The Constitution
Chapter 3
The Six Basic Principles of the
Constitution
• Popular Sovereignty
– The government can govern only with the consent
of the governed (People)
– Sovereign people created the Constitution and the
government
• Limited Government
– The government may do only those things that
the people have given it the power to do
– The government and its officers are always subject
to the law
• Separation of Powers
– The Constitution distributes the powers of the
national government among
• Congress – Legislative Branch
• The President – Executive Branch
• Supreme Court – Judicial Branch
– The Framers of the Constitution created a
separation of powers in order to limit the powers
of the government and to prevent tyranny – too
much power in the hands of one person or a few
people
Separation of Powers
Congress
President
Supreme Court
Legislative Branch
Makes the Laws
Executive Branch
Enforces the Laws
Judicial Branch
Interprets the Laws
• Checks and Balances
– Each branch of government was subject to a
number of Constitutional restraints by the other
branches
– Although there have been instances of spectacular
clashes between branches, usually the branches
of government restrain themselves as they
attempt to achieve their goals.
Checks and Balances
Can veto bills
passed by
Congress
Appoints Justices to
the Supreme Court
Can declare
Presidential
actions
unconstitution
al
Can
impeach
the
President
Can impeach
the Justices
Can declare laws
passed by Congress
unconstitutional
• Judicial Review
– Through the landmark case of Marbury v. Madison,
1803, the judicial branch possesses the power to
determine the constitutionality of an action of the
government
– In most cases the judiciary has supported the
constitutionality of government acts
• In more than 130 cases, the courts have found congressional
acts to be unconstitutional
– The Court in 1998 struck down a law giving the president the
power to cancel individual spending items and certain tax
benefits contained in laws passed by Congress (Clinton v. City of
New York). The Court said that the line-item veto—a goal long
sought by presidents of both parties—unconstitutionally gave the
president the power to unilaterally change the text of duly
enacted laws.
• They have voided thousands of acts of state and local
governments
– In 1973, the Court struck down all state laws which made
abortions illegal in their ruling in the case of Roe v. Wade.
• Federalism
– This is the division of political power among a central
government and several regional governments
– United States federalism originated in the American
rebellion against the edicts of a distant central
government in England
– Federalism is a compromise between a strict central
government and a loose confederation such as that
provided for in the Articles of Confederation.
Formally Amending the Constitution
• Formal Amendments are written changes to the
Constitution
• Four Methods of the Formal Amendment process
– An amendment is proposed by Congress by a 2/3rds
vote in both houses, then ratified by 3/4ths of the
State Legislatures.
• Used for amendments 1-20, and 22-27
– An amendment is proposed by Congress by a 2/3rds
vote in both houses, then ratified by special
conventions in 3/4ths of the States
• Used to ratify the 21ST amendment
– An amendment is proposed at a national
convention when requested by 2/3rds of the State
Legislatures, then ratified by 3/4ths of the State
Legislatures
– An amendment is proposed at a national
convention called by Congress when requested by
2/3rds of the State Legislatures, then ratified by
special conventions held in 3/4ths of the States.
• The 27 Amendments
– The first 10 Amendments are called the Bill of Rights
because they set out the great constitutional
guarantees of freedoms for the American people
– The Civil War Amendments (13, 14, & 15) combined to
end slavery, define American citizenship, proclaim the
rights of due process and equal protection of the law,
and outlaw restrictions on the right to vote based on
race, color, or previous condition of servitude
– The other amendments further define the workings of
government, empower the government in certain
ways, or deal with important social issues.
First 10 Amendments
BILL OF RIGHTS
1st Amendment
• Five basic freedoms
Speech
Press
Religion
Assembly
Petition
2nd, 3rd, & 4th Amendments
• Second
• Third
• Fourth
5th Amendment
• Due Process – can’t deprive someone of…
Life
Liberty
Property
x Two
Double Jeopardy
Eminent Domain
6th, 7th, and 8th Amendments
• 6th Amendment – speedy & public trial
• 7th Amendment – jury in civil cases
• 8th Amendment – no cruel and unusual
punishment
9th & 10th Amendment
• 9th Amendment – Rights not mentioned in the
Constitution
• 10th Amendment – Reserved Powers of the
States
11th & 12th Amendments
11th Amendment
Rules regarding
lawsuits against the
states
12th Amendment
Voting procedures
for the House and
Senate when a
Presidential Race
ends up there
13th, 14th, 15th Amendments
CIVIL WAR AMENDMENTS
13th Amendment
• Freed the slaves
14th Amendment
• Citizenship
– Citizenship in the U.S.
• Due Process passed on to the states.
15th Amendment
• Voting rights can’t be denied based on race,
color, or previous condition of servitude
16th Amendment
• Income Tax – made taxing people’s income
legal.
17th, 18th, & 19th Amendments
• 17th – popular election of Senators
• 18th – Prohibition
• 19th – Women’s suffrage
20th & 21st Amendments
• 20th Amendment – moved Presidential
inauguration date from March 4th to January
20th at 12:00 noon.
• 21st Amendment – repealed prohibition
22nd Amendment
• Terms Limits for the President
– 2 terms, but no more than 10 years
2001
2005
23rd & 24th Amendments
• 23rd Amendment – Gave Washington, D.C.
three votes in the Electoral College
• 24th Amendment – Outlawed Poll Taxes
25th Amendment
• Presidential Succession – made the
Presidential Succession Act of 1947 Official
If the President is
disabled, a majority of
the Cabinet and the Vice
President can sign a
petition to Congress to
turn power over to the
Vice President.
26th & 27th Amendments
• 26th Amendment lowered the legal voting age
to 18 years old.
• 27th Amendment authorized Congressional
pay raises with the stipulation that they would
not go into effect until after the next election.
Informal Amendments
• Informal amendments are unwritten changes
to the Constitution
• Basic Legislation
– Congress can pass laws that spell out some of the
Constitution’s brief provisions
– Congress can pass laws defining and interpreting
the meaning of Constitutional provisions
• Executive Action
– Presidents have used their powers to delineate
unclear Constitutional provisions
• Making a difference between Congress’s power to declare
war and the President’s power to wage war
• Congress passed the War Powers Resolution
– Presidents have extended their authority over foreign
policy by making informal executive agreements with
representatives of foreign governments, avoiding the
Constitutional requirement for the Senate to approve
formal treaties.
• Court Decisions
– The nation’s courts interpret and apply the
Constitution as they see fit
– The Supreme Court has been called “a Constitutional
Convention in continuous session”
• Party Practices
– Political parties have been a major source of informal
amendment
– Political parties have shaped government and its
processes by holding political conventions, organizing
Congress along party lines, and injection party politics
into the process of presidential appointments
• Custom
– Each branch of government has developed
traditions that fall outside the provisions of the
Constitution
• VP succeeding the President upon the President’s
death
– 25th Amendment made this a formal amendment
– George Washington’s ‘no third term’ precedent
» Broken by FDR
» 22nd Amendment made this a formal amendment
– A long-standing example of an informal
amendment is the Executive Advisory Body to the
President – THE PRESIDENTIAL CABINET