Group Constitution Project Proposal

Colt Foster
Lizandro Garica
Azariah Jacobs
Phenelope Santillan

English 1301
Professor French
7 October 2015

I.

INTRODUCTION
The function of our ideal government closely resembles that of a Republic. Our
government is based off of Lockes ideas of Life, Liberty, and Property, which are
good foundational rights which we will build our constitution off of. Time
management, fair split of work load, and responsibility as a team as well as
individually are the key factors that will form our constitutional government.

II. Literature Review

The formation of our government will come from the ideas of a Republic form of
government as well as the ideas from well-known political philosopher, John Locke. A Republic
is a government formed of elected officials to establish rules and regulations. This government
also allows for voting and speech freedom. The idea of Life, Liberty, and Property formed from
John Locke is the perfect formation for our constitution. This gives you freedom of life choices,
freedom of ideas and speech, as well as the freedom to establish your own property/land in
ownership.
In the Leviathan, I read about how Thomas Hobbes thought that the ideal government
should add in to become a social contract theory. In a social contract, people give up few liberties
to protect their personal liberties. Hobbes believed people were given language and speech for a
reason. From that ideal, I would agree and say that freedom of speech would be an amendment
that will give the people a voice. People will have the right to speak out against the government
without punishment.
In Natural Rights and the New Republicanism, Michael Zuckert gives a new point of
view as to how the new traditions differ to those of the past. He also shows how John Locke had
replaced the ideologies of several facts created by previous philosophers. John Locke Explains

that humans have three basic rights, which are life, liberty and property. In our constitution, we
extracted the idea that humans had the right to property and used Thomas Jeffersons version of
the pursuit of happiness. We plan on giving the citizens in our nation liberty to have the
freedom they deserve, yet at the same time maintaining order. The liberty given will be freedoms
such as speech and religion. The right to bear arms will act as a form of order within the nation.
In the book the Republic, Plato is concerned on the topic of justice. Justice gives the
people a sense of equality. In our constitution, justice laws might be enacted that would serve the
citizens of a just state in courts of law. Justice will serve as equality for all citizens, regardless of
age, race, or gender. We will add in our own set of bill of rights that mimic the form of the
current United States bill of rights.
In Democracy in America is about Tocqueville studying the government function in
America. He sees that the representative government is working for us in the United States. He
explained how Puritans started the foundation of social state equality. I read that he sees women
and men going in the same social path, except in the end they end up being treated differently. In
our constitution, we will add in the 19th amendment as to say that women have the right to vote.
Giving them that right adds on to the purpose of social equality.
In the article, Modern Lessons from Original Steps Towards the American Bill of Rights,
it gives the idea that in order to achieve political freedom and equality, laws and a strong
constitution would need to be formed. I read that the citizens are the basis of what created a
nation. In our constitution, the governments powers will be in the hands of the people. Therefore
we will give the people the right to vote for representatives. The peoples needs and safety will
come first in our society.

III. PROCEDURES
The procedures to form our ideal government will come as follows. First, we will
establish our amendments, laws, rights, and how power is established. Second, we will organize
our amendments to form our own constitution. Third, we will put these amendments in
documentation form which will tie together all of the laws, regulations, and government
functions which will be upheld in our government.
A. Team Member Biographies and Roles
Azariah Jacobs excels at her PowerPoint skills. She knows how to keep the group on task
as well as keep up with time management. She always makes sure the group knows exactly what
they need to work on and how long it will take. Due to her experiences as an intern in several
district attorney offices, she has developed her computer skills almost to an expert level. Azariah
will take on the roles of being a time checker, reporter and the PowerPoint developer.
Phenelope Santillan is phenomenal when it comes to being organized and on time. We
can leave our papers with her and already expect her to deliver it safely and on time without any
issues. Her job outside of school also requires her to have these skills, so she has definitely
excelled in this area. She is very reliable when it comes down to getting things done. These
require an immense amount of discipline as to which Phenelope acquires those attributes. She
will take on the roles as the prioritizer and group organizer.
Lizandro Garcia acts as a peacemaker in making sure everyone in the group hears out
different ideas and can come up with a final solution without having a major dispute. He helps us
be aware of what important facts should be written in our constitution. He always knows where
to find the best research for our project. He will act as our explorer and harmonizer.

Colt Foster acts as a mastermind when it comes to writing out key topics and creating
outlines. He is also very social, which he often brings out multiple ideas to the group. He is
excellent at going over the topic and researching major background information over it. His work
performance is never under 100% and he strives to keep the group as up to date on information
as possible. His roles in the group would be the facilitator, the writer and innovator.

