Politics and

Human Nature
Why is it that humans tend to form
ourselves into societies and associations?
Justification of
the State
By what right does government wield
legitimate power?
 Politics is ...

• ... the activity in which conflicting interests

struggle for advantage or dominance in the
making and execution of public policies
• ... the art of coming to a collective decision as
to how we are to coordinate ourselves in the
face of widespread disagreement about how to
do so
 Power

• The ability to affect the behaviour of others

particularly by getting them to act in ways
that they would not otherwise have done.
• power, then, is the ability of one actor to
impose its will on another
 The State

• A state is a set of centrally controlled

institutions. It has two constitutive
monopolies:
• the legitimate use of violence, in the form of
coercion in the event of non-compliance, is
the sole purview of the state
• the state has a monopoly on rule-making of
the sort requiring coercion
Small "l" liberal & Small
"c" conservative

• Small "l" liberal denotes an ideology

• Capital "L" liberal denotes a political
party
• Small "c" conservative denotes an ideology
• Capital "C" conservative denotes a
political party
The World’s Smallest
Political Quiz
 HARMONIA and EUDAIMONIA

Justice is Harmony
 “Constitutions which aim at the
common advantage are correct and
just without qualification,
whereas those which aim only at
the advantage of the rulers are
deviant and unjust, because they
involve despotic rule which is
inappropriate for a community of
free persons.” (1279a17-21)
 Leviathan

Justice as Contract
Racism in Law
Fugitive Slave
Clause
 Article 4 Section 2

"No Person held to Service or Labour in one

State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into
another, shall ... be delivered up on Claim
of the Party to whom such Service or
Labour may be due."
(Superseded by the 13th Amendment)
 The Bloodhound Laws

• The acts which

were justified under
the FSC were
nicknamed after the
primary method of
re-capture
 How could this be
justified?
• Article 1 Section 2 of the original Constitution
read:
• "Representatives and direct Taxes shall be
apportioned among the several States ...
according to their respective Numbers, which
shall be determined by adding to the whole
Number of free Persons ... and excluding
Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other
Persons."
Dred Scott
 The atrocity of custom

“The change in public opinion and feeling in relation

to the African race which has taken place since the
adoption of the Constitution cannot change its
construction and meaning, and it must be construed
and administered now according to its true meaning
and intention when it was formed and adopted.”
Plessy v. Ferguson
The Ugly Truth of
Segregation
 14th Amendment
• Citizenship clause
• gives broad definition of "citizen"
• Due Process Clause
• protects life, liberty and property by demanding
certain processes are adhered to
• Equal Protection Claus
• ensured that all states provide equal protection
under the law
 Legal Arguments at
Their Worst

"If this be so, it is not by reason of any-thing found

in the act, but solely because the colored race
chooses to put that construction upon it. "
"The argument also assumes that social prejudices
may be overcome by legislation, and that equal
rights cannot be secured to the negro except by an
enforced commingling of the two races. We cannot
accept this proposition."
Brown v. Board of
Education
 The Question

“Does segregation of children in public

schools solely on the basis of race, even
though the physical facilities and other
"tangible" factors may be equal, deprive the
children of the minority group of equal
educational opportunities?”
 Why is Education So
Important?

• awakening the child to cultural values,

• in preparing him for later professional
training
• helping him to adjust normally to his
environment.
 Why is Education So
Important?

• It is required in the performance of our

most basic public responsibilities
• even service in the armed forces.
• It is the very foundation of good
citizenship.
 Why is Education So
Important?

"In these days, it is doubtful that any child

may reasonably be expected to succeed in life
if he is denied the opportunity of an education.
Such an opportunity, where the state has
undertaken to provide it, is a right which must
be made available to all on equal terms."
 Separate yet Equal

• Tangibles:
• buildings, curricula, qualifications and salaries of teachers
• Intangibles:
• those qualities which are incapable of objective
measurement but which make for greatness in a law
school.
• “‘ . . his ability to study, to engage in discussions and
exchange views with other students, and, in general, to
learn his profession.’ Such considerations apply with
added force to children in grade and high schools."
 The
Psychology
of Racism
Is racism a learned
behavior?
 The
Psychology
of Racism
Is racism a learned
behavior?
Racism & Mental Health

“To separate them from others of similar

age and qualifications solely because of
their race generates a feeling of inferiority
as to their status in the community that
may affect their hearts and minds in a way
unlikely ever to be undone. “
The Clark
Experiment
Racism & Mental Health

“The impact is greater when it has the

sanction of the law, for the policy of
separating the races is usually interpreted
as denoting the inferiority of the negro
group. “
 Racism & Mental Health

“A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a

child to learn. Segregation with the sanction of
law, therefore, has a tendency to [retard] the
educational and mental development of negro
children and to deprive them of some of the
benefits they would receive in a racial[ly]
integrated school system.”
 The Law as Progress

“Whatever may have been the extent of

psychological knowledge at the time of
Plessy v. Ferguson, this finding is amply
supported by modern authority. Any
language in Plessy v. Ferguson contrary to
this finding is rejected.”
Earl warren
Brown v. Board of Education
The Miranda decision
Right to legal counsel