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

In a federal system (like the U.S.), citizens have two levels of government: national and state. Both make laws and serve the people. In a confederation, power is mostly with the states, and the national government is very weak. In a unitary system, all power is in the national government, and citizens deal with one main government.

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

The division of power means the government is split into three branches: legislative (makes laws), executive (enforces laws), and judicial (interprets laws). Each branch has its own job and can check the others, so no one gets too much power.

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3. How does the federal government shape the actions of state and local governments?

During COVID-19, the federal government gave states health guidelines, vaccines, and money to help. In New York, for example, the state followed CDC rules, used federal funds to help hospitals, and gave support to local governments. The federal government helped but didn’t control everything—states made many decisions on their own.

1.    The word “faction” reminds me of social classes or groups of people with different interests, like the rich and poor.

    2.    In Federalist #10, James Madison says the source of wealth is private property. Some people have more skills, education, or family help, so they can get land and money. Others don’t, so they stay poor.

    3.    I don’t fully agree. Sometimes people work hard but still stay poor. So it’s not always fair or equal.

    4.    The first goal of the government, according to Madison, is to protect property and the rich. That’s different from today, where people think government should help everyone equally.

    5.    I’m not surprised. Madison and the others didn’t want full democracy because they were scared the poor would vote to take from the rich. That’s why they made a system that keeps power with the rich class.

The Constitution was written by rich people like landowners, merchants, and bankers. They were from the upper class and wanted to protect their money and power. The people who were not allowed to join were the poor, workers, women, Native Americans, and enslaved people. These groups didn’t own land and couldn’t vote.

The class system back then is a little like today. Rich people still have more power, but now more people can vote. Still, money controls many things in politics.

The people who wrote the Constitution were afraid of democracy because they didn’t want poor people to make big changes. They thought the poor might vote for new laws that would hurt the rich. So, they made a system that kept power with the rich.