B. Team Policies and Work Conduct

The Real Ideal has worked together to come about with certain rules and policies in
which we believe best fits our group in order for our constitution to be a success. All
members will be treated with respect no matter the situation. We all agreed that it is
mandatory that all group members attend group meetings unless our class schedules
doesnt allow us to all meet at the exact same time. Just as it is mandatory for all
members to attend meetings we also agree that it is very important that we are all
present and on time to both of our Learning Community classes in order for us to all
be on top of our work. If any group member is not able to attend a class or meeting
we need them to inform the whole group whether its through a text message or email
that they will not be present for that day. Excused absences would be in case of a
family emergency and or sickness.
When it comes to work and due dates everyone will be responsible to do their part of
the project and have it ready to turn in on the day its due with no exceptions. If one
group member fails to have their part of the job done then they will expect to have
some points deducted from their group evaluation at the end of the semester. We also
agreed to not procrastinate at all when it comes to the construction of our constitution.
We would all rather be safe than sorry if we get something done early where its well

thought-out with everyones approval instead of it being done last minute and having
to turn it in just like that because we have no time left to revise.
C. Proposed Outline
Are proposed constitution will have the following sections: A Preamble, Article I-The
Legislative Branch with 5 sections. Section 1- The House of Representatives. Section
2- Congress Powers. Section 3- The Senate. Section 4- Meetings and Elections.
Section 5- Presidential Veto. Article II-The Judicial Branch with 5 sections. Section 1Judicial powers. Section 2- Supreme Court. Section 3- Lower courts. Section 4Sanctions. Section-5 Rules and Procedures. Article III- the Executive Branch with 3
sections. Section 1- The president. Section 2- Presidents power. Section 3Disqualification. Article IV- Education System with 4 sections. Section 1- Public
Education. Section 2- School District. Section 3- How its funded. Section 4Government controls the system. Article V- Military Branch with 3 sections. Section
1-Branches. Section 2-Protection. Section 3- Rules/polices. Article VI- Immigration
System with 4 sections. Section 1- Policies and Programs. Section 2- Laws for
Immigrants. Section 3- Becoming Citizen. Section 4- Opportunities for Citizenship.
Article VII- Health Care System with 4 sections. Section 1-Health care insurance.
Section 2- Funding. Section 3- Government Control. Section 4- Hospitals. Article
VIII- Relationship between Federal and State with one section. Section 1- The system
that controls it. Are constitution will also include I-X Amendments.
D. Further Writing and Research
Any further writing or extra research that is conducted will be correctly cited and
documented on a separate page.

Table 1. Task Responsibilities Table for Team Project

Task
Student(s) Responsible
Preamble
All Together
Article 1 (Legislative Branch)
All Together
Article 2 (Executive Branch)
All Together
Article 3 (Judicial Branch)
All Together
Education System (Article 4)
Phenelope
Military Branches (Article 5)
Lizandro
Healthcare System (Article 6)
Colt
Immigration System (Article 7)
Azariah
Relationships Among Federal, State
Colt
and Local Levels (Article 8)
Process of Amending the
All Together
Constitution
Amendment 1
Colt
Amendment 2
Azariah
Amendment 3
Lizandro
Amendment 4
Phenelope
Amendment 5
Colt
Amendment 6
Azariah
Amendment 7
Lizandro
Amendment 8
Phenelope
Amendment 9
Colt
Amendment 10
Azariah
Works Cited
Colt
Comparative Analysis
Lizandro
Revision/Rewrite
Layout and Design of Constitution
All Together
PowerPoint Presentation
Azariah
Final Review of Constitution,
All together
Analysis, PowerPoint
Optional Tasks:
PROJECT DUE
ALL

E. Team Schedule

Start Date
10/7/15
10/14/15
10/21/15
10/21/15
10/28/15
10/28/15
10/28/15
10/28/15
10/28/15

End Date
10/14/15
10/21/15
10/28/15
10/28/15
11/2/15
11/2/15
11/2/15
11/2/15
11/2/15

10/28/15

11/2/15

10/7/15
10/7
10/7
10/7
10/7
10/7
10/7
10/7
10/7
10/7
10/7
10/28

10/14
10/14
10/14
10/14
10/14
10/14
10/14
10/14
10/14
10/14
11/9
11/2

10/7
10/7
11/2

11/9
11/9
11/9

Nov 9

Work Cited

Source #1
Plato. Republic. Auckland, NZL: The Floating Press, 2009. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 7 October
2015.

Source #2
Works Cited
Zuckert, Michael P. Natural Rights And The New Republicanism. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1994. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 28 Sept. 2015.

Source #3
Book Cite "Democracy in America"
De Tocqueville, Alexis. Democracy in America : Volumes I and II. Auckland, NZL: The Floating
Press, 2009. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 28 September 2015.

Source #4
Eskridge,Charles R., I.,II. (2014). MODERN LESSONS FROM ORIGINAL STEPS TOWARDS
THE AMERICAN BILL OF RIGHTS. Texas Review of Law & Politics, 19(1), 25-62. Retrieved
from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1664553326?accountid=7079

Source#5
Hobbes, Thomas, and J. C. A. Gaskin. Leviathan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. eBook
Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 28 Sept. 2015.