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Standard and Short Edition:
1 American Political Culture
2 The Founding and the Constitution
3 Federalism
4 Civil Liberties
5 Civil Rights
6 Public Opinion
7 The Media
8 Political Participation and Voting
9 Political Parties
10 Campaigns and Elections
11 Groups and Interests
12 Congress
13 The Presidency
14 Bureaucracy In A Democracy
15 The Federal Courts
16 Government and Economy
17 Social Policy
18 Foreign Policy and Democracy
Texas Edition:
19 The Political Culture, People, and Economy of Texas
20 The Texas Constitution
21 Parties and Elections in Texas
22 Interest Groups, Lobbying, and Lobbyists
23 The Texas Legislature
24 The Texas Executive Branch
25 The Texas Judiciary
26 Local Government in Texas
27 Public Policy in Texas

Chapter 2: The Founding and the Constitution

Questions for Discussion and Thought

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  1. Explain this statement: “The Declaration of Independence is an extremely liberal document and the U.S. Constitution is an extremely conservative document.”

  1. How might U.S. history have been changed if

    1. the colonists had lost the American Revolution?
    2. the Constitutional Convention of 1787 had never been held?
    3. the Constitution had never been ratified?
    4. we did not have a Bill of Rights in the federal Constitution?
    5. slavery had been abolished when the Constitution was adopted?


  1. The delegates to the Constitutional Convention were sent to revise the Articles of Confederation, but instead threw them out and wrote an entirely new constitution. These meetings were held in secret because of fear that the public would be angry if they knew what the delegates were doing. Today we have open meeting laws that would prevent such secrecy.

    Which do you think is better: meeting in secret or holding open meetings? Explain why.



  1. Some people want to amend the Constitution to allow for initiative, that is, to allow voters to propose legislation and constitutional amendments, a process allowed in some state constitutions.

    Do you think this is a good idea? What advantages and disadvantages do you see in this?





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