebody’s home or place of business without immediately notifying the owner. Officers have the right to inspect the area, take pictures, and even seize objects without telling the person in question. This raises questions about violating the Fourth Amendment, which is intended to protect the people against unreasonable searches.

The Establishment Clause was an act passed by congress deciding that the government cannot establish, show favor to, or become excessively engaged to one religion over others with the main goal being to uphold freedom of religion and government neutrality in religious affairs. The Lemon test is a method divided into 3 sections used by the court to determine if an action violates the Establishment Clause. It has to have an ethical purpose, religion cannot benefit or be harmed by it, and the government cannot be excessively involved. If any of those terms are violated, it most likely violates the Establishment Clause.

The first amendment protects burning the flag as a form of symbolic expression. In 1989, The Supreme Court ruled that even though it may be offensive to many, it is still a form of political expression that is allowed. The legislation that outlawed flag desecration with the Flag Protection Act was overruled by the Court, maintaining that flag burning is protected speech.

When a person says they are “taking the fifth,’ that means they are invoking their fifth amendment right not to speak and answer questions that may incriminate them, usually in a criminal case.

1. In the federal system, the citizens vote at both national and state levels and are also subject to laws at both national and state levels. Citizens in the Confederation System primarily deal with state officials rather than national government. In a Unitary System, one central government holds most if not all the power. Citizens mainly interact with one central government, and have less influence over local decisions. 
2. The system of division of power means that the government is split into parts, preventing one branch from attaining more power.

Separation of powers: Government is split into 3 branches, legislative which creates laws, executive which enforces laws, and the judicial branch which judges laws

Federalism: The federal and state governments which share authority.

3. The federal government had a significant impact on city and state governments largely through emergency authority, financing, and guidelines.

Funding: The federal government provided New York with funding with initiatives such as the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan to provide vaccines, testing, unemployment, hospitals, and small businesses. The state had to follow federal regulations on how to use the money, which impacted priorities.

Health Guidelines: Health guidelines on masks, vaccinations, and reopening procedures were released by federal organizations such as the CDC and FDA.

Emergency Declarations & Coordination: FEMA and other federal agencies were able to help provide New York with supplies, testing locations, medical services when the federal government declared a national emergency. 

• The concept of faction reminds me of social class conflict. In the federalist papers, James Madison described factions as groups of people that are united by a common interest that could threaten the rights or stability of the government. 
• James Madison argues the primary source of wealth is the unequal distribution of faculties which means the natural differences in people’s abilities, talent and ambition. He states that individuals possess different levels of intelligence skills and work ethics which naturally lead to economic disparities. He writes ”The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties is the first object of government” 
• I agree with Madison that differences in people‘s abilities, ambitions and efforts can lead to unequal outcomes and wealth. It’s true that some individuals gain more property because of their talents or hard work; however, his view also overlooks the important factors that also affect poverty, such as access to education, family background, discrimination, and economic systems. These can limit opportunities for some people, no matter how capable, ambitious or talented. While personal differences matter, the roles of systemic and social factors cannot be overlooked in the role of economic inequality. 
• The primary goal or ‘fist object’ of the United States was protecting people’s unequal facilities, particularly the ability to own property. This comes as a surprise considering how much emphasis is put on government functions today such as offering public services, ensuring equal opportunity, and assisting in the fight against inequality. While protecting property is still a part of the government’s duty, people today expect it to do more than simply protect money, they believe it should guarantee support, fairness, and accessibility.
• No, it was made clear that the author wanted there to be a clear separation between the wealthy and working class. The author feared that in a democracy, which was largely the lower class, would unite and enact laws that would strip the affluent minority of their power. This was a concern for him because he believed that the government’s function was to preserve property. 

•  In both readings, it is argued that the US Constitution was written primarily by and for the economic elite, excluding the working class, farmers and enslaved people from the process. Parenti suggests the constitution was created by wealthy property owners to protect their financial investments. He points out that many of them were creditors and land owners who designed a structure to limit popular influence through mechanisms such as the electoral college, and the appointment of senators rather than direct election. Parenti says “On these issues, there were no poor farmers, artisans, indentured servants or slaves, attending the convention to proffer an opposing viewpoint. Ordinary working people could not take off four months to go to Philadelphia and write a constitution.” Beard suggests how the constitution served the interests of the ruling class, reinforcing a system that maintained economic dominance over the wealthy elite. He discussed how the government suppressed Democratic uprising such as Shays rebellion, which was led by indebted farmers who demanded relief from economic oppression. He also emphasizes that enslaved people, women and indigenous groups were completely excluded from political participation. 
• I would agree that the structure of social class is similar today than it was back then back then wealthy land owners mergers, and anybody with influence controlled the government while laborers, enslaved people and women had little to no political power. Today, the rich being big corporations or billionaires still hold most of the influence shaping laws to protect their wealth while many people struggle.
• The people who wrote the constitution were afraid of democracy because they were the wealthy elites, the landowner‘s, merchants, and creditors who feared that too much power in the hands of the working class would threaten their wealth and control.

