Overview: The U.S. and CA Constitutions Fall 2000
             We turn now to a study of the basic institutional context or infrastructure of tbe U.S. and California systems of government and politics. It is important to remember that the political process is "contextual." It operates within
             a) a complex socio-cultural context that includes such factors as our predominant values, and the many regional as well as demographic variations.
             b) a basic socio-economic setting, namely contemporary American capitalism in co-existence with an important but limited public sector (social services and other public goods, regulation).
             A constitution sets down the fundamental, formal "rules of the game" for a political system. The U.S. Constitution was the outcome of a search for a "more perfect union" than had been provided by the first fundamental law, the Articles of Confederation. Your text (Wasserman, ch. 2) points to some of the impediments to an effective national government under the Articles. They failed to provide for
             (1) a national executive - i.e., no president;
             (2) a national power to impose taxes - i.e., financial dependence on the states;
             (4) a workable constitutional amendment procedure (changes required unanimity among the 13 states).
             There were several motives for seeking to strengthen the national government, including a widely perceived need for
             · greater domestic security and order,
             · increased international security, and
             · the benefits of promoting a nation-wide market.
             There was also a countervailing element, rooted in z widespread fear of a strong national government that could become "too" powerful and possibly even arbitrary.
             In the end, the Philadelphia delegates went beyond their mandate by not just revising the Articles but drafting a wholly new constitution - subject to a ratification process that involved some (limited) popular participation...