How the Constitution Limits Certain Provisions Essay #1

The government has long struggled to move to a more democratic society and though the Constitution tried, we now have to find other ways to revise our Constitution to become more democratic. Through branches of government, and political processes, we are now finding ways to become more closely tied to our government and participate more in politics.

The Senate, located in the Legislative Branch of the government, is originally the most tied to citizens because the Senate seats, before the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, were appointed by popular vote of the people. Therefore, it is closely tied to citizens. When the Constitution was first created, it limited majority rule by only placing one element of government, the House of Representatives, within direct control of the votes of the majority and also because judges were given lifetime tenure while senators were only given terms of six years. Through primary elections and the Seventeenth Amendment, our government has become more democratic. Primary elections helped because some of the power lies in the hands of the people because they our able to vote, which moves the power away from a government with officials only elected by the President. The Seventeenth Amendment helped because it provided for the direct election of senators. This uses more democracy because there is no Electoral College vote for electing officials

Significance of Fundraising in Campaigns

*Describe the significance of money in a modern presidential election campaign.  How does the government regulate the fund-raising and expenditures of presidential campaigns?  Is the government regulation adequate? Explain.

In a modern presidential election campaign, people who are most likely to run and most likely to win, are the candidates that have or can raise the most money. Politics is a money game, it's about finding investors with deep pockets that have a concrete stance on an issue that you have the same stance on. And towards the end of a presidential race, there are usually only two candidates left because the other candidates run out of money.
By putting caps on donations and the amount of money that candidates can spend, the government regulates campaign spending. If an ad campaign contains advocacy for the candidate, it is considered an independent expenditure under the Federal Election Campaign Act, and there are no limits on the amounts that may be spent on them. But if a media campaign does not contain advocacy for a candidate, but rather discusses their actions, voting record, or position on an issue, funding for these don't have to be regulated primarily because freedom of speech is protected under the First Amendment.

Esquire Survey Response

Based on my results compared to the data collected by the entire survey, I would say that my results were pretty normal because I'm in the middle and leaning towards the right a bit which is exactly the same as the national average of Conservatives vs. Liberals. As expected, minority groups are more likely to vote more liberally and white caucasian Americans are more likely to vote more conservatively. I think that on social issues younger people are more likely to view the issues more liberally and as you grow older, you become more conservative. A shocking thing I read today was that the election between Obama and Romney was almost split right down the middle which is surprising to me because to me, people who voted for Obama made it seem like everyone was. Most people, along with myself, believe that voters should be required to show ID before they go to vote. Also, because I'm dealing with college admissions right now, the question about affirmative action is relevant and I think should be taken away because now and in the future, white Caucasians are proven to become the minority of the population. The issue of illegal immigrants have most people voicing their opinions that immigrants who don't make an effort to become a US citizen should not be given any help. Also a kind of frightening fact is the question about people's view on the American economy and our political system. Most people said that our economy is on the rise and that they are positive about it and then most of the people said that they are pessimistic about our politics. Opinions on guns have definitely changed with the amount of school shootings recently but like I said, there should be mandatory background checks and mandatory safety courses before anyone should be allowed to own a gun. Education can prevent a good amount of the terrible things that we see happen. In conclusion, I believe that religion has a lot of input on how you answer these survey questions and everyone has their own political sphere whether it be huge, or nonexistent.