The U.S. Constitution and the Articles of Confederation Assignment

The U.S. Constitution and the Articles of Confederation - Assignment Example It also finds that the political philosophy depicted in these is that pertaining to the state rights. Introduction United States has operated under a set of two rules. One of these is the Articles of Confederation, which was ratified in 1781, in Maryland. The second one is the US constitution, which was ratified in 1788, in New Hampshire, and which has served to replace the Articles of the Confederation (Kimberly, 2009). There are certain similarities between the US constitution and the Article of the Confederation. These similarities are particularly depicted in the relationship between the states and the federal government and have also been pivotal in informing the federal government responsiveness. This paper responds to various questions regarding US constitution and the Articles of the Confederation. Response to Question 1 There are certain similarities between the US constitution and the Article of the Confederation. Section 1 of the article IV of the constitution accords cred it, as well as full faith to every state as pertains to records, judiciary and public acts. On the other hand, this can also be found in the Article of the Confederation and it is the pillar of section IV, in a move that is deliberately aimed at securing and perpetuating mutual friendship. Secondly, in section 2 of article IV of the constitution, it is stated that each citizen shall be accorded the privileges, as well as enjoy immunities from other states. In the case where a person flees justice from one state, the state reserves the right to demand for the arrest and submission to the state in which the person fled. This is also reflected in Article IV of the Article of the Confederation, in stipulating that except fugitives, vagabonds, and paupers, all other citizens are accorded privileges such as those of the natives in other states. Thirdly, Article IV of the confederate of states bars a state from seeking embassy, receiving embassy or according establishing treaties, among ot her ways, with other nations without the consent of United States congress. On the other hand, this is contained evident in section 3 of article IV of the constitution that no state shall engage territorial affairs without the consent of the congress. Thus, the similarities between the Articles of the Confederate and the constitution are felt in the area regarding the relationship between the states and the Federal government. This similarity has been accounted based on the fact that the Articles of the Confederate were very crucial in informing the making of the constitution, as far as the area of the state relations is concerned (Hall & Feldmeier, 2013). Response to Question 2 The provisions of the constitution, as had earlier served by the Articles of the Confederate of states has served in the making the federal government less responsive to the people’s needs. One area that can be seen is power distribution and limitation. As far as checks and balances are concerned, it may not be disputed that a desirable liberal system is that which contains various devices for limiting power via checks and balances. Such a system functions based on constitution and law, as well as based on interactions between the institutions and individuals. This is because the allocation of excessive powers to one arm would have been accompanied by the

Issues of Corporal Punishment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Issues of Corporal Punishment - Research Paper Example According to Farrell, the existence of corporal punishment has diminished in Western society, but the practice is still continued in non-western societies, and the politicians of the western society keep on trying to making this punishment method a part of their legal system. Corporal punishment has existed in schooling systems and questions have been raised against and support has been given in the favour of corporal punishment in educational institutes. Activities that are categorized as Corporal punishment includes: whipping, gagging, flogging etc. These activities were practiced in US as well as Europeans nations for several years. Graeme Newman, a supporter of Corporal Punishment has stated in his work that activities such as electric shocks that are listed under the corporal punishment regime should be assigned for even smaller degree of crimes (Howard, 2001, p.259). He supports this kind of punishment over prison period because he believes that this punishment is equal to the crime committed and prison period cannot be compare to the crime committed. He is even in favour of corporal punishment as he believes that punishment has lower economic costs as compared to prison period. Body History The history of corporal punishment can be traced back to the period of tenth century and its existence can be traced in the educational and legal system of Rome and Egypt. Certain nations were highly popular for using such way of punishing individuals, one of such nations was Sparta, and during this period this means of penalizing individuals was most commonly used. During the Roman period the minimum corporal punishment assigned to an individual was forty counts of strokes with a whip or lash on the back and in certain cases fasces were applied on an individual’s buttocks. Such punished were carried to the extent of making the criminal bleed and these punishments were made public with the objective of creating an example out of these punishments and to inflict fear in the citizens. During the 5th and the 15th century, same practices were conducted and encouraged by the churches of that period in Europe. Due to the educational system’s close attachment to the churches of that period, these methods of disciplining individuals were even adopted by educational institutes. This treatment was never opposed before the 11th century, during 11th century, it gain criticism as it was being used continuously to discipline children and the degree of this punishment was considered very high. Corporal punishment experienced a complete switch during the 16th century. During this period these punishments were made available for the public’s eyes to inflict fear in those who have never committed a crime or who were potential future criminals. During this period Roger Ascham was one of those who criticized the use of corporal punishment in educational institutes. Another popular criticizer was John Locke, he openly criticized its use in educa tional institutes and due to his continuous criticism, this way of penalizing children in educational institutes was banned by the policy makers and educators of Poland during 1783 and Poland gained recognition as the first country every to do so (Hastings, 1971, p.144). This way of punishing individuals gained further criticism during the 18th century by policy makers and