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American Government Honors/IB Classical and Enlightenment Thinkers Lecture 1.3 Classical Political Thinkers Athenian democracy: o based on the principle of rule by the many (democracy) o not rule by the few (oligarchy) Athenian democracy had: o all citizens attend town meetings o a vote on every issue o decisions would be based on majority vote In Ancient Greece man was a zoon politikon (political animal) Plato Rejected Athenian democracy because: o the death of Socrates o the defeat of Athens to Sparta in the Peloponnesian War o the plutocratic origins of democracy Believed in a three-‐tiered, hierarchical class society o the lower class-‐-‐artisans and farmers o auxiliaries-‐-‐men of physical strength for defense o guardians-‐-‐men of superior wisdom and virtue These classes are the basis of an aristocracy (rule by the best) The ultimate ruler-‐-‐a philosopher-‐king Aristotle Plato’s student Known for the empirical method Studied the constitutions of 153 Greek city states Saw three basic governments and their antitheses: o monarchy v. tyranny o democracy v. mob rule o aristocracy v. oligarchy Best form of government-‐-‐an oligarchically-functioning democracy Political Thinkers of the Enlightenment Believed in consent of the governed Believed in the natural rights of man: o could not be taken away by government o include life, liberty and property John Locke John Locke believed: o in a state of nature, all men strive to protect these natural rights o in a state of nature, the strong can force their will and deprive men of these rights o the instinct toward self-‐preservation causes man to seek a government to protect these rights o government must be limited in order to prevent taking these rights away from man Natural rights are integral to: o the Declaration of Independence o the US Constitution
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Pre-Colonial Experiences English colonists established an ordered government--one in which there is an orderly regulation of relationships within a government structure Also established limited government-‐-‐delegated to government certain powers but prohibited the exercise of other powers o rooted in the Magna Carta in 1215 Representative government-‐-‐one in which the will of the people determines the course of what government can and cannot do Influence of Early Documents The English Magna Carta (1215) provided: o trial by jury o limited government o due process of law The English Petition of Right (1628) provided: o a prohibition of martial law during peacetime o the writ of habeas corpus o the prohibition of quartering troops without consent o protection against taxes without the consent of the legislature The English Bill of Rights (1688) provided: o a prohibition of a standing army during peacetime o all elections be free o the legislature has the power to levy taxes and collect money o the suspension of laws without consent of the legislature was illegal o a fair and speedy trial o freedom from cruel and unusual punishment o protection against excessive bail All of these experiences were aimed at providing a government to: o protect each man’s natural rights o protect each man from unlawful and excessive governmental demands The Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence includes: o the philosophies of Locke, Rousseau and Montesquieu o concepts from English common law Philosophically, the Declaration of Independence espouses the ideas of unalienable rights and consent of the governed These are aimed at limiting government The second part of the Declaration of Independence is a twenty-‐seven-‐paragraph dissertation listing specific complaints the colonists had against Britain These included o taxation without representation o forced quartering of troops o unjust trials Constitutional Convention The compromises agreed to at the Constitutional Convention included: o the issues of slavery o trade o representation o voting The delegates were philosophically split on how to organize government
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They believed: o people should not be given the power to govern o a popular government would be too weak in preventing some factions from exploiting others o popular majority could also turn into a tyranny People would not tolerate an absolute government or one run by the few, an oligarchy There had to be sufficient checks on the government to balance out interests and to prevent natural rights from being abridged
How Would You Decide: Right to Privacy Cases Coronado v. State, Texas 1992 An assistant principal was informed a student at a Texas high school was selling drugs on campus. The AP called the student to his office and conducted a thorough “standard” search—patting down the boy, having him turn his pockets inside out, and having him take off his shoes and socks. No drugs were found. The only thing suspicious was $400 in his wallet. The AP asked the student if he sold drugs to which he replied, “Not on campus.” A week later the same student attempted to leave school with a fake excuse on a forged note. The AP again called him to his office and conducted the “standard” search, again finding no drugs and $197 in his wallet. The assistant principal then had to boy open his car in the school parking lot. In the trunk he found marijuana, several bags of white powder and a triple-‐beam scale. Was the search of the student’s car constitutional? Johnson V. Florida, Florida 1992 Pregnant with her second child, a Florida woman continued to smoke pot and crack cocaine during the pregnancy. On January 23, 1989 she went into labor at home. Before heading to the hospital she decided to smoke a little more cocaine. She then went to the hospital and delivered her child with no complications to the delivery. She was charged with “delivering” cocaine to her child. This charges stated that cocaine was delivered to her child in the minute and a half it took the baby’s head to emerge from the birth canal to the time when then umbilical cord was clamped. Since the cocaine was in her system it was delivered to her child through the umbilical cord. The lower court sentenced her to fifteen years of probation. She appealed her case to the Florida Supreme Court. Would you uphold the lower court’s judgment in this case? Rasmussen v. South Florida Blood Services, Inc., Florida 1987 While sitting on a park bench, a Florida man was hit by car and rushed to a hospital. There he received transfusions of fifty-‐one units of blood. A year later he was diagnosed with AIDS. In order to prove that he had contracted the disease from the transfusions rather than lifestyle or sexual orientation, he sought asked for the names of the blood donors. Should he have access to the identities of the blood donors? Magenis v. Fisher Broadcasting, Inc., Oregon 1990 A TV crew filming Oregon police entered the home of a couple with their four children after police served a search warrant looking for narcotics and stolen vehicles. The TV crew filmed the whole search and captured images of the couple and their kids. This footage was broadcast on the evening news. The couple sued, claiming the broadcast footage violated their right to privacy. The court ruled against them. They appealed the decision. Was their privacy invaded by the broadcast of the search?
State v. Wal-Mart Stores, New York 1995 Laural Allen met and began dating Samuel Johnson when they were both were sales associates at Wal-‐Mart. At the time, Laural Allen was legally separated from her husband and Samuel Johnson was single. Then Allen’s estranged husband showed up at work to serve her with divorce papers, it became apparent to Wal-‐Mart that both had violated a provision of the employee handbook to which they both agreed to follow. The handbook read, “Wal-‐Mart strongly believes in and supports the ‘family unit.’ A dating relationship between a married associate and another associate…is prohibited.” Since was Allen was technically still married, Wal-‐Mart deemed that she and Johnson violated their fraternization policy. They were fired. Shortly after this, the state of New York enacted a new law prohibiting employers from firing workers solely based on their relationships. Allen and Johnson sued Wal-‐Mart for their termination and claimed the provision in the handbook violated their rights. Are Allen and Johnson protected under this law providing it applies to all of the circumstances here? These cases taken from: Alderman, E. and Kennedy, C. (1995). The right to privacy. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
