4/8/2013 3:02:00 PM The Original Beltway boys Backdrop 1: o Colonial views about democracy, who should govern, and

d representation not the same as today Limited View of Democracy Automatic Suspicion of leadership (same?) Automatic inclination to defer to states as political units of analysis Automatic inclination to defer to the state as political units of analysis States and Legitimacy: legitimacy 1only source of geographic governance that had a history (later, Texas) o Texas, according to them, still has the right to secede from the United States because they originally started out as their own country Legitmacy 2: States were generally grants of land by the crown to individuals. State chartersgranted by the kingstates as legal/perhaps divine entitiestraceable units of governance National Indeinty (if not British) Not yet strong motivatorU.S. ARE: Is it a state collectively doing something or is it a country in which case it is singular Remember: even HOUSE (apportioned within states) AND PRESIDENT (chosen by state selected electors) WERE TO BE ROOTED IN STATE REPRESENTATION (States not equal) o Each state shall appoint so many electors Not the original 13, but many of the state that came in afterwards in the original territoriesthey were granted a certain number of seats in the HOR based on population. Consensual versus Majoritatian Democracy: The politics of Mutual accommodation o It wasn't so much that the framers were not thinking in terms of democracy, but rather there was a different view that the general view of democracy as it was developing, is

that it did not originally have the perspective that you could make policy decisions based on who won elections. o We had HOPED that it would be a noble set of elites who would deliberate. Legitimay 3Broadly acceptable, not just accepted by majority o The idea that we would have virtuous men running our nation that would do whats in the BEST OF PUBLICS INTEREST rather than what will get me reelected by the majority o Auxilary precautions: what makes it necessary to have checks and balances, etc in order to fight against some of those who are not virtuous o Even structure of Constitution

Example3 alternatives (A, B, C) Idea: No perfect method of democracy Backdrop 2 (The Wirls Brothers): CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM AS NESTED COMPROMISES, CONSTRAINED BY POLITICS: Reforms are a set of domestic comrpomises Once you reach a consensus on one set of issues, you almost constrain the next set of choices that might exist Each compromise is constrained by previous decisions (Virginia Planneed for an upper House to check power of lower: originally HR would select senators from a list of nominees chosen by state legislaturesDouble Sifting Process) o Idea that Senate would be selected by the House. Members would be one step removed from the public but indirectly chosen by the public o Original view was double sifting process Madison wanted particularly with the Senate was a national body Create a certain degree of independence in the Senate Some original thoughts on Senate --Life terms for independence and institutional memory (that particular

when you are creating a new set of institution, a new national governing structure and trying to develop a national political consciousness if you keep having rotation in the officeWant to make sure that there are people who are committed to the institution and national government, and not committed to themselves), Senate as a more key actor o Madisons hopeSenate, if enacted, to be proportional, in order that citizens as a national constituency would be represented/not states as soverign entities (=meant states o o o o are separate and equal) Break the notion that Senators and State were connected Once Madison agreed the Senate should be a smaller, more elite body than the HoR Madison originally intended to give Senate more power than the HOR W&W: Once the senate was to be equally apportioned (desire for small size), the functions of that senate would be limited from what many had originally intended

Senators seen more as presidential than legislature Whats why the VP sits and basically runs the Senate and can be the tie-breaker The Genius and Problems (failures) with the constitution 1. A vague and brief document--no majority or minority dissent a. POSITIVE: vagueness leaves open future changes 2. National government originally viewed as limitedpublic willing to try out this Grand Experiment Vagueness leaves open the possibility of national government growth (Commece clause, necessary and proper clause) 3. A broadly acceptable documentnot just one accepted by a majority with fierce minority opposition but acceptance becomes more problematic as details get fleshed out or demands are made explicit

Lacks middle ground If you allow open debate on non-comprisable issues, this is a worse system of government 4. Promise of a Bill of Rights to protect against national government tyranny over basi rightsand a 9th and 10th amendment as a catch all 10th amendment states that: that which is not reserved for the national government or prohibited to the states is reserved to the state. (Reserved clause) One could argue that the 10th amendment is a states right amendment, one could also argue that's a way for the people to override their state and make decisions that are nationally based. Together, with rest of document, subject to interpretation, particularly by the courtsthe least democratic branch (recently 2nd) Congress cannot raise its salary until after the next election Not ratified until 200 years later One failed BoR out of 12 (the most AF): o Apportionment30k per HR member with never any larger than 50k

Where would this lead? Most changes at state level o Most of the 19th century decisions occurred with States o Central role of states left in Constitution o Most power by design or assumption left to states Those who first took over the office because the Constitution was so vague, to what their responsibilities were, and how they would carry out their jobs on a daily basis, they were the ones who basically determined how their office was going to run and how the national government was going to operate it. Vagueness and brevity of Constitution means: Original actors defined roles o President v. Vice President o Vice President does not have a very large role. Except with a place in the Senate

o AndCourt decisions o How do you define what you are doing? o How do you define this constitution when someone challenges something that Congress does/ o How do you take a vague document and put bones, and meat, and flesh on it. Think about the structure of government, the limited direction they were given, and how their isolation (platos cave) influences how they behave

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