Chapter 5
Section 3
The Constitution: A Living Document
Pages-149-155
Objectives
• 1. Describe how the Constitution divides power
between the federal and state governments.
• 2. Explain how the separation of powers prevents
each branch of government from becoming too
powerful.
• 3. Discuss potential drawbacks of the checks and
balances system.
• 4. Identify provisions in the Constitution that
allow for its flexibility.
Let’s Get Started
Desperate to raise money, Congress has decided
to issue a “youth tax”--$500 a year, payable by
every person between the ages of 13 and 20.
People who refuse to pay the tax will be
sentenced to hard labor for a year.
Federalism
• The framers of the Constitution built a new
structure of national government.
• The framers worked towards a strong central
government while protecting state’s rights.
They attempted to prevent conflict between
national and state governments.
Evaluating the Constitution
• Alfred North Whitehead in The Oxford History of
the American People
• Although the Constitution has been criticized
harshly at times—abolitionist William Lloyd
Garrison once claimed that its provisions protecting
slavery amounted to a “covenant with death” and
“an agreement with Hell”-it has also received
praise from some great thinkers. Alfred North
Whitehead, a prominent British philosopher who
lived and worked during the early 1900s,
Constitution Continued
• Once said of its framers: “The men who
founded ( the American) republic had an
uncommonly clear grasp of the general ideas
that they wanted to put in (the Constitution),
then left the working out of the details to later
interpreters, which has been, on the whole,
remarkably successful.”
Activity
• With a partner create a list of three or four of
the “ideas” that you think Whitehead is
referring to in the above quotation.
Delegated, reserved, and concurrent
powers
• With a partner write short definitions of the
following terms:
• Delegated powers
• Reserved powers
• Concurrent powers
• With your partner pick one kind of power and
write a short paper describing its roles and
responsibilities.
National Supremacy
• The framers knew that having two levels of
government-state and national, would lead to
some conflicts. Which laws would have
ultimate authority?
• To answer this question, a clause was added
to the Constitution: “This Constitution, and
the laws…and all treaties…of the United
States, shall be the supreme law of the land.”
Continued
• Supremacy Clause is part of Article VI of the
Constitution. It ranks the U.S. Constitution
and all federal laws above state constitutions
and state laws.
Definitions
• Delegated Powers-the authority to raise
armed forces, coin money, and establish post
offices. Listed in the Constitution.
• Reserved powers-the authority to establish
schools. 10th Amendment, reserved for the
states.
• Concurrent powers-the authority to charter
banks. Powers held jointly by the federal and
state governments.
Separation of Powers
• The framers of the Constitution separated the
government into three branches executive,
legislative, and judicial. The legislative branch
makes the laws, executive branches sees that
laws are carried out, and the judicial
interprets and applies the laws.
• Separation of Powers-prevents any one branch
from becoming too powerful.
The executive and legislative branches
• Separation of powers are upheld by checks and
balances system which gives each branch the
means to restrain the powers of the other two.
• Congress checks on the executive branch, the
framer’s remembered the British experience. The
president can make treaties, but must have twothirds vote of the Senate to ratify.
• President can appoint ambassadors, federal judges,
and other officials, but only with the consent of the
Senate.
Branches continued
• “the power of the purse” Congress has the
authority to appropriate government monies and
approve the federal budget. Congress can slow or
stop a presidential action that requires funding.
• Impeachment-The House of Representatives may
impeach or charge, a president who is thought to
be guilty “treason, bribery, or other high crimes
and misdemeanors.” An impeached president is
then tried by the Senate and, if found guilty,
removed from office.
Impeachment
• 1868-President Andrew Johnson-Congress
attempted to remove him from for violating a law
concerning the removal of cabinet members. The
House voted for impeachment, but the Senate fell
one vote short of the two-thirds majority.
• December 1998-President Bill Clinton-The House
voted to impeach for perjury and obstruction of
justice stemming from a statement he had made to
a grand jury. The Senate vote fell short of
convictions.
Veto Power
• While the Constitution grants the president
the power to veto congressional legislation, it
also places a time limit on this power. If the
president neither signs nor rejects a bill within
10 days of receiving it from Congress
(excluding Sundays), the bill automatically
becomes law. However, if Congress adjourns
within this 10-day period, the bill does not
become law-a so-called pocket veto.
Veto / Override
• Override or Overrule- a presidential veto, the
two-thirds majority necessary to do so is often
hard to obtain.
• The president can curb congressional power
through influence and power. The president
can call a special session or end a session if
congress cannot agree. The president can
influence through State of the Union
messages and press conferences.
The Judicial Branch
• The judicial branch checks the legislative
branch. The Supreme Court has the power to
judge laws unconstitutional. The framers did
not include this power in the Constitution.
• The executive and legislative branches can
both check judicial powers as well. Congress
has the power to impeach judges for “high
crimes and misdemeanors.”
Judicial
• Congress can propose constitutional
amendments to overturn earlier Court rulings.
• Example: Voting Rights Act of 1970- The
Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional, it
would have lowered the voting age. Congress
reacted by passing the 26th amendment in
March 1971, lowered the voting age from 21
to 18. It was ratified by the states in less than
four months.
Judicial
• The president or the Congress cannot remove
a federal judge because they do not like their
positions or their decisions may be unpopular.
Federal judges may hold their offices for life.
Critics of the system
• Potential Drawbacks to the Checks-andBalances System:
• 1. political infighting
• 2. political stalemates
• 3. government shutdowns-1995 –Republican
Congress and President Bill Clinton, a
Democrat did not agree on a national budget,
resulting in a partial government shutdown
Flexibility and Change
• The continued effectiveness of the
Constitution is due to its flexibility. The
Constitution allows for needed amendments,
the framers specified a procedure for
changing the Constitution. The founding
fathers made the amendment process
difficult, intending it to be used only when a
change is critical.
Continued Flexibility
• Elastic clause- “necessary and proper” The
elastic clause allows Congress to exert its
powers in ways not specifically outlined in the
Constitution. Example: New technologies
that the framers could not have known. This
allows Congress to pass laws. This allows the
government to stretch the Constitution to fit
changing times.
Activity
• Choose a partner.
• Imagine that you are modern-day book illustrators
working on a children’s book about the Constitution.
With your partner draw two illustrations depicting the
provisions in the Constitution that allow for its
flexibility. Write captions to accompany the
illustrations.
• Example: Partners should draw upon the amendment
process, which allows citizens to alter the Constitution,
and the elastic clause, which gives Congress the
authority to exercise its powers in ways not specifically
outlined in the Constitution.