Civic duty, and Agency
Assignment Question
Question 1
The laws refer to negotiation among groups of people that are passed from one generation to another. These individual groups are competing with each for power. These create an avenue for violence that requires negotiation smoothens by controlling the activities of individuals. The law will prevent violence occurrence by controlling individual interests not to surpass the interest of the larger society. The law ensures that everyone is at liberty to express their opinion and to be heard. However, the commission of wrongful acts by the lawmakers is not considered to be wrongful. These lawmakers have powers that are above the law. This changes the definition of the law to a concept shared by people that is subject to change. Therefore, people may have different definitions of law, but the most important that I have learned from the readings is that law is a set of rules that a country uses to govern the conduct and action of its people. This is the reason why Chief Justice John Marshall once stated that the United States is a country of laws and not of men.
Question 2
My comparison comes from the case-law of Marbury v. Madison. In this case law, an important discussion of whether an act repugnant to the constitution can become law is expounded. From the above case law, Chief Justice Marshall, for the first time in the history of the country, declared laws passed by Congress and signed by president unconstitutional (Leggett and Nasser 85). In this intricate case, the government motivated by self-interest, created, and defined the role of the Supreme Court that previously never existed in the constitution. The government tried to enlarge the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court beyond those defined in the constitution. In this case, Chief Justice Marshall made a ruling to protect the constitution of the country (Leggett and Nasser 86). When compared to the events in a real-life situation, I would like to state that the ruling is a sharp contrast to what happens in modern society. In modern America, the president appoints close friends to these positions to protect the interest of the president and the government. This explains why many cases of gross misconduct of top government officials failed when brought to trial because there are no people like Chief Justice Marshall, who is committed to protecting the American constitution.
If we have credible individuals such as chief justice Marshall, then we cannot have incompetence leaders elected to political office and continue to change laws to protect individual and party politics.
Questions 3
My experience in this class has enlightened my understanding of how political systems function and the need for each arm of government to be independent. The decision of Chief Justice Marshall to stand tall to declare the constitution of the country to be Supreme and protect it from individuals motivated by self-interest explains why there is a need to ensure institutions of governance are independent and should be manipulated by the political class. Public participation is required in changing the constitution, and the citizens have a greater duty to play in the constitution-making process.
Question 4
From the course activities, I have learned that constitution is supreme to all citizens, including the president. No person is above the law. However, the challenge is whether we can get individuals that can stand tall like Chief Justice Marshall to protect the constitution from individuals motivated by self-interest. Again, I have learned that the power to change the constitution is with the people, and it should be done in a proper manner, which guarantees majority happiness and satisfaction with the process (Leggett and Nasser 85). On civic knowledge, citizens should understand their rights as well as the role of the government. The government also has a social responsibility of educating the citizens on the changes in the proposed changes to the constitution, if any.
Question 5
I can use the information to educate the citizens on their rights and limits of these rights because if they go beyond the limits, they will be breaking the law. I will also use the knowledge to educate the citizens on their role to hold their leaders accountable. This includes ensuring the essential services reach the people. There should be fairness in the distribution of the resources so that there is no region that lacks behind in development. However, all these are possible if leaders are held accountable by the citizens.
Works Cited
Jason Leggett, Helen-Margaret Nasser. The Law and Identity Reader: Cultivating Understanding, Agency, and Advocacy. Published, 2016.