Political Science

The Original Amendments

The Bill of Rights was not originally supposed to be part of the Constitution. However, many people were worried about the federal government becoming too powerful and infringing on their rights, so a Bill of Rights detailing the rights and freedoms of the people was added to get more states to ratify the Constitution. The original Bill of Rights consisted of the first ten amendments, and since then seventeen more amendments have been added. It is important to note that by 1870, five amendments had already been added to the Constitution, with the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments being added in response to the freeing of slaves and the beginning of Reconstruction. The 27th Amendment, which is the latest amendment added, was ratified thirty years ago in 1992.

A Brief Breakdown of All 27 Amendments

1st Amendment: no establishment of religion, no prohibiting the practice of religion, no violation of free speech or the press, right of the people to assemble and petition the government for grievances

2nd Amendment: right of the people to keep and bear arms

3rd Amendment: no quartering of soldiers in homes

4th Amendment: people secure against unreasonable searches and seizures

5th Amendment: right to indictment of grand jury in capital cases, no double jeopardy, no forced incrimination, right to due process of law, no taking of private property without compensation

6th Amendment: right to speedy and public trial, right to have an impartial jury, right to be informed of the crime allegedly committed, right to be confronted with witnesses against them and to obtain witnesses for themself, right to council

7th Amendment: lawsuits exceeding twenty dollars maintain the right of trial by jury

8th Amendment: no excessive bail or fines and no cruel or unusual punishment

9th Amendment: the Constitution does not contain all the rights of the people

10th Amendment: powers not given to the federal government by the Constitution are kept by the states

11th Amendment: modified Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution

12th Amendment: discusses the requirements necessary to become president, lays out the complex process for how presidents and vice presidents go through both the nomination and election processes

13th Amendment: abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except where a person has been convicted of a crime

14th Amendment: established that all persons born in the U.S. are considered U.S. citizens and included the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause as applied to the states

15th Amendment: gave African Americans the right to vote

16th Amendment: Congress has the power to lay and collect income taxes

17th Amendment: discusses the election of U.S. senators and how vacancies in the U.S. Senate are filled

18th Amendment: designed to prohibit the sale of alcohol

19th Amendment: gave women the right to vote

20th Amendment: all presidential and vice-presidential terms end at noon on January 20, the terms of senators and representatives end at noon on January 3, discusses what happens if the president dies

21st Amendment: repealed the 18th Amendment (prohibition) to allow the sale, transportation, and manufacture of alcohol

22nd Amendment: no president can be re-elected after serving two terms in office

23rd Amendment: ensured that Washington, D.C. had electors in the Electoral College

24th Amendment: any missed tax payment does not bar a citizen from voting for presidential, senatorial, or congressional representatives

25th Amendment: states the vice president will take the place of the president if he/she dies, resigns, or is removed from office

26th Amendment: gave individuals 18 or older the right to vote

27th Amendment: any changes made to the salaries of congressional representatives cannot be put in place until the next election of representatives

Making Policy: Official Actors

Official actors in the policy process are those actors that have been given the power to participate in policy. These powers could have been given to them through elections, such as with the President or members of Congress, or through appointments, such as with Supreme Court justices. There are four types of official actors within the United States: the President (or governor at the state level), legislatures, the courts, and administrative agencies.

The President

The Presidency has many components to it, including the Executive Office of the President, the Cabinet, and the White House Office. The Cabinet is the most known component, consisting of 15 department heads (i.e. head of Department of Education, head of Department of Labor, etc.). The Executive Office of the President consists of agencies formed by Congress in order to assist the President in his/her executive duties. Lastly, the White House Office consists of the President's chosen staff whose job is to help the President in his/her multiple responsibilities.

Legislatures

Congress, which is our focus here, consists of committees and subcommittees in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Within both chambers of Congress, there are also party leaders, consisting of the Senate majority and minority leaders and the House majority and minority leaders. Additionally, there is staff for each of the parties, which has increased in recent years, as well as staff for each of the members of Congress.

