1. In a federal system, citizens vote for their representatives. In a confederation system, citizens have a lot of power because the system relies mostly on local governments. In a unitary system, citizens let the central government handle everything. In a federation, the federal government has the most power, and the states or provinces follow its lead. In a confederation, the central government is usually weak, and the states or provinces have more say. In a unitary system, only the central government is in charge.
2. The system of division of power can be understood as a way to separate and organize the functions of government to make it more efficient and balanced. In the US government, there are three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch creates laws, the executive branch enforces them, and the judicial branch interprets them. Additionally, power is divided between the national and subnational levels. The national level handles issues that affect the entire country, while the subnational level deals with matters specific to individual states. This division of power ensures that no single branch or level of government becomes too powerful. 
3. The federal government direct and instruct the actions of state and local governments. The federal government has influenced the actions of NY state and local governments, through the distribution of grants, incentives, and aid during the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. I understand that both the Establishment Clause and the lemon test prevent the establishment of legal primary religion in the government. The Lemon test consists of three criteria for determining the constitutionality of a law or action. (1) The law or action should not result in excessive entanglement between government and religion. (2) The law or action must never promote religious practices. It should remain neutral. (3) The law or action must serve a secular purpose.
2. Yes, the First Amendment protects the burning of the US flag as a form of symbolic speech. This was established in the Supreme Court case Texas v. Johnson in 1989. Gregory Lee Johnson was arrested and convicted for burning a US flag during a protest in Dallas, Texas. However, the Supreme Court ruled that flag burning is a protected form of expression under the First Amendment. The Court found that burning the flag constituted symbolic speech, which is safeguarded by the Constitution.
3. When someone says “I’m taking the Fifth,” they are practicing their right to refrain from speaking or providing self-incriminating information. 

1. The court system is better suited to protect the individual because justices are not influenced by popular opinion, serve for life, and prioritize fairness in their decision. Elected branches of government may prioritize political interests over individual rights to maintain power.
2. The Supreme Court is not considered anti-democratic because it’s not elected, but appointed. This independence from the political process is important for maintaining separation of powers and checks and balances in democracy. Federal judges are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate to ensure qualification and independence.

In the case of Wal-Mart v. Dukes, the Supreme Court did not issue a decisive ruling on the case. Instead, the Court held that the lawsuit could not proceed as a class-action lawsuit due to a lack of commonality. The Court determined that the plaintiffs did not sufficiently demonstrate a common question of law or fact that could be resolved through a single class action. The key commonality the Supreme Court missed was that around 1.5 million women who worked at Walmart were all saying they faced unfair treatment because of their gender.

1. According to MLK, Just laws align with moral laws, religious laws. They uplift human personality. They protect people by prohibiting actions like stealing or murder. Unjust laws do not align with moral laws, religious laws. They are human law that is not rooted in natural laws. They degrade human personality. They make you feel bad or hurt you, such as racist laws. They are designed to keep the second class forbid things and make unreasonable assumptions about people, for example barring them from attending medical school based on irrelevant factors.
2. In my opinion, I think it is an important distinction between just and unjust laws. It will affect our ideology and define who we are and how we act in the society. It will affect our politics as well.
3. My example for unjust law would be immigration laws. Certain immigration policies in the United States, like using aggressive deportation methods, violate human rights. These policies lead to families being split up, violations of fair legal procedures and mistreatment of immigrants. My example for Just Law would be marriage equality. This was a big win for LGBTQ+ rights and equality in the United States. It’s like what MLK said about just laws—they treat everyone fairly and with respect, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity.

1. The war on terror is different from traditional wars because it is not about fighting over land or resources. What makes it new is how it violates people’s privacy and rights. It is like a battle against anyone who makes us feel scared. It is more like the government versus anyone they think might cause fear or commit acts of terror.
2. One warrant covers multiple devices (including emails, chats) used by a target person. It also allows wiretapping the device of individuals who sound and write similarly to the target person, violating the privacy of unrelated people. This violates the Fourth Amendment.
3. “Sneak and Peak”warrant in the Patriot Act permits the government to conduct searches without immediately notifying the warrant. This violates the Fourth Amendment.

1. After the reading, “Factions” reminds me of citizens with different political ideologies.
2. According to Fedralist #10, the source of wealth is superior intelligence, those who are really smart, have intelligent genes and they are in superior race. The difference between wealthy person and poor person is the difference between smart person who is highly intelligent and is a descendant of a superior race and a poor person is a dumb person who is from a inferior class. Wealthy people get to possess wealth by owning private property because they are smart and others remains poor because they are dumb.
3. I do not agree with the definition of wealth and poverty.
4. The core mission of US government is to protect the wealth of the elite class and to enforce the difference between elite class and working class. This does not surprise me at all. This sounds same from what our society today seems to suggest the core mission of the government is. 
5. I am not surprised that Federalist #10 is not in favor of democracy, and supports a Republican government. The author dislike a (pure) democratic form of government because he, himself is from a wealthy elite class. He is protecting his wealth by using proxy words.

• The wealthy upper class wrote the Constitution to maintain and grow their wealth. The working lower class was excluded and not allowed to participate. The difference between two classes is that the upper elite class owned properties and lands.
• I believe the social class system in early America was quite similar to what we have today. Although there are more chances for working people nowadays, women and marginalized groups still encounter obstacles in seeking fairness.The rich still take advantage of the working class, just like they did in the past.
• The people who wrote the Constitution were worried about democracy. They were afraid that if working class had too much say, they might make rules that helped them more, which will make rich people lose their control. At that time, most people were workers and didn’t have much money or power. If they had a big say in the government, they might push for better working conditions and higher pay, which could threaten the wealthy people who owned most of the businesses. So, instead of giving everyone equal power, they created a system where only elite class could make important decisions.

1. The statistics that showed top 1% of the population owns between 40% and 50% of the nation’s total wealth made the biggest impression on me. This showed how influential they are and how much control they have on the government and the working class. It was frightening. The difference in tax payments, the exploitation of the working class directly impact the working class and their future generation and this widens the social disparity. 
2. Huge wealth inequalities make it more challenging for the working class to live decent lives and improve their overall well-being. Money is power and the power dynamics can be seen in every aspect of the society. We can see this dynamic getting played out in everyday life. For example, it is hard to afford things like “organic foods” for people in the working class. If they eat cheaper, processed foods, it can cause health problems, and they might not have enough money to pay for medical bills. When it comes to education, working-class kids usually go to public schools. These schools may not have the best resources and might not offer as good an education as the fancy private schools. 

A capitalist remains wealthy by M-C-M. M-C-M’ (Money-Commodity- more money than capital you started with) is the strategy used by the wealthy people to increase their wealth by keeping it. They have surplus of money. They use their money to acquire commodities and sold them for a higher sum of money. For example, a wealthy person invests his money in purchasing many real estates. He rent out these properties to working class people by charging them a fee. He not only gets money from the rent, but also grows his assets overtime and grows his capital.