Political Science

David Eastons definition of politics is that it is the authoritative allocation of values in society.  (Easton 1933)

The four bases of stability in a political system are structural mechanisms, cultural mechanisms, communication mechanisms, and reduction mechanisms.

The highest court in the judicial branch is the Supreme Court. Under this are the courts of appeals.  The lowest courts in the federal judicial system are the district courts. Each state has a separate court system.

The framers principal reason for setting up a judicial branch from the executive and legislative branches was their apprehension on a federal government having so much power.  The framers saw it appropriate to allow the new states to retain their own court system even as a federal judiciary was established.  The framers would have seen that their views then might no longer be suitable to todays political and juridical set-up.

Judicial philosophy is the principle behind every judge or justices decision.  The two basic orientations are liberal and conservative.  A liberal believes that the US Constitution and its implementing laws are living documents and subject to change. A conservative believes that the task of justices is merely to ensure that such laws are followed.

In Article II of the US Constitution, the President is allowed to nominate an individual as a Supreme Court justice.  The FBI will investigate the nominee and submit the information to the Senate.  If the Senate approves, the President will officially appoint him as justice.

The current justices of the Supreme Court that have a liberal orientation are Associate Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Brayer, and Sonia Sotomayor.  Those with a conservative orientation are Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito.

Civil and political rights are guarantees of protection for citizens against discrimination, inequality, and physical harm.  Civil liberties are inalienable rights guaranteed by the US Constitution against government.  Civil rights may be violated by private entities. Civil liberties can only be infringed by the state.

The 14th Amendment included a clause that protects citizens from discriminatory practices by both federal and state governments, the Equal Protection Clause, a significant step towards the establishment of civil rights provisions in the law.

Judicial review is the authority of the court to evaluate the constitutionality of the governments decrees and treaties.

Judicial scrutiny is the strictest criterion of judicial review applied by the United States judiciary.  The three levels of judicial scrutiny are strict scrutiny, middle-tier scrutiny, and rational basis or minimum scrutiny.

The very first amendment they made in the Constitution was to guarantee this freedom.  Freedom of speech is vital for a democracy to work.  Citizens can invoke this right to express their democratic interests to the government. Without it, democracy is dead.

The categories of speech that are not protected are advocacy of illegal action, fighting words, obscenity, blackmail, defamation, perjury, child pornography, and true threats.  Those protected are those that generally fall under the category of core political speech.

Different Tests and Doctrines that Came out of Supreme Court Cases
In determining whether speech is obscene, the Roth Test and Miller Test are applied. In libel, the New York Times Test and Hustler Magazine Test are the standards. In determining fighting words, the Cohen Test, Chaplinsky Test, and Lewis Tests are applied.