Description
This assignment will require you to use your critical thinking skills to evaluate how the concept of federalism interacts with various current constitutional debates. This assignment is also the first step in the process towards completing your final research paper. The topic that you select for this assignment, either religious freedom, free speech, or privacy rights, should be the topic for your final paper as well. That way, the first main discussion point for the final research paper will be completed when you complete this assignment. Therefore, think your topic selection over carefully, choose something you are interested in, and save yourself some extra work by continuing to research the same topic for your final paper.
Select one topic from the following list of three constitutional issues:
Free Speech
For this assignment, you need to discuss one positive and one negative impact of federalism on the issue you selected. Once you have discussed those impacts, you are expected to evaluate which impact is the most significant on your issue and discuss the reasons behind that evaluation.
For example, if your topic were to be about regulation of commerce, federalism impacts regulation of commerce in a positive way by setting nationwide safety and building standards for highways, railroads, and airfields. Federalism could impact regulation of commerce in a negative way by forcing states to adhere to nationwide speed limits and safety laws that may not take into consideration local conditions and needs.
If you were going to look at equal protection under the law, one could argue that federalism has positively impacted equal protection of the law. The Fourteenth Amendment was critical in reducing racial discrimination because of landmark rulings like Brown v. Board of Education. On the other hand, federalism initially enabled states to treat their citizens differently based on the color of their skin. Supreme Court rulings such as Plessy v. Ferguson allowed the states to segregate blacks and whites as long as the states provided “separate, but equal facilities.”
For this paper, utilize the Constitution, established case law, and scholarly sources to discuss both sides of the argument and then provide a logical argument why one impact is more significant.
Write: Your paper should be organized into the following sections and should:
- Introduce the selected issue and the direction of the paper (1/2 page)
- Discuss one positive impact of federalism on the selected issue. (1 page)
- Discuss one negative impact of federalism on the selected issue. (1 page)
- Evaluate which impact is the most significant and discuss why. (1 page)
- Conclude and summarize the main findings of the paper. (1/2 page)
The paper must be at least four pages in length (not including title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style
You must utilize at least three scholarly sources, one of which may be your course text. Cite your sources within the text of your paper and on the reference page.
Explanation & Answer
Attached.
1
Free Speech and Federalism – Outline
Thesis Statement: In spite of the lack of constitutional basis for federalism, the concept
has both positive and negative impacts on free speech, which makes it critical to examine
these effects with the goals of determining the most significant of the adverse and
beneficial to the protection of the rights of Americans
I.
Introduction
II.
Positive Impact of Federalism on Free Speech
III.
Negative Impact of Federalism on Free Speech
IV.
Implication of Negative/Positive Impact
V.
Conclusion
Running head: FREE SPEECH AND FEDERALISM
Free Speech and Federalism
Name
Institution
1
FREE SPEECH AND FEDERALISM
2
Free Speech and Federalism
Introduction
America’s founding fathers understood the consequences of allowing leaders to oppress
or suppress the opinion of the citizens that oppose their viewpoints and therefore granted every
citizen of the United States the right to freedom of speech and press through the First
Amendment of the country’s constitution. While the contents of the U.S Constitution has been
amended several times as the nation evolved during different eras, this inalienable right to free
speech remained an integral part of the democratic values and principles that America shared
with the rest of the world. An additional aspect of the United States Constitution that revealed
the foresight of the Patriots that laid the foundation for this free nation is the innovative concept
of federalism that was used to create independent arms of the federal government through a
structure that restrict one entity to wield more power than the other. In spite of the lack of
constitutional basis for federalism, the concept has both positive and negative impacts on free
speech, which makes it critical to examine these effects with the goals of determining the most
significant of ...