The Courts

Federal courts take an important part in policy formation, but it is important to note that only appellate courts perform these duties. Appellate courts make decisions regarding law, while trial courts only make decisions about fact, which is why appellate courts are involved in creating law/policy and trial courts are not. Federal appellate courts make policy through judicial review and through finding the meaning of certain statutes, which creates precedent that states are expected to follow.

Administrative Agencies

Administrative agencies are often looked at as the fourth branch of the federal government, with these agencies being accountable to the President and Congress. These agencies are responsible for implementing policies, as well as sometimes take part in coming up with policy alternatives and performing policy evaluation. There are various structures of administrative agencies, with some of them being more public and some being more private.

Unofficial Actors in the Policy Process

Unofficial actors in the policy process do not have any legitimate, legal authority to create and implement policy. These actors may work to influence government officials or garner support on issues that they care about. There are five main types of unofficial actors: interest groups, think tanks, the media, political parties, and citizens.

Interest Groups

Interest groups primarily lobby the government by expressing demands on specific issues, such as gun control or abortion. These groups also propose policies to government officials that they believe will benefit their cause, as well as provide information regarding their issues of interest to official actors. This information provided typically revolves around the negative aspects of proposals that these groups deem undesirable.

Think Tanks

Think tanks are best known for analyzing policy through statistics and data. They may also engage in advocacy for certain policies, as well as propose potential policies. While some think tanks are nonpartisan, an increasing number are becoming associated with political ideologies. An example of a conservative think tank is the Heritage Foundation, while an example of a liberal think tank is the Urban Institute.

The Media

The media, which consists of the radio, newspapers, television, social media, and much more primarily participates in setting the policy agenda. This is done by shaping what the public thinks about and considers as important within the policy realm. However, the media focuses more on politics than it does on the actual content of policies.

Political Parties

Political parties play a small role in public policy, but they do participate in it nonetheless. Their main job in the policy process is to communicate their preferences on certain policies to official actors, as well as assist these official actors in creating policy idea "packages." 

Citizen Participation

Citizens participate in the policy process both directly and indirectly. We participate directly through state initiatives and referendums and participate indirectly by voting for representatives that share our same ideological values and policy ideals.

Filling Out Legal Forms

For those interested in becoming lawyers, it is always important to be familiar with legal forms used inside and outside of the courtroom. In law school, students are not exposed to these forms or told how to fill them out. However, knowing what these forms are and what information is required to fill them out can look good on a resume when applying for internships and legal jobs post-law school. Some of these forms include, but are not limited to, subpoenas, temporary restraining orders, dissolution of marriage forms, and paperwork for small claims. If you are interested in becoming more familiar with these forms and what they entail, click HERE. This website will allow you to search up and view any of the court forms used in California.

Structure of the California State Government

The governor of California is elected for 4-year terms and can run again after their first term. However, they are not allowed to serve more than eight years in a 12-year period. Just a few of the governor's abilities include: vetoing bills for the state legislature, granting pardons, controlling the state militia, and filling empty spots in all state offices.  

Just like the federal government, the California State government has a senate and an assembly. State senators are elected for 4-year terms, and the state senate consists of 40 representatives. Out of these 40 representatives, 31 of them are Democrats and 9 of them are Republicans. Each state senator represents a little under 950,000 people. State assembly members are elected for 2-year terms, and the state assembly consists of 80 representatives. Out of these 80 representatives, 60 of them are Democrats, 19 of them are Republicans, and 1 of them is Independent. Each assembly member represents a little over 450,000 people.

The mayor of Fresno (or of any city within California) is elected for 4-year terms and cannot be in office for any longer than two terms. More specifically, Mayor Dyer's policies include revitalizing the downtown Fresno area, beautifying Fresno by cleaning our neighborhoods, highways, and streets, and getting youth more involved within the community.

Elected Officials for the State of California

Governor: 

Gavin Newsom

A Few State Senators: 

Benjamin Allen, Toni G. Atkins, Steven Bradford, Melissa A. Melendez

(To see the full list of California State Senate members, click HERE.) 

A Few State Assembly Members: 

Dr. Joaquin Arambula, Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Richard Bloom, Mia Bonta

(To see the full list of California State Assembly members, click HERE.)

