Jury duty. Although it is avoided as much as possible by some, it is a key component of the American legal process. In fact, the American Founders considered the jury process so vital to the protection of individual rights and liberty that they...
United States' Constitution
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The Fourth Amendment owes much of its inspiration to the experience of the American colonies with the English Crown's issuance of General Warrants. These warrants, otherwise known as Writs of Assistance, gave...
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Shortly after Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration in January of 2009, the White House moved to name numerous high-ranking officials to oversee top policy priorities of the executive branch. These leading...
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Due process, a vitally important right of the American people protected by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, has its roots in the concept of rule of law. Initially, this meant that everyone should be subject...
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Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution gives Congress the power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes." This clause is commonly...
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The modern understanding of checks and balances is that of government divided into separate and distinct branches. Each branch is endowed with certain safeguards to prevent against concentration and abuse of power....
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The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created in late 2001 as part of the United States' response to September 11. Although initially an agency within the Department of Transportation, TSA was quickly...
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The USA PATRIOT [Uniting and Strengthening America By Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism] Act, was a bill written and passed in response to the terrorist attacks on the United...
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"General Welfare" -- these words have plagued constitutional authorities for centuries. It appears twice in the United States Constitution, in the Preamble and in Article I, Section 8.
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Executive privilege is essentially the ability of the president and his subordinates to resist subpoenas and certain interventions by Congress and the courts.
Though not...
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On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law. Popularly known as Obamacare, the PPACA sought to bring government reform to America’s health care...
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"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." These words, the Second Amendment in its entirety, have been the...
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The 10th Amendment of the United States Constitution encapsulates the idea of Federalism, which entails distributing authority and powers between states or provinces and the national government. The notion that...
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Understanding human nature is a fundamental starting point for anyone attempting to build a coherent political philosophy. Generally speaking, there are two views: Human nature is either fixed or malleable....
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Early Enlightenment figures such as John Locke, Charles Montesquieu, David Hume, and Francis Bacon, in dialogue or debate with the religious movements of the day, set the stage for the intellectual developments of the...
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The century from the mid-1600s to the mid-1700s set the intellectual stage for the American Revolution. The early 1600s had seen the English Civil War, which had resulted in the execution of the King and the temporary...