Elections Test

What it takes to be elected in today’s political environment, is money and people to back the candidates up. In the documentary, Journey’s with George, shows how George Bush used money, speeches, and other political figures to back up his campaign. He used voter turnout, which states that people who have money and are older, they are more likely to vote. He used voter turnout to target his campaign. Also, a canadate can count on a low turnout, which is when the people who truly want to vote do vote. If people were forced to vote, canadates would have to campaign to all the public not just the voter turnout. Also, what it takes to be elected is a source of money. Hard Money is a form of payment which is allowed by the government, it states that the money is directly given to the canadate. Soft money however, is money not directly given to the canadate but helps out in his campaign. What also helps in elections are committees and parties that back up and help out the canadate. A Political Action Committee is a private group that raises and distributes funds for use in election campaigns. It helps the canadate get money and voters, because they raise the money from people who either want to vote or they get people to listen and become voters. A Political Party is an organized group that attempts to influence the government by electing their members of important government offices. These people are usually famous or well known in the community, that when they put their name with a canadate it automatically gets voters. Media Bias is another form of getting voters, its skewing the reporting of information by the media, it usually happens when newscasters have a political view so they only talk about that one person in a positive way. These methods of getting elected is not truly democratic, it puts a bias on one canadate. If that canadate has a strong PAC or Political Party, they will have the funds to have better campaigns, and get the most voters. It has turned honest elections into who can get the most money and a better campaign.

Civil Liberties Test

What happens when freedoms and protections collide, is that a gray area immurges where people do not realize what is right and what is wrong. In the 1st ammendment, where you have the freedom to express and practice your own religion there was an insident and the Engle vs. Vitale case came up. A public school decided to have a morning prayer that was very christian and since it was a public school and many different students went there it violated the Establishment Clause. In this ammendment it protects your freedom to practice your own religion.
Also in the 1st ammendment, when the right to free press was an issue in the Near vs. Minnesota, when a Newspaper was going to publish an embarrasing story about a Polition and the government prevented the story from publishing that article. The government can not stop a article unless there is a national security threat. Even though the government can not prevent a story from being published, a school can. In Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier, a student wrote an article about divorce and teen pregnancy and used the names of the students in the articles. When the Principal was reviewing he said no to the story for concern of the students whose names were ing the article. The school has a right to stop the paper because of In Loco Parentis. They act as a parent in school and are responsible for the well being of there students. Eventhough students do not have the right to express themselves in school at least they can express and right about their feelings in the work force. When you are out of school you have the protection of being able to practice freedom of speech through written word.
In the 5th ammendment, where your rights come out in court through due process. Miranda vs. Arizona, where a man was arrested and accued of rape, he confessed but then recanted his confession. Since, he confessed right when he was arrested the officers did not read him his rights to stay silent he was let off because the 5th ammendment protects you from your self.
In the 6th ammendment where every one is promised an attorney. The Giden vs Wainright came up, where a man was arrested on a minor crime and not allowed his attorney. He was found guilty but since he was not allowed a lawyer he was let off. The 6th ammendment lets you have the right to a fair trial, so that no one can falsely accuse you of something you did not do. You have protections from the court.