POL 232 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Bicameralism, Formal Methods

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POL 232
• Professor: Alexander Moens

Document Summary

Shays rebellion: central government could not maintain peace because the. Banks started collecting debts back and those who could not pay were thrown in jail. Shays seized a courtroom during trial of debtors - and launched an attack. (national government was weak so it could do nothing). The constitutional convention: the constitutional convention in philadelphia met between may and september of 1787 to address the problems of the weak central government that existed under the articles of confederation. Fractions among the delegates: large vs small states, democrats vs skeptics of democracy, slave vs non-slave states, federalist vs anti-federalists. The virginia plan: a bicameral (two-chamber) legislature, with the lower chamber chosen by the people and the smaller upper chamber chosen by the lower chamber from nominees selected by state legislatures. The number of representatives would be proportional to a state"s population, thus favoring the large states, including virginia.