PS 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Ex Post Facto Law, Supremacy Clause, Connecticut Compromise
26 Jan 2018
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Collective action - working together for the greater good. Conformity costs - difference between what the outcome was and what you wanted. Governability - government that isn"t too strong or too weak. Articles of confederation - example of a weak government. British government - example of a too strong government. The confederacy gave power to the states because they were afraid to give power to the central government since britain burned them so bad. Couldn"t make trade agreements because there was no central currency. Decided to throw the confederacy out, start from scratch with the constitution. Writing a constitution was a radical idea at the time. Federalists liked the constitution, anti-federalists didn"t like the constitution. The federalist papers were written as arguments for the constiution. If men were angels, no government would be needed. We need to seperate power into different branches to protect against greed. Ambition to counter ambition - keep people from having too much power.
