Module 7

 

I’ve decided to focus on a challenge to California’s state constitution based on proposition 22 and how it violates the state constitution. From what I have read it is a suit being filed to California Supreme court, prop 22 limits the power of elected officials to govern. This is not done through the normal means for a formal constitutional change, as they want this prop struck down, like, prop 8 (attacked the LGBTQ+ community) and prop 187 (attacked immigrant communities). I believe that they want to skip the two basic steps of initiation and ratification. Their argument/lawsuit against prop 22 is that it limits the ability of California legislature establish and enforce a system of worker compensation for gig workers. It prevents any legislation that authorizes any entity to bargain on driver’s behalf. It violates the “single subject rule” governing the ballot measures of California. They hope that it will be taken down through this lawsuit as unconstitutional to California’s constitution. It is interesting to see how this lawsuit goes directly to California’s supreme court, effectively avoiding legislative proposal.

Module 6

 

What was the Tea Party, and what has it become?

The Tea party is a conservative faction in the Republican party. After the 2008 elections Republicans had suffered many defeats, and there was no clear leader for the party to rally behind. Many of these individuals worried that conservatism was being left behind, they decided to form their own faction within the Republican party. The Tea Party managed to revitalize right-wing activism in the U.S. and become a political force in U.S. politics. In a way the Tea Party is a cumulation of U.S. conservatism… a grassroots movement of conservatism? But a grassroot movement can only get you so far in this society without backing from a group, especially if they want to get involved in national politics. At its origin it was an interest group, until the people involved in the party started to have a sense of identity then it became a conservative faction. 

Having just learned the differences between political parties and interest groups, please reflect on how you would categorize the Tea Party both at its origin, as described in the article, and as it has evolved until today.

That is a tough question to answer. The more I read into the origin of the Tea Party the more confused I get, but for right now I would say that the Tea Party is a faction in a political party. The people involved in the Tea Party have a sense of identity and have a goal that they want to achieve in government. Sure, the group may have had help from FreedomWorks to get their party started, but many people within that party want to distant themselves from that conservative non-profit organization. This is a big country after all many members of the Tea party have different ideas from one another, as they don’t have a something/someone tying the local groups and the national groups together. Just to clear things up everything I have just mentioned so far is describing the Tea Party today. The first time I heard about this group was around 2012… I think it has been a while, by then they had already become a political party or were known as a political party.

From the article that was given to us to read the Tea Party in its creation was an interest group at first, that was aided by FreedomWorks. The individuals in that party had specific goals in mind that they wanted to see enacted in government. Over time this interest group started to evolve into a political group, as the people involved developed a sense of identity.

This module was a bit confusing for me, as I heard about the Tea Party before and by then they were already a conservative faction. 

Module 5

 

Blog entry #8:

Part 1: Re-Read the section on subsidiarity from last week’s PowerPoint slide handout. Also do some research online to learn more about this concept. Define “subsidiarity” in your own words. How is the concept of subsidiarity as discussed in this passage related to “devolution” as described in your textbook?

From the PowerPoint that we were given the principal subsidiarity is, that “society is based on collectives or communities of people ranging from small groups or families to larger national and international institutions”. From my online research I have found out that subsidiarity is an organizing principle; where the smallest, lowest or least centralized authority. Political decisions or actions should be acted upon by the local level if possible, rather than the Federal or State government.

I would say that devolution and subsidiarity are similar, if not the same concept. When you look at both definitions, they both want to make sure that the local levels of government can have a higher level of autonomy in their region. By doing this the central government is giving the states and local governments the ability to handle their own affairs, without the central government getting involved. Usually, the state and local government have a better idea on how to handle their own affairs or come up with their own ideas to fix key issues in their region.

Part 2: Google “devolution in Kenya” for an ambitious example of how governments might use devolution to achieve desirable level of subsidiarity. Can you think of some examples of devolution from the US? Any time you hear the Federal government say (paraphrasing) “leave it up to the states,” that might be an example of devolution. Similarly, a state government saying “leave it up to the counties,” or a county government saying “leave it up to the individual cities.”

From my understanding of it in 2010 the Constitution of Kenya had a turning point where it reconfigured a balance of power by devolving power and responsibilities from the national government to 47 elected county governments. Again, reinforcing that idea of giving local governments a level of autonomy that they haven’t experienced before. Within the first five years of doing this there has been progressive democratizations and expansion of political space in marginalized communities in Kenya. These counties have showed a unique strength and resources for self-reliance.

I believe we talked about this briefly in our zoom meeting, some of the examples that we talked about where the legalization of marijuana, same-sex marriage, and the Trump administration allowing states to handle Covid-19 vaccines distribution. It is interesting to point out that California allowed same-sex couples to get married, but the federal government decided to make these marriages void.

Module 4

 

Blog #6:

What problem(s) is your CP trying to address? How can members of the community in which it operates help through their participation? In what ways does this serve an end of a local government entity?

