Constitutional definition of the grounds for impeachment

Constitutional definition of the grounds for impeachment

The Constitution defines impeachment at the federal level and limits impeachment to “The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States” who may be impeached and removed only for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors”.

1. Given the Constitutional definition of the grounds for impeachment, under what circumstances should a president be removed from office? Please give specific examples.

2. Are any of the following reasons grounds for impeachment-an affair, lying under oath, negotiating with terrorists/dictators to reach an agreement considered good for the country, not upholding legislation approved by the US Congress, foreign policy decisions that could lead to war, introducing proposals that threaten national security, or receiving bribes from corporations, organizations, as well as political lobbyists seeking to support the defeat or passage of specific legislation?

3. Should a presidential candidates’ private life or personal behavior be considered for keeping he or she out of office ie past drug usage, convictions of misdemeanors, mental health treatment, sexual orientation, sexual misconduct, fathering a child out of wedlock, or not following the policies of previous political positions? If so, which of these issues would qualify as reasons to vote against a candidate?

4. Should a candidate’s personal misdeeds outweigh his or her political views?

5. Should a candidate’s personal misdeeds outweigh his or her political track record?

6. Now that you have addressed each of the above questions, please go back and create arguments against the answer that you gave for each of the above questions. You will be expected to use the points that you made for each of those questions and participate in a debate with your peers on discussion boards for each of the previous questions.  Please respond in the affirmative (positive, agree with) for at least one of the questions and respond in the negative (opposing, disagree with) for at least one other question. 

7. You will be expected to introduce your standpoint with support.  The expectation of the discussion board debates is for students to engage in healthy discussion of the topics without using offensive language.  In addition, students are expected to support their ideas with their own examples, which can be based on imagined (creative, yet realistic) scenarios or actual ones that have occurred in the past or even recently.  The goal of this assignment is for students to engage in healthy discussion that promotes critical thinking.

 

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