Plain Civics

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Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss the important of civic virtue. At the beginning of the last several episodes we have been telling you about thirteen civic virtues that Benjamin Franklin felt were the most important qualities that help individuals to be better people and contribute to a stronger society. In this episode we will dig deeper and discuss the civic virtues that people need to demonstrate to maintain our democratic republic. These are civic virtues of action as opposed to personality traits. Things such as being informed, voting, serving on a jury, volunteering in the community, and several others. We, again, stress the importance of civics education in teaching young citizens about these civic virtues. 
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Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they look at why we celebrate the July 4th Independence Day. How did it come about and why? What does the Declaration of Independence mean? They break down the different parts of the document and what led to its writing. It is both a break-up letter to the British and our country’s birth certificate. What would have happened if the colonists had lost the Revolutionary War? Finally, what do we need to do to keep its meaning alive?
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Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they dig into the concept of “rule of law.” What does it mean and how did it develop? Why did the Framers choose to create a government and judicial system based on “rule of law?” Why is it so important to have and to maintain? Listen to this episode to gain a better understanding of this important element of our system of government.
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Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they continue their discussion of federalism. In Part 1 they discussed the origins of the idea of federalism and defined it, and in Part 2 they looked at most of the first era, known as Dual Federalism (1787-1933), from 1789 to about 1870. In this final episode examining federalism they finish the era of Dual Federalism and continue with the eras of Cooperative Federalism (1933-1969) and New Federalism (1969-present), citing many of the  acts of Congress, landmark Supreme Court cases, and historic precedents that have helped define federalism in the U.S.
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Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they continue their discussion of federalism. In Part 1 they discussed the origins of the idea of federalism and defined it. In this episode they look at the three eras of federalism in the U.S. thus far. In this episode they venture through most of the first era, known as Dual Federalism, which ran from 1789 to about 1933, and is often referred to as “layer cake” federalism.  This episode stops just after the Civil War, but includes many of the early landmark Supreme Court cases and historic precedents that helped define federalism in the U.S.
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