Paper62

Federalist Paper No. 62 __Objective:__ The main objective of Publius was to gain support for the Senate among the people of New York. __ Summary: __ The five main points in the discussion on the Senate were the qualification of the senators, how the senators would be chosen, the equal representation of all states within the Senate, the number of senators and the duration of their term, and the powers that the Senate would have. In order for a senator to be appointed they must be at least thirty years old and have been a citizen of the United States for nine years. Senators would be appointed by the State legislatures. This would allow the States to have a stronger say in the national government. The Senate allows for an equal representation of all states which was a huge concern for the smaller states. Publius felt that the number of senators should be much less than the number of representatives in the House of Representatives and the duration of the senators’ terms should be considerably long. The Senate would pass laws and play a very important role in checking the House of Representatives. The laws that are written should also be easy for the people to understand because the laws are being written for the people. A good government should be able to protect the happiness of its people and provide a way for them to become happy. The Articles of Confederation was not successful in doing this. The federal Constitution will not only provide a means for citizens to be happy, but also allow them to be happier than they could ever be under the Articles of Confederation. __ Strong Arguments: __ The strongest arguments in this paper were the ones regarding the qualification of senators, the bicameral legislature, the lack of respect that other countries have towards America, the duration of a senator’s term, and the need for easily understood laws. The reason for the nine year citizenship requirement to become senator is so foreign countries cannot channel a direct influence into our government, while at the same time immigrants are not denied the ability to run for senator. The bicameral legislature provides a good mix of proportional and equal representation, and by dividing the power of the legislature it increases the security of the people. Publius said that other countries do not respect America because of the instability of her government, and therefore would not risk doing business with America. If other countries are unwilling to do business with America then the economy and citizens cannot prosper. Publius suggested that to increase the stability of the government, the duration of each senator’s term should be rather long. He said that a constant and rapid change in senators would lead to quick changes in opinion and then nothing would be accomplished by the Senate. Publius also argued that the laws should be easy enough for the common man to understand. Since the laws are being written for the American citizens it would only make sense that they are written so that the common American citizen can understand them. __ Opposing Arguments: __ An argument that an Anti-federalist may have against the duration of the senators’ term could be that if someone is elected and ends up being incompetent or corrupt. Then everyone must wait a long time before a well qualified senator can be elected to take his place and fix his predecessor’s mistakes. Another argument could be over the fact that Publius said the federal Constitution would allow people to become happier than the Articles of Confederation allowed them to be. How can he make this prediction? There is no way of knowing whether or not the people would be happier under the federal Constitution than under the Articles of Confederation until the Constitution is actually ratified. __ Validity of Publius’ Argument: __ The majority of Publius’ argument in this federalist paper is very valid. He backs up all of his points with logical explanations and seems very persuasive. He probably achieved his goal in convincing many New Yorkers that the Senate is a positive aspect to the federal Constitution, thus pushing it closer to ratification. __ Arguments/Issues That Still Exist Today: __ An issue that Publius talked about in this federalist paper was that public instability gives huge advantages to the wealthy. This is especially true during our current economic downturn. CEOs are continuing to take in huge bonuses when the rest of the country is struggling but they do not care or see the problem because they are not being affected by the economic downturn. Publius wanted the laws to be easy for common citizens to understand. Today there are so many laws and most of them are far too complicated for the average person to understand. This partially defeats the purpose of having written laws if they are too complicated for the citizens that are reading them to understand.