Fresno Mayor: 

Jerry Dyer

Senate Representative for Fresno State Area:

Andreas Borgeas

Assembly Representative for Fresno State Area:

Jim Patterson

Structure of the California State Court System

The California state court system is made up of two main types of courts: trial courts and appellate courts. 

Trial courts are the lowest courts and have original jurisdiction. They deal with criminal cases that have a plaintiff (the State) and a defendant (the person who committed the crime). They also deal with civil cases, which are brought when a person is seeking compensation of some sort, whether it's for damages, personal injury, or for another reason. 

Appellate courts are above the trial courts and review appealed cases from the trial courts. These courts only review the law, or legal errors that could have been made; they do not retry cases or dispute the facts of these cases. There are two types of appellate courts in California: lower courts of appeal and the highest appeals court. Appeals from the trial courts go to the lower courts of appeal, while appeals made from these courts go to the highest appeals court. When appeals are made to the highest appeals court, this court uses a selective process, meaning that the judges of the court can choose which cases they want to hear.

To learn more about the California state court system, click HERE.

Important Names to Know

When discussing any state court system, it is important to note that each state assigns different names for their trial and appellate courts. In California, the trial courts are called the California Superior Courts. In terms of the California appellate courts, the appeals courts are called the California Courts of Appeal, while the highest appeals court is called the California Supreme Court.

Judicial Selection in California

In California, Superior Court judges are first appointed by the governor and then elected by the people in nonpartisan elections. During nonpartisan elections, judges do not have a political party placed next to their names on the ballot. This system of selecting Superior Court justices is known as the merit system, where judges are first appointed to the bench for a specified period of time and then are subjected to elections, where the people get to decide whether or not they want a judge to stay on the bench.

California Courts of Appeal and California Supreme Court judges are first appointed by the governor and then have to be confirmed by the California Commission on Judicial Appointments. This Commission is made up of three members: the chief justice of the California Supreme Court, the Attorney General of California, and the senior justice of the court of appeal of the appellate district to which a judge is being appointed. This third person changes to California's senior presiding justice of the Court of Appeals when a California Supreme Court judge is being appointed.

Relations Between Israel and Palestine

The relationship between Israel and Palestine has always been rocky, and it continues to be that way today. This rocky relationship mainly stems from the animosity between the Jewish and Arab peoples in this territory, with both of them claiming their right to the land. The growth of the Jewish population in Israel/Palestine in 1881 initially sparked this conflict because the Arab population felt threatened. The Balfour Declaration furthered this conflict by taking the side of the Jewish people, and this is where we see the Israelis start to become more powerful than the Palestinians. 

A countless number of armed conflicts have occurred between the Israelis and Palestinians, including the first Arab-Israeli War, beginning in 1947, and the Six-Day War in June of 1967. In each of these wars listed, the result was the taking of more Arab lands by Israel, increasing the power of Israel and decreasing the power of Palestine. We also saw, during the 1972 Munich Olympics, the Palestinian terror attacks, which resulted in the killing of two Israelis from the Israel Olympic Team. 

A major factor in this conflict is the United States' relationship with Israel, who has received billions of dollars in assistance from the U.S., as well as purchased weapons from them. Additionally, this conflict continues to exist due to the uncompromising nature of both the Israelis and the Palestinians. They both want to create a legitimate state of their own, but neither can do so without compromising in their claims to the same land. Therefore, without compromise, it is highly likely that we will see this conflict continue for decades into the future.

The Realist Perspective in Terms of the Israel/Palestine Conflict

The realist perspective, which is one of the main theories of international relations, can be used to describe the continuing issues between Israel and Palestine. Here are a few ways that realism can be applied to the Israel/Palestine conflict:

• Asymmetry of this conflict within an anarchic international system is highlighted by realism (Israeli side much more powerful than Palestinian side)

• Uncompromising relationship between the two sides relates to the realist perspective that cooperation is difficult and unlikely within an anarchic international system

• Refusal of each side to cooperate comes from the realist idea of the prisoner's dilemma, which emphasizes that two actors will defect from cooperation due to the fear of the other side cheating

• Idea that each side is trying to gain more power and resources than the other highlights the relative gains problem within the realist perspective

There are many different types of government that are being used around the world or have been used in the past. The most known and common types of government are as follows: democracy/republic, monarchy, dictatorship, communist state, oligarchy, and theocracy.

