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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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Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they define federalism and discuss how it came about in the United States Constitution. The idea of a confederation and examples of confederations show how individual groups or states found the need to mutually agree on protection and other needs. This idea leads the Framers to create a government that divides power between the national (federal) government and the states. This was an experiment that has endured for almost 237 years.

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Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they dig into the three branches of government and why the Framers established three branches. About half of Americans can name the three branches, but if you ask them to name the main duties of each branch of what is meant by separation of powers and checks and balances, they can’t explain these. So listen to this episode to gain a better understanding of these basics of our government.

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Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss civics education, or lack thereof, as well as voting percentages, detecting misinformation, improving civil discourse, and what happens to our nation if we fail to fix these things. 

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Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss the steps citizens need to take to vote in the upcoming primary and general elections this year. They look at why exercising your right to vote is so important, when primary elections are held in each state, deadlines to register to vote, requirements for voting (Indiana specific, but info is given to find your own state’s requirements), how to cast your vote, voter ID, the SAVE Act being debated by Congress right now, and researching the candidates and issues before voting.

Several significant state voting links have been added to the Plain Civics Facebook page to help you find your state’s requirements.

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Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they continue with the fourth of Ben Franklin’s civic virtues and then  continue the discussion of 20 signs of tyranny, using Professor Timothy Snyder’s 2017 book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century, as a guide. This episode covers lessons eight through twenty. These lessons from Professor Snyder’s book are even more relevant today than they were in 2017, when it was first published. We must work to prevent our democratic republic from becoming completely authoritarian. 

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Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they continue with the third of Ben Franklin’s civic virtues and then move into a discussion of liberal democracy v. authoritarianism. They will explain the difference between the two and prompt listeners to be on the lookout for signs of each. Once the differences of these two forms of government are laid out, they move into a discussion of 20 signs of tyranny, using Professor Timothy Snyder’s 2017 book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century, as a guide. Lessons one through seven are covered in this episode and the remainder of the lessons in the next episode.

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