Laine McKay Norton

The 17th Amendment enabled the blurring of state boundaries by dissolving the federal separation of powers. When the 17th Amendment was passed at the start of the progressive era in 1913, it started to shift the United States from a dual federalist system to a cooperative federalist system. Progressive era political scientist, Charles Merriam, explained “Under our Federal system there must be a sharing of powers between the national, interstate, and state authorities.” Just like many other politicians and political scientist of the time, Merriam believed that centralization of controls was a way to solve any conflicts that the state governments and federal government had. Prior to the 17th Amendment being passed, there were Senate election deadlocks. Some State Legislatures could not agree on who to send to the Senate, so they only had one Senator. At its worst, elections were deadlocked across 20 states, resulting in 20 vacant seats. The States saw this as a problem; they were alr

I show my patriotism by educating people about what it means to live in a self- governing society. A free country only remains free from oppression and chaos when its people are educated about their system of government. Learning about current American government and history of the United States keeps a culture of self- governance alive. Learning history helps us to preserve liberty in the United States. A patriot is someone who is educated about past events so that he can make informed decisions on current issues. Maximilien Robespierre explained, “The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant.” Patriots do not want their people to live under tyranny, so they initiate education of the masses. In the summer of 2017, I spoke at The Young Americans for Liberty national convention in Washington D.C. At this convention, I spoke about the importance of the Constitution and how it is still applicable today. A first step towards

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” The Bill of Rights is slowly fading as a relevant document in our society. The five freedoms explained in the First Amendment ensure that the United States is able to remain free from corruption. 1. The Freedom of Religion Not only does the First Amendment protect the Freedom of Religion, but it also protects the separation of church and state. This means that if the First Amendment is repealed, religion could potentially take over as the driving political force of the United States. Thomas Jefferson explained, “religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, &

In 1776, Thomas Jefferson penned one of the greatest documents of freedom of all time, the Declaration of Independence. He states in that document that, “...whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” The American Colonies believed that their unalienable rights were being infringed upon and their original system of government was being deteriorated. Jefferson once again wrote about injustice that he saw in the new American Republic in 1798. The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions were written by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, and were a response to the unconstitutional Alien and Sedition Acts. Jefferson wrote, “whenever the [federal] government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no f

Today, many school classes are taught where a teacher stands in front of the class and rattles off facts for the students to memorize and regurgitate on a test. After the test, the students often forget what they have learned. How successful is teaching to a test? Teaching to a test does not produce successful people. Finland has one of the top education systems in the world. In a recent interview with Finish teachers, the teachers talked about how one of the top 5 reasons why the United States education system has not improved is because of standardized tests. Important information, like civics and debate, get lost because they are not tested in a test. Teaching students how to think does produce successful people. In law schools, students are taught how to think critically about the facts. Students are given a case to study outside of class. In class, the law professors ask hard questions that require students to think critically about the case. There is a reason why this method is

Most people who live in democratic societies believe that free speech is a basic human right. The freedom of speech dates back to Ancient Greece; it became a fundamental part of the democracy of Athens. “Leaders, philosophers, playwrights and everyday Athenians were free to openly discuss politics and religion…”. In the United States, Freedom of Speech is ensured in the First Amendment. The only speech that is not protected by the First Amendment is child pornography, true threats, defamation, and plagiarism of copyrighted material. 1 This idea of free speech has been cherished by Americans for hundreds of years, but we are in danger of losing it.  Greg Lukianoff, President of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education explained, “A generation is being raised not to believe in freedom of speech but rather that they should have freedom from speech.” 2 Should we ban things that are deemed hateful or hurtful? Safe spaces are "A place where anyone can relax and be fully