Transcript The Constitution

THE US CONSTITUTION
US GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
THE US CONSTITUTION
• Written in 1787
• Took effect in 1789
• Has 7,000 words
• The nation’s highest form of
law in the land
• Outlines the basic principles
upon which the government
was built and operates
• Deals largely with matters of
basic principle
ORGANIZATION
•
•
Preamble: Introduction & Purpose
Articles: outlines the basic organization and powers
of each branch and the powers given to the states
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Legislative Branch
Executive Branch
Judicial Branch
Relations among the States
Amending the Constitution
National Debts, Supremacy of National Law, and Oaths of Office
Ratifying the Constitution
THE SIX BASIC PRINCIPLES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Popular Sovereignty
Limited Government
Separation of Powers
Checks and Balances
Judicial Review
Federalism
POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY
• All political power resides in the
people
• The people are sovereign
• The people are the only source
for any and all governmental
power
• Government can only govern
with the consent of the governed
• Woven throughout the
Constitution
LIMITED GOVERNMENT
• No government is all powerful
• A government may do only those things that the
people have given it the power to do
• Government must obey the law
• Constitutionalism- the government must be
conducted according to constitutional principles
• Rule of Law- The government and its officers are
always subject to-never above-the law
SEPARATION OF POWERS
•
•
Presidential Democracy (aka Presidential System)
The basic powers are separated among three distinct and
independent branches of government
1.
2.
3.
Congress (House + Senate) = Legislative Branch
President = Executive Branch
Courts = Judicial Branch
CHECKS AND BALANCES
• Three branches are not entirely separate
• Tied together by a complex system of checks and balances
• Each branch is subject to a number of restraints (checks) by
other branches
• Each branch has certain powers with which it can check the
operations of the other two
JUDICIAL REVIEW
• One aspect of the check and balance system
• The power to declare unconstitutional (to declare
illegal), null and void, of no forces and effect, a
government action found to violate some provision of
the Constitution
• Held by all federal courts and most state courts
• Not written in the constitution (implied; secured by
Marbury v. Madison (1803))
MARBURY V. MADISON (1803)
• William Marbury asked the Supreme Court to issue a writ of
mandamus to order James Madison (then, Secretary of State under
Jefferson) to deliver his commission as justice of the peace
(appointed by John Adams)
.
• The Supreme Court of the United States declared that:
• Marbury is entitled to the commission, but:
• The Court cannot issue the writ because the Judiciary Act of 1789,
which granted the Supreme Court original jurisdiction to issue
writs of mandamus, is unconstitutional.
• The Supreme Court of the United States has the power to review
acts of other branches and determine their constitutionality. This
power is called judicial review.
THE AMENDMENT PROCESS
•
The process of constitutional change has come about in two
ways:
1.
2.
Formal Amendment –changes or additions that become part of the
written language of the Constitution itself
By other informal means
FORMAL AMENDMENT PROCESS
• Article 5: The Congress, whenever 2/3 of both
houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose
amendments to this Constitution Or 2/3 of the state
legislatures can call a “convention”
Either case needs ¾ of the states legislature to pass
for it to be ratified
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
• Since 1789, 10,000 joint resolutions calling for
formal Amendments have been proposed. Only 33
have gone to the states and 27 have become
Amendments. (ERA died in 1982)
• If a state rejects a proposed amendment, it is not
forever bound by that decision. It may later ratify.
Once a state approves an Amendment, it may not
change its decision.
THE 27 AMENDMENTS
• 1-10, the Bill of Rights-Set out the constitutional
guarantees of freedom of belief and expression, of
freedom and security of the person, and of free fair
and equal treatment before the law.
• The later Amendments-Most came about over a
particular set of interesting circumstances
• 27th Amendment (took 202 years, 7 months, 12 days
to ratify); initiated by Framers, signed into law in
1992
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE BY OTHER
MEANS: INFORMAL
•
•
•
There is a great deal in the Constitution that cannot be seen
by the naked eye
Over time, many changes have been made in the constitution
which have not involved any changes in its written words
Change occurs in five basic ways:
CHANGE (INFORMAL AMENDMENT
PROCESS)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Basic Legislation: Congress passes laws to clarify the
constitution
Executive Action: Executive Orders & Executive
Agreements
Key Decisions of the Supreme Court
The activities of political parties: nomination process not
mentioned
1ST AP GOV FRQ