Unit I: Constitutional
Underpinnings of U.S. Government
Chapters 1-3
Chapter 1:
The Study of American Government
“The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged
as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to
abuse.”
- James Madison
Answer the Key Questions
Who governs?
~How is political power actually
distributed in America?
2. To what ends?
~What values matter most in American
democracy?
~Are trade-offs among political values
inevitable?
1.
Politics and Government
Politics: the art or science concerned
winning and holding control over a
government
with
“Who gets what when and how.” Laswell ~
American Political Scientist
Government: institution in which decisions
are made that resolve conflicts or allocate
benefits and
privileges
Why is government necessary?
To Maintain Order:
Maintaining peace and security by protecting members of society from
violence and criminal activity is the oldest purpose of government.
To Preserve Liberty:
The greatest freedom of individuals that is consistent with the freedom
of other individuals in the society; can be promoted by government.
What is political power?
•
Definition- the ability of one person to get
another person to act in accordance with
the first person’s intentions. (Ex.)
•
Increasing extension of power into
everyday “private” issues (Ex.)
~FDA
~New Deal
~Patriot Act:
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/howstuff
works/45614-post-9-11-the-patriot-actvideo.htm
Authority and Legitimacy
Authority
is the right to use power
~Formal authority refers to the notion that the right to
exercise power is vested in government office.
Legitimacy
is political authority conferred by law or
state/national constitution.
~In the United States political authority is
perceived
as legitimate if it conferred by the
Constitution.
~Our history has been molded by a struggle over what
constitutes legitimate authority.
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rachel-maddowshow/52370499#52370499
Forms of Government
Forms ofGovernment
Government
controls all aspects of the political and
Totalitarian
Regime
social life of a nation.
Authoritarian
A type of regime in which only the government itself
is fully controlled by the ruler. Social and economic
institutions exist that are not under the
government’s control.
Aristocracy
Rule by the “best”; in reality, rule by an upper class.
Democracy
A system of government in which political authority
is vested in the people. Derived from the Greek
words demos (“the people”) and kratos (“authority”).
STALIN
JUNG UN
ROUHANI
ABDULLAH
Types of Democracy
1.
Direct or Participatory Democracy (Aristotelian “rule of the
many”)
A government in which all or most citizens participate directly.
Fourth century B.C. Greek city-state (polis), most notably the Athenian
Assembly, practiced direct democracy.
 Characterized by political equality, citizen participation, the rule of law,
and free and open debate.
 Limitations were scale and exclusivity (free adult male property
owners)
 New England town meeting most closely approximates the Aristotelian ideal
 Most have abandoned the town meeting style of government because of size
and complexity. They have replaced it with representative government.
 Examples of direct democracy in America today: Initiative, Referendum,
Recall


Types of Democracy (continued)
2.
Representative Democracy or Elitist Democracy
 A government in which leaders make decisions by winning a
competitive struggle for the popular vote (economist Joseph
Schumpter)
 Justified for two reasons: impractical for people to decide
public policy and dangerous to allow people to make decisions
on critical issues.
 The framers use the phrase “republican form of government”
to mean representative democracy. For this system of
government to work there must be competition for leadership.

Individuals and parties can run for office

Communication is free

Voters perceive that there is a meaningful choice
Is Representative Democracy Best?
The Framers of the Constitution favored
representative democracy because:
• Peoples will not synonymous w./ the
“public good”.
• Masses lacked knowledge &
susceptible to manipulation.
• It minimized the abuse of power by a
popular majority or officeholders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVD0bZ5H4
MY
How is political power distributed?
1.
Majoritarian Politics
•
•
2.
Elected officials are the delegates of the
majority of the people and act in
accordance to their will.
Applies when issues are simple and clear
Elitism
•
•
Rule by identifiable group of persons who
possess a disproportionate share of
political power.
Occurs when circumstances do not permit
majoritarian decision making.
Theories of Political Decision Making
1.
Marxism
•
•
2.
Karl Marx -The Communist Manifesto 1848)
Government is controlled by the dominant social class
Power Elite
•
•
C. Wright Wills in The Power Elite (1956)
Power elite (corporate, military, political
leaders…others?) control and are served by the
government
3. Bureaucratic


Max Weber in Economy and Society(1922)
Power in the hands of appointed officials who exercise power
when deciding how public laws are turned into action
4. Pluralist
 Bernard Berelson, Paul Lazarsfeld and William McPhee in Voting
(1954)
 Competition among all affected interests shapes public policy.
System is too complex to be controlled by one group within or
outside of government.
Is democracy driven by self-interest ?
Individual vs. Common Good
John
Locke and Thomas Hobbes (Social Contract Theory)
 Humans are reasonable creatures who can use reason
to improve their own social existence
Locke’s Key
Principles
Humans are self-interested
Political society exists to allow for prosperity
Americans often act spontaneously and on behalf of the
disinterested.
Honor principle
“America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be
good, America will cease to be great.”
~ Alexis de Toqueville
INTRODUCING …………..

