The Genius and Ambiguities of the American Founders - Research Proposal Example

……………………………………. Day/ Time………………………………… ……………………………Essay Assignment…………………….Topic………………. Outline of the Paper: I. Introduction This section provides an introduction on the expectations that the founders of USA had in respect to governance. Theses Statement: 1. The congress has managed to usurp the powers given to the judiciary, and limiting its operations. 2. The federal government spends more money than it has the capability of generating and this promotes poor governance. 3. The federal government promotes the concept of affirmative action, and this affects the promotion of individual’s unique abilities and talents. II. James Madison on good governance. This section contains James Madison teaching on good governance. It highlights how the United States governance structure does not function as to the expectations of James Madison, contained in his teachings. It identifies the role of state government, and what the federal government ought to do. III. Alexander Hamilton on government expenditures. This section contains an analysis on how the government of USA is unable to balance its budget. It also highlights the role of government in enhancing commerce, as advocated for by the founders. It analyzes Alexander Hamilton teachings on how government ought to spend their revenues. IV. James Madison on diversity within a state. This section highlights the importance of encouraging different talents within a state. This section highlights James Madison argument against affirmative action, and on how it can lead to the erosion of different talents within a state. V. Opposing viewpoints. This section contains various arguments that support the federal government’s policies and governance procedures. Its main argument is that the federal government interference with the constitution and affairs of various states is an act of good faith, aimed at protecting the dignity of mankind. VI. Counter arguments. This section contains arguments against those opposing the notion that USA governance structure does not meet the expectations of the founders. VII. Conclusion. This section contains the various arguments raised in this paper, and a concluding statement. I. Introduction: The expectations of the founding fathers are unmet in the current government functions and structure of the United States of America. The founding fathers of the state never had in their mind that the Federal government will usurp powers that the state governments have, or deny some individuals their basis rights. They believed that possession of numerous powers by the Federal government would not result to the proper functioning of the Union. This is because it would promote inappropriate spending. The founding fathers had a vision to create a federal union that would respect the constitution. However, this is not the case as of today, since the federal government of US has on numerous occasions created laws that breach the constitution. A good example of such kind of a law is the defense and marriage act of 1996. Robinson (31) denotes that the act gave authority to the state government, allowing them not to recognize same sex marriages, even if the marriage occurred in a State that recognizes such kind of marriages. The Supreme Court of America ruled that the law was unconstitutional. Bailey (15) and Robinson (37) believe that this law was against the principles of equality, and right to pursuant of happiness According to the principles contained in the declaration of rights, men have a right to the pursuit of happiness, life and liberty (Bailyn, 13). On this basis, this paper analyzes whether the Federal government of the United States of America is operating in accordance to the visions that the founding fathers of the country had. This paper takes the following stands, 1. The congress has managed to usurp the powers given to the judiciary, and limiting its operations. 2. The federal government spends more money than it has the capability of generating and this promotes poor governance. 3. The federal government promotes the concept of affirmative action, and this affects the promotion of individual’s unique abilities and talents. II. James Madison on good governance. The federal government has been unable to function as to the expectations of the founding fathers, and a good example is the role that it plays in taking some powers that belong to the state governments. James Madison, one of the founders of the state denotes that the role of the federal government is limited to specific functions and objectives of the whole republic (Robinson, 27). The state government on the other hand, must retain numerous authority and power that would enable it to take care of everyone within its jurisdiction. However, the federal government, through various legislations has managed to usurp some of the powers that state governments have. For instance, the government has a say in almost all economic affairs of the state governments through the Dodd Frank laws, which were enacted in 2010, to regulate economic activities of any financial institution operating in United States of America. In James Madison’s view, this is unacceptable and a breach of the doctrine of separation of powers between the state and federal government. In federal paper number 45, Madison states that the federal government must have small and well defined powers, and this is not the case in the current governance structure of United States of America (Robinson, 22). The founders of the American nation wanted to create a union where state governments would be the center of power, and sovereignty. This was meant to protect the interests of minor communities within the country. Another example is the enactment of the bill of rights to the United States constitution through the 10th Amendment. The bill of rights was usually contained by the constitutions of states, and not the federal constitution. However, this is not the case as per now because the 14th amendment introduced the bill of rights, therefore rendering the tenth amendment ineffective. The tenth amendment enabled states to have their own bill of rights, including legalizing slavery. III. Alexander Hamilton on government expenditures. Another failure by the federal government is its inability to protect the financial interests of the citizens of the union. This is depicted by its policies of spending more money, than it can generate from taxes and other sources. One of the arguments against colonialism contained in the declaration of independence is the inability of the King of Britain to enable the citizens of the state to engage in commerce, and therefore pursue their economic interests. The federal government uses more money than it is able to generate, and this limits its financial capability. For instance, in 2013, President Barack Obama proposed a budget that had a deficit of nearly