State Government
North Carolina
North Carolina’s Constitution
• Divided into 14 articles
–
–
–
–
Article I- Declaration of Rights
Article II-Legislative Branch
Article III-Executive Branch
Article IV-Judicial Branch
• Considered a “Flexible
Constitution”
Cardinal says:
NC has had 3
Constitutions!!
–
–
–
–
Based on certain principles such as:
Popular Sovereignty
Limited Government
Separation of Powers
• Checks and Balances
• Federalism
Federalism
• What is Federalism?
– Power is shared by both the national
governments and the state governments.
• Why is Federalism important?
– Ensures state governments have power
to make laws specific to their state.
• 10th Amendments gives states
reserved powers.
– Reserved powers are not listed in the US
Constitution.
Public Policy
• What is Public Policy?
– Government response to public issues.
• State handles the majority of public
policies.
• Decisions made by State and Local
governments affect a person’s life more
directly.
• Examples???
North Carolina
Legislature
• Bicameral Legislature known as the General
Assembly
• General Assembly is divided into two chambers:
– House of Representatives
• 120 members
– Senate
• 50 members
• General Assembly’s job is to MAKE LAWS
– Use the same committee process found on the
national level
Citizen Participation
• Citizens may participate in the law making
process through referendums.
– Referendum
• Allows citizens to vote directly on whether to
approve or disapprove of a proposed law.
• Vote on General Assembly members.
Electing State Legislators
• Seats in the legislature are apportioned.
– Apportionment
• Dividing a state into districts based on the state
census.
• Each Legislative member represents a
district.
Executive Branch
• Governor is the chief executive of a state.
– Job: Enforce the law
– Elected by the people to four year terms
• Lieutenant Governor is second in charge
after the governor.
Roles of the Governor
• Commander in Chief
– In charge of North Carolina National Guard
• Economic Role
– Prepares the state’s budget
• Legislative Role
– Introduce bills
– Veto power
• Does not have the line-item veto
• Judicial Role
– Alter the sentencing of the convicted
• Pardon
• commute
North Carolina Courts
• Make sure laws passed by the General
Assembly are constitutional.
– NC Judicial branch gained judicial review in
the court case Bayard vs. Singleton.
Structure of State Courts
• NC courts are organized into separate divisions.
– Trial Division
• District Courts
– Hear misdemeanors and criminal cases
• Superior Courts
– Hears criminal cases exceeding 10,000 dollars.
– Appellate Division
• Appeals Court
– Hears appeals from District and Superior Courts
– Known as an “Intermediate Appeals Court”
• North Carolina Supreme Court
– Highest court in NC
– Interprets the Constitution, Appeals cases, and hears
cases involving the death penalty.
Important NC Supreme Court Cases
• Bayard vs. Singleton
– Gave NC Supreme Court judicial review
• State vs. Mann
– North Carolina Supreme Court case ruling that slaves
were property.
• Overturned by the 13th amendment
• Leandro vs. North Carolina
– States each child is guaranteed a sound basic
education through adequate funding from local
government.