1. The statistic that shocked me the most was ‘The top 1 percent own between 40 and 50 percent of the nation’s total wealth (stocks, bonds, investment funds, land, natural resources, business assets, and so on), more than the combined wealth of the bottom 90 percent.’ The fact that the top 1% own more than the whole lower 90% combined suggests that economic power is held in the hands of few that were born into it. Wealth equals influence, and that is seen in modern society with people such as Elon Musk who grows closer to the President.
2. Living in a society with economic disparities can have an impact on both the individual, and society as a whole. A part of this could be the exploitation of workers. Companies keep wages low while keeping the workload tough, all the while shareholders are getting paid. Another reason could be the living conditions for the poor. High cases of inequality lead to underfunded housing, schools, and neighborhoods, and poor healthcare access. A key factor in this is the political influence of the wealthy. Oftentimes, rich people use their influence to build relationships with people in power in order to influence policies and laws in their favor (tax cuts for the rich, weaker labor laws.) We see all of these in modern day life, with an example being how Jeff Bezos treats his amazon employees. Employees are often talking about their low wage that doesn’t add up to the amount of work being done at warehouses, not to mention the mandatory overtime. Another example of this is the current housing crisis. In major cities, the price of rent and homes are rising while the wages are not, making it harder for the working-class to afford a decent place to live.

M-C-M’ is a concept used by capitalists to grow their wealth. The first M(Money) is what the capitalist starts with. The second letter C(Commodity) is what the capitalists invest their money in, and could range from things such as raw materials, machines, and labor power. Lastly, M’(More money) which is essentially the profits made after production with prices being drastically marked up and sold for more than what was initially invested. The difference between the first and second M is surplus value created by workers, which becomes profit for the capitalist. 

1. The means of production refers to the physical and non-physical resources put into goods and services. An example of this would be a car factory with machines and automatic systems as the means of production because it enables the manufacturing of cars. Labor refers to the physical and/or mental human effort put into the production process. An example of this would be people working on an assembly line in a factory.
2. Marx defines value as the amount of labour or labour power required to produce a commodity. 
3. Labor and value are deeply connected. The labor theory of value states that a product’s value is measured by how much labour it takes to produce under normal circumstances. Labour creates value. Without labour, raw materials would remain unchanged and would have no additional value.
4. The difference between labor and labor power is that labor is referring to the actual work performed, the action, while labor power is referring to the workers ability, skill, and what they offer to the employer. The distinction is that labor is what’s used to create value, and labor power is what is sold to the capitalist system.
5. Surplus value refers to the extra value produced by the worker beyond what they have received in wages, but is taken by the company. Understanding surplus value is important because it helps us recognize economic inequality, and explains how wealth is accumulated. An example of this could be a shoe store employee who gets paid $15/hr to sell more expensive, high-end shoes without commission. In an 8 hour shift they earn $120, but sell over $500 worth of product which goes to the capitalist as profit.

1. A Repressive State Apparatus (RSAs) describes institutions used by the government, often using direct physical force to maintain power. Althusser calls it repressive because of the use of coercion, force, and suppression. An example of this could be a protest and the state’s response. We see how in present day media whenever there is a protest whether it be peaceful or not, the response is usually police there to break it up, use tear gas, and even arrest participants.
2. Ideological State Apparatus (ISAs) are described as institutions that maintain dominance of the ruling class using ideology rather than force. An example of IISA would be the education system. Schools condition students from young to be punctual, obedient, and disciplined with punishments enforced such as detention, suspension, and expulsion.
3. The primary difference between the two is the use of force vs desire. Ideological State Apparatuses tend to subtly teach people to think of the dominant system as the ‘natural’ and normal way thus making people accept things the way they’ve been conditioned to do so. Repressive State Apparatuses use direct physical force to maintain control and ensure obedience when the ISA fails to do so.
4. An example of Ideology I chose was the recent push of ‘trad-wife’ content on social media. A tradwife is typically a woman who prefers the traditional division of labour within the marriage, usually consisting of the wife managing the food and housekeeping while the husband manages the family finances. This type of content operates as an Ideological State Apparatus by pandering to the patriarchy,subtly  pushing women to reject feminism and submit to their husbands. https://www.newsweek.com/meet-three-influencers-pushing-trad-wife-trend-1914213