one trillion US dollars (Cottrol, 23). The government did not adequately explain where they would get the one trillion US dollars in order to balance the budget propositions. Alexander Hamilton, one of the founders of the nation stated that a government must not spend, more than it can produce. This provision by Barrack Obama is a clear breach of the beliefs of Hamilton as contained in the Federalist paper. This is in regard to governance. According to Hamilton, a state that spends more than it can generate is characterized by a wider pool of offices which are unnecessary ((Johnson, 29). On this note, a government must have a few numbers of departments and offices, and this will make the state to spend on necessities. Take for instance the Universal health care plan by the Obama administration. This bill makes the government to involve itself in the health needs of citizens, and according to Hamilton this is unacceptable. This because state governments can provide these services; and the individual themselves can take good care of their health needs. On this note therefore, this is unnecessary spending from the government. IV. James Madison on diversity within a state. James Madison believed that the strength of the federal union was based on in its diversity, and this was reflected in the various states within the nation. James Madison in Federalist paper number 10 denotes that each state had its own skilled labor force, and natural resources, and on this note, the country was united by the concept of comparative advantage. Madison further believed that because of the differences exhibited within the Union, the nation managed to achieve prosperity. On this note therefore, the founders believed that the variety of the union was its greatest strength. Through diversity, the nation would manage to be a leader in human civilization, and thereby encourage the spirit of enterprise. However this has changed by over-reliance on government and the concept of affirmative action pursued by the State (Bailyn, 63). The founders believed that it is important for the government to allow anybody who is best at doing certain things to succeed, without placing regulations at them. However, this is not the case because the equalizing policy of affirmative action regulates the activities of individuals in the name of protecting the interests of the minorities. These policies can be depicted in acts of parliament such as the Civil rights act of 1964, and executive orders issued by John F Kennedy and President Lyndon Johnson (Johnson, 39). The executive orders are, 10925 which was given by John Kennedy in 1961, and order 11246 which was issued by President Johnson in 1965 (Swain, 37). V. Opposing viewpoints. However, some authors disagree with the notion that governance in America does not meet the expectations of the founders. They denote that the government interference into the affairs of the state is a matter of protecting the interests of the nation’s citizens. For instance, the enactment of the Dodd Frank laws was to protect the American economy from collapse. According to the principles contained in the declaration of independence, this is a function of government. The American economy is characterized by large business organizations which operate in the international sphere, and therefore initiating laws that protect their market of interest, promotes the concepts of commerce (Johnson, 39). In the declaration of independence, the founders denote that it is the right of man to pursue happiness, liberty and life. Protecting the economy would guarantee financial prosperity to the inhabitants of the state, ensuring that they gain the capability of pursuing such rights. The interference of the tenth amendment through the introduction of the bill of rights in the fourteenth amendment is aimed at protecting the dignity of rights of American people (Bailyn, 78). This is because different states had their own bill of rights, and some even contradicted the expectations of the founders, such as allowing slavery. Slavery had an effect of breaching the inalienable rights of people such as the right to pursue happiness, liberty and peace. On this basis therefore, the Federal government is justified into interfering with the legislative affairs of State governments. VI. Counter arguments. However, despite the good intentions of the federal government, it is should not be allowed to interfere with the affairs of state government. Instead, the federal government should offer advice to state governments on better governance procedures that would promote equality, and human rights. The federal government should also restrict itself to governing specific issues that affect the Union, instead on concerning itself with other factors that state governments can address. On this basis therefore, the assertions that governance in United States of America reflects the beliefs of the founders is wrong. VII. Conclusion: In conclusion, this paper has managed to highlight the manner in which the federal government usurps powers that initially belonged to the state governments and the judiciary. This is through the various legislations in the congress whose main aims are to give more power to the Federal government. This is a clear breach to the expectations of the founders, and in fact James Madison in Federalist number fourteen denotes that they do not expect the federal government to have extensive powers in the administration and enactment of laws. Another issue is that the federal government has debts, and it finds it hard to balance its annual budget. The budget constraints of the American government were brought because of the various wars it has been supporting all over the world, such as war on terror, the gulf war, and the war in Afghanistan. It has been expensive to maintain these wars, causing the federal government to have deficiencies in their budget allocations. According to the founders, this is unacceptable. The enactment of the policies of affirmative action is another ground in which the governance system in America, breaches the expectations of the founders. The founders hoped for a Union where each individual would be allowed to excel. Works Cited: Bailyn, Bernard. To begin the world anew: the genius and ambiguities of the American founders. New York: Knopf, 2003. Print. Cottrol, Robert J. The long, lingering shadow: slavery, race, and law in the American hemisphere. Athens, Ga.: The University of Georgia Press, 2013. Print. Johnson, Michael P. Reading the American past: selected historical documents. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2012. Print. Robinson, Daniel N. The American founding: its intellectual and moral framework. London: Continuum, 2012. Print. Swain, G. Documents of freedom: a look at the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the U.S. Constitution. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 2012. Print. Read More