Goal for the day: To strategize how to use federalism to make progress on important issues.
Welcome back from what I hope was a restful holiday weekend. Today we'll tackle the complexities of federalism. Checks and balances is one way the founders tried to make sure one part of government didn't get too powerful. The other is federalism--the division of power between the federal government and the states and by extension the local government.
We'll start today exploring which level of government is responsible for which things. This is complicated with many grey areas. We'll start on our feet sorting through this murkiness together.
What are we talking about when we say the different levels of government? We'll start to use our government study guide that each person contributed to over the weekend to break down what we mean by "government."
Then, we'll see how these issues play out on the ground by watching the rest of the Constitution USA video we started last week. This includes interviews with some people that favor states rights and others that argue for the federal government to exert its power. There are pros and cons here all related to different values.
We'll talk about this after the video is over and I'll ask you to place yourself along the spectrum of beliefs around federalism.
Finally, you'll get a chance to see how it feels to try to get something done on important issues of the day within the framework created by federalism.
Assignment for Thursday
Read Odyssey by Aldo Leopold from Sand County Almanac
Read Should nature be able to take you to court? by Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow
Annotate with an eye to the question of whether we should claim the natural world has rights
We will have a seminar on Thursday referencing these two readings and tomorrow's lecture on rights.
Welcome back from what I hope was a restful holiday weekend. Today we'll tackle the complexities of federalism. Checks and balances is one way the founders tried to make sure one part of government didn't get too powerful. The other is federalism--the division of power between the federal government and the states and by extension the local government.
We'll start today exploring which level of government is responsible for which things. This is complicated with many grey areas. We'll start on our feet sorting through this murkiness together.
What are we talking about when we say the different levels of government? We'll start to use our government study guide that each person contributed to over the weekend to break down what we mean by "government."
Then, we'll see how these issues play out on the ground by watching the rest of the Constitution USA video we started last week. This includes interviews with some people that favor states rights and others that argue for the federal government to exert its power. There are pros and cons here all related to different values.
We'll talk about this after the video is over and I'll ask you to place yourself along the spectrum of beliefs around federalism.
Finally, you'll get a chance to see how it feels to try to get something done on important issues of the day within the framework created by federalism.
Assignment for Thursday
Read Odyssey by Aldo Leopold from Sand County Almanac
Read Should nature be able to take you to court? by Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow
Annotate with an eye to the question of whether we should claim the natural world has rights
We will have a seminar on Thursday referencing these two readings and tomorrow's lecture on rights.