Political science 1 quiz questions - Essay Example

1) What ideas from Antiquity and the Renaissance were important to the revolutionaries? Who developed those ideas? How did the revolutionaries carry out those ideas? The ideas from Antiquity used by the revolutionaries were the concept and search for justice. In The Republic, Plato explained: If we were seeking for a piece of gold, you would not imagine that we were knocking under to one another, and so losing our chance of finding it. And why, when we are seeking for justice, a thing more precious than many pieces of gold, do you say that we are weakly yielding to one another and not doing our utmost to get at the truth? (Plato)The revolutionaries in the American Colonies and France built upon Plato’s concept and search for justice in order to for a democracy for all, not just the nobility.

Like Plato asserted, the newly formed United States of American and France realized that justice was not an easily defined concept. This caused the basis of an ever changing government that could adapt to new definitions of justice in the future. For example, the United States has a Constitution that can be amended, as with the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished slavery. The second ideal that Plato gave the revolutionaries was the concept of every individual had a talent, and should be able to follow that talent despite being nobility or peasant.

While Plato’s ideas about talent in The Republic were used by the revolutionaries, Marx based some of his views on this concept as well. In Marx’s view, each individual should do what they were talented at. If a brawny soldier had the soul of a poet, they would still be sent to war in a Marxist society. Both democracy and Marxism can find their roots in Plato’s The Republic. The Renaissance ideas that were used by the revolutionaries were the doubt about monarchies, nobility, and peasants.

The Renaissance brought the idea that everyone had the right to be free and enjoy life, whether born nobility or peasant. The ideal of equality coming from the Renaissance caused both the United States and France to create legislative bodies, constitutions, and create a democratic government that has endured since both revolutions. Voltaire, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, George Washington, John Jay, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Warren G. Harding created governments based on Antiquity and Renaissance ideas.

Both the French and American Revolutions were violent. However, the men behind the violence were intelligent organizers that created two new governments. 2) What are the main institutions of the Federal government? What document describes its form and function? What is the purpose and function of the three main institutions of the Federal government? What is the importance of the principles of “separation of powers”, “checks and balances” and “the Supremacy Clause?The three main institutions of the Federal government are the Judiciary, Executive, and Legislative branches.

The Constitution describes the form and function of these branches. The three main institutions’ purpose and functions are the Judiciary Branch is to interpret the law and judge legal disputes; the Legislative Branch function is pass, amend, and repeal laws; and the Executive Branch run the government on a daily basis. The importance of the principles of ‘separation of powers’, ‘checks and balances’ and ‘the Supremacy Clause’ is to balance out the government’s power. No one man can rule in the United States unchallenged.

It takes all three branches for the government to function properly.Ex credit: The changes of the Federal Government, from McCullough vs. MD, to the New Deal, to the recent times.(instructor asked to include tax case) McCullough vs. MD gave the Federal government the sole right to print currency. After the Civil War, Federal law overrode State law. The New Deal brought in new Federal regulations on banking, insurance, and other programs. In recent times, the Federal Government can change income taxes from year to year.

Works CitedPlato. Tans. Jowett, Benjamin. “The Republic.” 2009. The Internet Classic Archive. 22 Nov. 2009. Online.