My CP is trying to primarily address, academic progress, childcare, and educating children online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Where my CP operates there are a variety of museums in the area, so there is competition for limiting resources, like, funds to keep the museum running. A way for the community to donate a small amount of money to my CP would go along way, but if they could not afford to donate, they can also volunteer at the museum. They offer many online programs to keep children educated in various fields, when I last looked at their website, they were offering stem courses for children. I thought that this was an amazing idea to introduce children to various subjects to see what they might be interested in and giving them a supplemental education along with school. The museum is going to need online volunteers now more than ever before, adapting to a Covid-19 pandemic world. That would also be another issue they are trying to resolve in this pandemic, and making sure children are being engaged in positive manner, as they are being forced to stay inside for longer periods of time. From what I remember from the reading a lot of money that local governments get go to social welfare programs, and if my CP is handling that issue than the local government might get more funding. As the children from this area would be scoring higher on the Standardized testing, which gives school in the area more funding. Also, more people would want to visit the museum in person when it is available, allowing local businesses to benefit from tourists visits. This would generate more money for the local government to invest into their area.

Blog #7:

Note: I read this passage three times each day I would highlight the parts I found interesting the first time I read it in yellow, the second time in blue, and the third time in pink. Focusing on different parts of each paragraph, as each time I re-read it I found new points to agree with. 

You don’t need to be Catholic to appreciate its nuanced discussion – do you agree with the author? Do you disagree? Why? How is the discussion of participation in this passage different from the one in your textbook?

Not going to lie, but I agree with a lot of the things that the author said in this reading. I was raised Catholic, but I have never heard or reading anything like this before… It caught me by surprise how much I agreed with the author. As you mentioned you don’t have to be Catholic to appreciate this discussion a lot of the ideas that the author mentioned are something that everyone should strive for regardless of religion, race, or ethnicity. We human beings are social creatures, and we live in wide communities it is beneficial for all of us if the community is doing well. As all human accomplishment have been done through cooperation with one another, like, language, arts, education, and culture. Not to mention that we rely on each other for our physical and emotional needs to be met. True that we humans are independent beings with our own goals, but it does pay off to invest back into our communities that have given us so much. By doing this one could say that they are investing into the future of that community. Participation in this passage is focused more on the individual and the community that they are tied too. While our textbook mentions participation being done by large bodies of government from the federal level to the state level, and the local level. Making this process of participation, like, the moving gears of one giant machine; that is how I think about it at least.

Module 3

Blog entry#4a:

I have confirmed my CP organization this week. Sorry, for the delay I was working out some of the details. 

Write a brief description of the agreement you have made with your Community Partner.

The goal of this project is to determine the best steps for The Children's Museum of the Upstate (TCMU) to receive annual funding from the state budget. Currently TCMU receives funding from Greenville County ATAX program. ATAX is a hospitality tax given to cover marketing costs to bring tourists to the County. 

Describe the Project or Activity - what will you be doing?

My role in this project is to understand the County tax structure to determine the best course of action of being included in the County taxes for TCMU, or how to get into the annual state budget. 

Describe you schedule at the Partner Organization- when will you do the work?

I haven't had my schedule set yet. I will email my contact tomorrow to see what we can work out, and how many hours a week I will be working on my project. 

Describe the Method of Communication - will you do the work by phone? Zoom?

Either method would work, I have already had a zoom call with the organization (thanks to Larry). I have all the tools needed at home to communicate with them. 

Blog entry#4b:

In what ways are your CP's mission and/or activities consistent with, or in conflict with the concepts outlined in the Catholic Social Teaching presentation, and/or with the Hallmarks of the SND de Namur?

The CP that I am working with is a museum for children, and there are a lot of similarities with the Catholic Social Teaching presentation. Like, call to family, community, and participation within the organization. The people working TCMU are committed to making sure that children have chance to learn in their county, regardless, of racial, ethnic, economical differences. They are also looking for a way to receive more government aid, or be included in the annual budget to make sure they can keep these programs running. Overall, they are doing a common good for their community, and I am glad that I have an opportunity to help an organization, like, this one out. 

Blog entry#5:

Why is there tension between the state and local levels of government? In what ways is this tension healthy for our political system overall?

The state government limits the powers of the local levels of government, and they can intervene directly in the local governments affairs if it needs too. While the local governments believe that they can handle their own local affairs, only if the state provides them with adequate funding and policymaking discretion. The state government believes that they can enforce all levels of local government to follow any new bills that they want to innate, but are usually defeated by the local governments if they do not approve of this new bill. At other times the state government can issue mandates that force local governments to follow the mandate, and meet any quotas that the state has set for them. This forces the local government to do the states government wishes, even if they don't want to do it. The local government views these forced state mandates as intrusive, and a waste of taxpayer money that could be going to them instead. To be used at their discretion to fund programs that could help their local community. Not to mention that any funding from the state government usually comes with strings attached, that the local government has to follow to receive that money.  

This tension between the local and state government are important in keeping their relationship healthy with one another. It helps keep them on their toes, as at times they are forced to cooperate with one another in order to get a vital project done. This project could help the local and state government in a positive manner, or a member from the local government could run for the state government. This would bring a new insight to state government on how they are forcing themselves too much into local affairs, upsetting the local government and loosing their support.