Baron de Montesquieu

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Thomas Hobbes

John Locke
Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau Comparison
Hobbes
State of Nature
Purpose of
Government
Representation
Impact on
Founders
Locke
Rousseau
The state of nature is a state of war. No
morality exists. Everyone lives in constant
fear. Because of this fear, no one is really
free, but since even the “weakest” could
kill the “strongest”… men ARE equal.
Men exist in the state of nature in
perfect freedom to do what they want.
The state of nature is not necessarily
good or bad. It is chaotic. So, men do
give it up to secure the advantages of
civilized society.
Men in a state of nature are free and
equal. In a state of nature, men are
“Noble Savages”. Civilization is what
corrupted him.
To impose law and order to prevent the
state of war.
To secure natural rights, namely man’s
property and liberty.
To bring people into harmony. To
unite them under the “General
Will”.
Governments are designed to control, not
necessarily represent.
Representation ensures that
governments are responsive to the
people. Representation is a safeguard
against oppression.
Representation is not enough.
Citizens cannot delegate their civic
duties. They must be actively
involved. Rousseau favors a more
direct democracy to enact the general
will.
Governments must be designed to protect • Governments must be designed to
the people from themselves.
protect the people from the
government.
• Natural Rights must be secured.
• Governments must be responsive
and aligned with the general will.
• People make a nation, not
institutions.
• Individual wills are subordinate to
the general (collective) will.
“The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which treats everyone
equally…Being equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life,
health, or possessions.” -John Locke
“The old traditions are apt to lead men into mistakes, as this idea of fatherly power’s
probably has done, which seems so eager to place the power of parents over their
children wholly in the father, as if the mother has no share in it. Whereas if we consult
reason or the Bible, we shall find she has an equal title.” -John Locke
“Whensoever the government shall put into the hands of any other an
absolute power over the lives, liberty, and estates of the people, by this
breach of trust they forfeit the power of the people…who have a right to
resume their original liberty, and by the establishment of the new
government provide for their own safety and security.” -John Locke
Chapter 2
The Constitution
Key Questions
1.
Who governs?
~What is the difference between a democracy and a republic?
~What branch of government has the greatest power?
2.
To what ends?
~Does the Constitution tell us what goals the
government should serve?
~Whose freedom does the Constitution protect?
EXPLAINED…..
gEkKzRvbI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-
The Problems of Liberty
Colonists were focused on individual liberty
•
•
•
•
The right to bring legal cases before independent judges
The right to not have troops in their homes
The right to trade without restrictions
The right to pay no tax that was levied without direct representation
The colonial mind
•
•
•
Believed men sought power because they are ambitious, greedy and easily
corrupted
Believed in a higher law that embodied natural rights (life, liberty and
property)
Declaration of Independence was designed to inform George III of ways that
their unalienable rights were being violated. The list of 27 grievances was
aimed at protecting the colonists rights as British citizens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrvpZxMfKaU
Problems (continued)
The “Real” Revolution
•
•
•
•
•
The real revolution was the “radical change in the principles, opinions,
sentiments, and affections of the people” (John Adams) as it relates to
legitimate authority and liberty.
Government exists by the consent of the governed, not by the will of a
king
Political power can only be granted by a written constitution
Human liberty exists prior to government and government must respect
liberty
Legislative branch would be superior to the executive branch because it
directly represents the people.
Problems(continued)
Problems (continued)
Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
1. Could not levy taxes or regulate commerce
2. Sovereignty retained by the states
3. One vote in Congress for each state
4. 9/13 states required for any measure in
Congress
5. Army was small and dependent on state militias
6. Territorial disputes between states led to
hostility
7. No national judicial system
8. All 13 states needed for any amendments
Shay's Rebellion
"What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from
time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? What
signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be
refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is
the natural manure.“
-- Thomas Jefferson in response to the rebellion
How to get citizens on board with a
US Constitution….
Federalists papers (85 written under the name of “publius”)
He defines a faction as "a number of citizens, whether
amounting to a minority or majority of the whole, who are united
and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of
interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the
permanent and aggregate interests of the community".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNN95ICOMI&edufilter=TdPjsi_F4gag0RM4eydsBw#aid=P8rIYpHjmIA
The Constitutional Convention
May 25 – September 17, 1787
Philadelphia, PA

