Free midterm essay example

1) From the book, collective decisions determine collective goods or collective action. Collective goods are items that shared among the parties involved. An example from the document is the usage of a family car between the parent and children. Collective actions are the different tasks divided among the affected parties. An example from the context is parties coming together to solve a crisis even though they have a problem cooperating (Kernell, Jacobson and Kousser, pg. 3).
2) A republic is a democratic country that places power on the elected leaders (pg. 34). It applies to the USA government because it has a president, vice president, governors, and senators who have a certain amount of power to rule depending on their rank.
3) Transaction costs are the expenses in terms of effort, time, and money needed to come up with collective decisions (pg. 24). An example of a transaction cost is planning a race. The first process is coming up with the rules and regulations. The next step is coming up with a date for the event then looking for sponsors. Finally, contacting the authorities and informing them of the intended event.
4) The Magna Carta serves as a foundation for the change in the parliament and rights in the America (pg. 33). The legislatures amend the constitution under the base.
5) The concept behind self-government during that time was each colony took charge of its operations. They formed their constitutions, laws, and leaders. However, the colonies fell with time, and they went back to being one colony under the British colony (pg. 43).
6) They were sets of documents written and sent to new states for approval over a period. Once all states approved the documents, they were to write down as the final draft of USA’s first constitution. Before its approval, they acted as the country’s de facto constitution (pg. 50). One of the powers included in the articles were the transfer of Continental Congress’ functions to a permanent Congress where each state got one vote.
7) The Virginia plan composed of several amendments: two legislative chambers, upper and lower, whose state chose members as per its state’s population. It gave powers to the legislature to create any law and veto any legislation by the state. The New Jersey plan comprised of a single house that had equal representation from each state in disrespect to the population. The legislature had the same powers stipulated in the Articles but with an extra authority on levy taxes and commerce. The great compromise had a two-legislature chamber, House of Representatives and the Senate. They had the power to charge taxes set aside for the lower chamber (pg. 60).
8) The permission to declare a war, maintain the navy and army (pg. 60).
9) Madison opposed more rights in the constitution because he feared the government would lose its powers in how it ruled people. The result led to the introduction of a new clause in the constitution, the Bill of Rights (pg. 75).
10) The courts have the right to review the judicial (pg. 66-67)
11) Federalism is the combination of several consideration elements, where the lower-level government has prime authority, and the unitary state dominates authority of the constitution (pg. 89). National Identity Cards are obtained from the national government, driving licenses from the states, while business licenses from the local governments (pg. 92).
12) The elastic clause allowed the congress to design appropriate laws necessary for implementing the previous laws. It was important in that it undermined the restrictive power of the delegates (pg. 96).
13) The purpose of the Tenth Amendment was to reserve powers to the states or the people and deny the United States (pg. 97).
14) A block grant is the set amount of money distributed by the federal government equally among the states irrespective of the needs of each state (pg. 119). The grant-in-aid is the distribution of money from the federal government to the state in order to assist it in gaining stability (pg. 117). The purpose of the grants is to fund the states in their respective needs such as development.
15) Dred Scott decision in the Supreme Court led to the facing out of slavery in America. For once in the history of America, the president and a higher percentage of the Congress’ houses were against the extension of slavery (pg. 138).
16) The 1964 Civil Right Act brought about change in the education system by facing out the discrimination found in public education and accommodations. The act enabled black students to go to the same school as the whites. The act affected both the whites and blacks in positive and negative ways respectively (pg. 161).
17) Racial spoofing is the use of one’s ethnicity or race as the main criteria when identifying a suspect (pg. 129). Differentiating the Asians, blacks and whites use the racial spoofing method. It is illegal as it narrows down on the wrong suspect simply because of his/her race characteristics.
18) Women started voting in the year 1919. The efforts by the suffragists, who campaigned for their rights to vote, led to the passing of the suffrage law in Wyoming in 1869. The legal methods used were organizing women and walk around supporting their cause. The right changed the voter turnout since the women had the highest population (pg. 168).
19) The Fourth Amendment gave people the right of privacy. One had the right to claim discretion to oneself, papers, home, and against any unauthorized searches or arrests unless there is a warrant (pg. 187).
20) It blocked the states in creating any law that would take away the rights of the United States citizens. The state cannot take a person’s life, property, or freedom without adhering to the law. The state should not deny a person equal protection, as is in the law within its power (pg. 191).

Works Cited

Kernell, Samuel, Jacobson, Gary, C. and Kousser, Thad. The Logic of American Politics. New York, NY: SAGE Publications. 2013. Print.