essential documents of the american government
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Essential Documents of the American Government. Government – Libertyville HS. Structure of Constitution. Seven Articles 1 st article = powers of Legislative branch 2 nd article = powers of Executive branch 3 rd article = powers of Judicial branch - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Essential Documents of the American Government
Government – Libertyville HS
Structure of Constitution Seven Articles
1st article = powers of Legislative branch 2nd article = powers of Executive branch 3rd article = powers of Judicial branch 4th article = Relations among the states 5th article = How to amend the Constitution 6th article = Supremacy of National Law;
Oaths 7th article = Ratification (approval) of
Constitution
US Constitution In 1787, after months
of debate & compromise, the Constitution was approved
Document of Compromises Legislature: how
composed? Executive: direct or
indirect election? Judicial: power + life
appointments?! Slavery: how to avoid
disunion with South?
At the Constitutional Congress, 1787
Compromise: The Legislature Virginia Plan
Base representation on population
Favored big states New Jersey Plan
Base representation equally, by state
Favored small states Connecticut
Compromise Bicameral (two
chamber) legislature
Compromise: Direct Election or Indirect Selection of President?
Why didn’t the Founders want direct election of the president? Difficulty of nationwide
vote Distance, Difficulty of travel Corruption
“Favorite Son” concern Fear of direct
democracy
Executive (s)election Benefits of Electoral College
Requires President to have support across the country, not just one region
Contributes to political stability of country by favoring two party system
We ARE a federal system…!!! 50 state elections plus one election by
Electoral College = President
Compromise: The Judiciary United States
Supreme Court (USSC) the supreme law in country, but… Congress creates all
other courts and establishes which courts get jurisdiction
And the Executive appoints all justices / judges
Idea = checks / balances
Compromise: Slavery New England states
wanted to outlaw slavery completely
Southern states wanted to count every slave a person for representation in national legislature
Compromise: Slavery 1) Slaves would count as
3/5 a person for purposes of counting population to determine how many House of Representatives a state received (who benefited?)
2) Congress could not pass a law outlawing slavery until after 1808 (who benefited?)
3) Fugitive slaves escaping to a non-slave state had to be returned to their home state, if captured (who benefited?)
Constitutional Principles Popular
Sovereignty
Separation of Powers
Limited Government
Checks and BalancesFederalism
++
Judicial Review
Popular Sovereignty (PS) National government
gets its power from… the PEOPLE! “We the People” –
preamble to the Constitution
Declaration of Independence = failure of Brits to consider rights of colonists
People are the ONLY source of governmental power
Limited Government (LG) Government may
exercise ONLY those powers given to it by the people
Government must obey the law (b/c the law comes from the people)
“Rule of Law” Government officials are
subject to same laws / rules as ordinary citizens
“Government of laws” vs. “Government of man” (i.e. laws don’t apply to dictator)
PS + LG Why do these two principles go together?
If government gets its power from the people, and the people are its only source of power, then the government is one of LIMITED powers.
The government is not above the law because the PEOPLE are the source of laws. Thus, the government must follow the rules, just like everybody else.
Separation of Powers (SOP)
The Constitution separates powers of government (derived from who?) among three co-equal branches of government
Article I, section I = “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in Congress…”
Article II, Section I = “The Executive power shall be vested in a President of the USA”
Article III, Section I = “The judicial power of the US shall be vested in one supreme court . . .”
Separation of Powers Imagine that a bucket held all the
power the people had, due to popular sovereignty….
…and from that bucket of the People’s Power you were to create a government…
Separation of Powers
Bucket One:
Legislative Power
Bucket Two:
Executive Power
Bucket Three: Judicial Power
You would pour that power into three additional buckets:
Checks and Balances (C&B) Further limits on
each branch’s powers are explicit restraints, held by other branches
Idea of framers was to balance the operations of government by dividing power up among branches, to check each other (no one branch had too much power)
Examples of C&B Congress makes
law ...
President declares war...
President enters into treaty…
President names a federal judge...
. . . But president can veto!
. . . But Congress must approve AND fund!
. . . But Senate ratifies!
. . . But Senate “advises and consents” to choice!
SOP + L&G
Why do these two go together?
Two sides of the same coin; idea of both is to limit the power that each branch has, so no one branch can
dominate the government and become dictators.
SOP + C&B
Bucket One:
Legislative Power
Bucket Two:
Executive Power
Bucket Three: Judicial Power
Or, in terms of our bucket analogy….
…a spoonful of each bucket is shared with the other buckets!
Federalism Distribution of power of government on a
territorial basis National government has some powers, states
have other powers Framers wanted to assure that local
control over local matters remained with the states
BUT they wanted a central government that was strong enough to act for the entire country
Federalism: National Government’s Powers
Express Powers = contained in Constitution Example: Congress’ power to tax (I, VIII)
Implied Powers = reasonably suggested within Constitution Example: Congress’ power to create the Internal
Revenue Service (I, VIII, xviii)
Inherent Powers = belong to national government because it is a sovereign nation Example: Central government’s power to enter into
treaties, control borders
What are Reserved Powers? Powers of the States – all power that doesn’t go to central government as express, implied, or inherent power
Federalism: Floor and Ceiling?!
Federalism as a floor Laws of the national legislature establish a floor
under which states cannot go Ex: with min. wage, drunk driving laws, states can
adopt MORE STRICT laws than the national standard
Federalism as a ceiling Laws of the national legislature can also EXCLUDE
states from regulating something Ex” private sector labor unions, health insurance
and pension regulations are areas of NATIONAL regulation
Principle of Judicial Review Origins
Not in Constitution Marbury v. Madison
summary Made judicial branch
equal to other branches by giving it the power to decide whether a law, regulation or decision of the other 2 branches is constitutional
Federalist Papers (1787-88) With Constitution complete,
persuasion began “Federalist Papers” were essays
published in NYC newspapers during debate to ratify Constitution
Authors Hamilton (wrote 52) Madison (wrote 28) John Jay (wrote 5 – pneumonia)
Why were FP important? One of the most imp. sources for
interpreting and understanding the original intent of the Constitution
Convinced a lot of people to support Const. despite legit concerns (big one = lack of protection of individual from government, in Constitution)
Civil Liberties contained in Constitution
Prohibited ex post facto laws Laws that punish actions
that, when committed, weren’t against the law
Prohibited bills of attainder A law that singles out an
individual or group for punishment without a trial
Guaranteed habeus corpus Protect against illegal
detention Person must be told why
they are being held
Bill of Rights Federalists did not
include a list of rights of citizens
This was best argument against ratification
Several states demanded a bill of rights as a condition of ratification (Mass., NH, VA, NY, NC)
Signing the Constitution, 1787
Bill of Rights First Congress met in
1789 James Madison, a
Federalist, wrote the Bill of Rights
Madison wrote 12 amendments; 11 were ratified (first 10 amendments ratified by 1791; 27th Amendment, limiting congressional pay raises, ratified in 1992) (not adopted dealt w/ 1780s apportionment)
James Madison
Copy of Bill of Rights
Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights was intended to PROTECT
THE PEOPLE FROM THEIR OWN
GOVERNMENT!!!