Delegates- 74 appointed, 55 attended
 Purpose- Revise the Articles of
Confederation
 Absent-Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and
Patrick Henry
 Convention president- George Washington
 Critical question- How could the government
be strong enough to preserve order but not
threaten liberty?
Key Challenges
Plan
Key Points
The Virginia
Plan
James Madison
1.
2.
3.
4.
The New Jersey
Plan
William
Paterson
1. Created for fear that legislative representation would be based on population
, allowing more populated states more power
2. Amend, not replace the Articles of Confederation
3. Proposed one vote per state, so that Congress would be responsible to states.
Congress could raise revenue and regulate commerce; acts of the Congress
would be binding to the states
4. Protected small states’ interests while expanding the role of the national
government
The Great
Compromise
or the
Connecticut
Compromise
Oliver Ellsworth
1. House of Representatives based on population and elected directly by the
people (65 members)
2. Senate composed of two members from each state and elected by state
legislatures
3. Legislation had to be approved by both chambers, so it reconciled interests of
large and small states
Strong national government organized into three branches
Bicameral legislature (one by the people, one by the other house)
Executive (1 term) and judiciary (life) chosen by the legislature
National legislature had supreme power
A New Constitution is Approved
September 17, 1787
Ben Franklin’s Speech
Ratification Process
Delaware- December 7, 1787
Pennsylvania - December 12, 1787
New Jersey - December 18, 1787
Georgia - January 2, 1788
Connecticut - January 9, 1788
Massachusetts - February 6, 1788
Maryland - April 28, 1788
South Carolina - May 23, 1788
New Hampshire - June 21, 1788
Virginia - June 25, 1788
New York - July 26, 1788
North Carolina - November 21, 1789
Rhode Island - May 29, 1790
Debating Ratification:
Federalists v. Antifederalists
Why were the Bill of Rights not
included in the Constitution?
•
The Constitution included liberties before the
addition of the Bill of Rights
1. Writ of habeas corpus may not be suspended
2. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law may be
passed by Congress or states
3. Right of trial by jury guaranteed
4. No religious test for federal office
5. No law impairing contractual obligations
•
•
Most states already had their own bill of rights
Framers believed that they were creating a
government with limited powers
A Need for a Bill of Rights
Framers
soon realized that the Constitution would not be
ratified by large states without a promise that a Bill of
Rights would soon be added.
After all 13 states ratified, Madison introduced a Proposal
Twelve were approved by the Congress and ten were
ratified by the states.
 Regulation on the number of representatives
 No law varying the compensation of Senators
and Representatives during a term
The
Bill of Rights went into effect in 1791.
Originally these amendments did not limit state power
over citizens, only federal power.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlt6R1KD4E0
Constitution Overview
Article I- Legislative Branch
 Article II- Executive Branch
 Article III- Judicial Branch
 Article IV- Full faith and credit, new states
 Article V- Amendment process
 Article VI-Supremacy clause, oath of office, no
religious test
 Article VII- Ratification process

The Constitution and Democracy
Framers had no intent of creating a pure or direct democracy.
Lack of minority rights, popular passions, time and
distance
Created a representative democracy
House elected directly by the people
Senate elected by state legislatures (17th amendment)
President elected by the electoral college
Amendment process difficult
Informal Methods of
Constitutional Change
1.
2.
3.
4.

Congressional Legislation
Presidential Actions
Custom and Usage
Judicial Review
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
Constitutional Reform: Modern Views
Is the federal government too weak or too strong?
Reducing the separation of powers
Making the system less democratic
Reduce the power of the court
Key Principles
1.
2.
3.
Separation of Powers- political power is divided by
three separate branches of government
Checks and Balances- power in the branches of
government is restrained by other branches
Federalism- government authority is divided between the
federal and state governments
Under these principles, government powers are divided into three
broad categories:
1. Enumerated powers
2. Reserved powers
3. Concurrent powers
“The different governments will control each other, at the same time each will be controlled
by itself.” James Madison
Separation of Powers
Legislative
Executive
Government
Power
Judicial
The
Founders
extended the
limits on the
power of the
government
by further
dividing its
powers.
Checks and Balances
The system of check and balances extends the restrictions established
by the separation of powers.
Each branch of government has
the built-in authority and
responsibility to restrain the
power of the other two
branches. This system makes
government less efficient, but
also prevents tyranny by one
branch.
Basic Principles
43
Chapter 3: Federalism
Balance of Power
Theories of Federalism
Dual Federalism
Cooperative Federalism
Main Elements
1. Necessary and proper clause
should be narrowly
defined…enumerated powers only
2. National government powers are
purposefully limited by the
Constitution
3. Nation and states are sovereign in
their spheres
1. National and state agencies
work together
2. State and nation routinely share
power
3. Power in not concentrated in
any government level or agency
Critical
Difference
Narrow interpretation of elastic clause
and states’ rights
Broad interpretation of necessary
and proper clause and the 10th
amendment
Ideological
alignment
Conservative
Liberal
The Dynamics of Federalism: Legal
Sanctions and Financial Incentives
The balance of power between the nation and the states has
always been political. Over time the power has shifted from
the states to the national government for two key reasons:
1. Historical circumstances (i.e. Civil War, New Deal,
Desegregation , War on Poverty)
2. Constitutional Amendments
(Fourteenth and Sixteenth)
Other considerations:
1. Federal Mandates
2. Grants-in-Aid (Categorical and Block Grants)
3. Judicial Interpretation
Developing the concept of Federalism
 McCulloch
v. Maryland (1819)- “duel (separate)
federalism”
 New
Deal – “cooperative federalism”
 Desegregation – “regulated” federalism”
 War on Poverty “regulated” federalism”
 Nixon’s New Federalism “state oriented”
 Reagan and Bush “state oriented”