Democracy/Republic

There are generally two types of democracy that are discussed: direct democracy and representative democracy. A direct democracy fully places the power of government in the hands of the people, with the people voting directly on matters themselves. In contrast, the people elect representatives that make the law in a representative democracy, therefore only giving the people power indirectly. A republic is very similar to a representative democracy in that the people elect representatives to advocate for their interests in the law. The United States is most often described as a republic, but the best description of the U.S. government would be a representative democracy. 

Monarchy

A monarchy usually deals with a family that controls the government, with an emphasis being put on this lineage. Monarchies are often associated with royalty, as we see somewhat in Great Britain. However, with the establishment of the prime minister position, the royal family now plays more of a figurehead role, with the family only having minimal state duties. The ability to pass legislation and head the government now resides with the prime minister.

Dictatorship

Dictatorships entail a singular person that has absolute power over the government, the state, and the people within the state. This person is responsible for enacting and enforcing laws; there are no other representatives or people that take part in this process. Dictators usually do not inherit their power but rather take it through violence or by rigging elections. A prime example of a country with this system of government is North Korea.

Communist State

A communist state is based off of the ideas of communism created by Karl Marx and detailed in his pamphlet The Communist Manifesto. This form of government is usually headed by a single political party and emphasizes a classless society, where there idea of socioeconomic class does not exist. In essence, in a communist state everything is publicly owned and the state often provides jobs to its citizens. A past example of a communist state was the Soviet Union (USSR) prior to its collapse in 1991.

Oligarchy

An oligarchy is a form of government in which an elite few have all the power and rule over the state. These elite few usually rule for selfish reasons, with them affording benefits to other elites instead of to all citizens. This form of government is similar to an aristocracy, with an aristocracy being the rule of the best few for the interests of all. Ancient Greece's city-states were oligarchies because they were ruled by small groups of the wealthiest men. 

Theocracy

In a theocracy, the ultimate rule of law is religion, and the government makes decisions through what is called divine guidance. The officials within government may claim that they were given unlimited power by their God or other forces, and they make all of their decisions based off of the will of their God. A contemporary example of this form of government is Iran, which is a theocratic republic, meaning that it has elements of both a theocracy and democracy. 

Tensions Between the U.S. and Russia

Currently, U.S.-Russian relations appear to be tense, especially in light of the conflict that is occurring in Ukraine. As we have seen in the past, these tensions seem to arise from the divergent interests of the two states, mainly due to their opposing ideologies. With Russia's goal being to topple capitalism and become more powerful over other states, the U.S. continues to have trouble in its relations with Russia. This is especially true with regards to Russia's annexation of Crimea and its refusal to quit interfering in Ukraine. With the U.S. sending additional weapons to Ukraine and Russia's recent invasion of Ukraine, tensions continue to rise between the two states. Additionally, by disregarding Ukraine's sovereignty, Russia has not only put itself in opposition to the United States but also in opposition to NATO states. With many civilians dying during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Russia's severe human rights violations have already been pointed out by the United States. To stay up to date on the latest news regarding U.S.-Russian relations, click HERE to search for recent news articles or HERE to view a live news channel.

Background: The Cold War

During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed for power and influence. We see this grab for power in both the space race and the arms race, with technology advancing rapidly in both countries. While these two states had much tension between them, they never had any direct confrontations. Rather, the U.S. and the Soviet Union played their conflicts out in proxy wars, which included these states fighting on behalf of third-party states. During this time, many countries allied with either the U.S. or the Soviet Union, creating both the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. Tensions arose between these two states mainly due to ideological differences; the United States was democratic and capitalist and was vehemently opposed to communism, while the Soviet Union was communist and vehemently opposed to capitalism.