04-08-2003, 06:43 PM
1. The Constitution. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989-249-097, is a small hand held sized plain print version. There are loads of web sites with the Constitution available to read, use Google and choose the one that hurts your eyes the least. :) As the Constitution uses some rather interesting and legaleeze language, any library book that generally covers "Constitutional Law" will frequently help put the Constitution's language into better perspective.
2. IIRC, you live in New York. Public Library, under Government, or look in any high school or community college level civics text book. Explains electoral process and the relationship between popular and electoral voting.
3. The Federalist Papers. This is just a bit of background and inclues the arguments for and against a greater or lesser role of the Central Government, or Federal Authority, that raged. However, it is not the last word.
When you look into the various Ammendments in suggestion 1, particularly Ammendment XII which explains the how of "electors" and XVII where the Senate was changed from being appointed by State governments to being elected, you can see that the debate continued long after the compromise that got us the Constitution. Repeal of Poll Tax, XXIV, 1963 IIRC, was deemed necessary to overcome various evasions at the state level, of the rights to equal protection and non abrogation of the privileges of citizenship, and to universal suffrage for men, XV, which, with the XIXth brought the women into the voting force and enfranchised all citizens, finally! (Took a while, eh?)
As to forms of government, we are a Constitutional Republic, which is a form of representative government, often loosely termed "a democracy," in which the citizens have a voice in the decisions and policies of governance. The definition of 'citizen,' which you can track via the Constitution and its continued ammendment, all the way up to XXVI which gave the draft eligible 18 year olds the right to vote, has been evolving.
I recall studying Switzerland and its government when in grade school, and their form of Democracy is, in some ways, 'more purely democratic' than ours. Have not looked into Swiss government lately, so things may have changed a bit.
2. IIRC, you live in New York. Public Library, under Government, or look in any high school or community college level civics text book. Explains electoral process and the relationship between popular and electoral voting.
3. The Federalist Papers. This is just a bit of background and inclues the arguments for and against a greater or lesser role of the Central Government, or Federal Authority, that raged. However, it is not the last word.
When you look into the various Ammendments in suggestion 1, particularly Ammendment XII which explains the how of "electors" and XVII where the Senate was changed from being appointed by State governments to being elected, you can see that the debate continued long after the compromise that got us the Constitution. Repeal of Poll Tax, XXIV, 1963 IIRC, was deemed necessary to overcome various evasions at the state level, of the rights to equal protection and non abrogation of the privileges of citizenship, and to universal suffrage for men, XV, which, with the XIXth brought the women into the voting force and enfranchised all citizens, finally! (Took a while, eh?)
As to forms of government, we are a Constitutional Republic, which is a form of representative government, often loosely termed "a democracy," in which the citizens have a voice in the decisions and policies of governance. The definition of 'citizen,' which you can track via the Constitution and its continued ammendment, all the way up to XXVI which gave the draft eligible 18 year olds the right to vote, has been evolving.
I recall studying Switzerland and its government when in grade school, and their form of Democracy is, in some ways, 'more purely democratic' than ours. Have not looked into Swiss government lately, so things may have changed a bit.
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete