Presentation Pro
Magruder’s
American Government
CHAPTER 3
The Constitution
© 2001 by Prentice Hall, Inc.
SECTION 1
The Six Basic Principles
• What are the important elements of the
Constitution?
• What are the six basic principles of the
Constitution?
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Chapter 3, Section 1
An Outline of the Constitution
• The Constitution sets out the basic
principles upon which government in the
United States was built and operates today
• The Constitution is a fairly brief document.
(less than 7,000 words) Has successfully
guided this nation through 2 centuries of
tremendous growth and change.
• The Constitution is organized into eight
sections: the Preamble (introduction) and
seven articles. The original document is
followed by 27 amendments.
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Chapter 3, Section 1
Articles of the Constitution
Section
Preamble
Subject
States the purpose of the Constitution
Article I
Legislative branch
Article II
Executive branch
Article III
Judicial branch
Article IV
Relations among the States and with the National
Government
Amending the Constitution
Article V
Article VI
Article VII
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National debts, supremacy of national law, and oaths of
office
Ratifying the Constitution
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Chapter 3, Section 1
Three of the Basic Principles
• The principle of popular sovereignty asserts that the
people are the source of any and all government
power, and government can exist only with the consent
of the governed.
• The principle of limited government states that
government is restricted in what it may do, and each
individual has rights that government cannot take
away.
• Separation of powers is the principle in which the
executive, legislative, and judicial branches of
government are three independent and coequal
branches of government.
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Chapter 3, Section 1
•
•
•
More of the Basic Principles
Checks and balances is the system that allows the
legislative, executive, and judicial branches to check, or
restrain, the actions of one another. Example: When the
Senate confirms or rejects the President’s appointee to run
the CIA.
The principle of judicial review consists of the power of a
court to determine the constitutionality of a governmental
action.
Federalism is a system of government in which the powers
of government are divided between a central government
and several local governments. It was devised as a
compromise b/t a powerful central govt. and a loose
confederation of States.
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Chapter 3, Section 1
SECTION 2
Formal Amendment
• What are the different ways to formally
amend, or change the wording of, the
Constitution?
• How many times has the Constitution been
amended?
• What is the Bill of Rights?
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Chapter 3, Section 2
Amending the Constitution
• The Constitution provides for its own
amendment—that is, for changes in its
written words. Have as much legality
as the original Constitution
• Article V sets out two methods for the
proposal and two methods for the
ratification of constitutional
amendments, creating four possible
methods of formal amendment.
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Chapter 3, Section 2
Formal Amendment Process
•
The four different ways by which amendments may be added to the
Constitution are shown here:
•Most common method of
amending the Constitution is
Congress proposes and
state legislatures ratify.
•Hard to amend the
constitution because a
simple majority is not
enough to propose or
amend. Need 2/3rds vote.
•Participation of both Fed.
and State govt. in
amendment process reflects
the constitutional principle of
federalism.
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Chapter 3, Section 2
Constitutional Proposals
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•
•
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Proposals by Congress
Amendments that got Congress approval, but failed to receive
state approval for ratification.
The Failed Amendments - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net
There have been 33 amendments passed by Congress (including the 27 that
were ratified). 6 failed to receive the support of the states.
Up to 200 amendments have been proposed during each term of Congress.
Most of those don’t make it out of committee.
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Criticism of Amendment Ratification Process
•
•
Some people criticize sending proposed amendments to
the State Legislatures rather than ratifying conventions.
Argue that it permits ratification without clear-cut
expression by the people.
• State representatives are elected because of name
familiarity, party affiliation etc. Not elected because
of how they feel about a certain amendment.
• Delegates to a ratifying convention are chosen by
the people based on their support or opposition of a
proposed amendment and therefore express what
the people want.
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Bill of Rights
• 1st 10 Amendments to the Constitution
• States the guarantees of basic
freedoms for the American people.
• Added less than 3 years after the
Constitution was ratified.
• Arose out of the controversy surrounding the
ratification of the Constitution.
• Page 771-773 lists the first 10 Amendments.
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Amendments to the Constitution
Collectively, the first ten amendments are known as the Bill of
Rights. They set out many of our basic freedoms.
•The
Constitution
has been
amended
27 times.
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Chapter 3, Section 2
SECTION 3
Informal Amendment
• How has basic legislation changed the
Constitution over time?
• What powers do the executive branch and the
courts have to amend the Constitution?
• What role do party politics and custom have in
shaping the Federal Government?
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Chapter 3, Section 3
Informal Amendment Processes
Informal amendment is the process by which over
time many changes have been made in the
Constitution which have not involved any changes in
its written word.
The informal amendment process can take place by:
(1) the passage of basic legislation by Congress;
(2) actions taken by the President;
(3) key decisions of the Supreme Court;
(4) the activities of political parties; and
(5) custom.
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Chapter 3, Section 3
Basic Legislation
•
Congress has passed a number of laws to spell out several of the
Constitution’s brief provisions (which the Framers left for the
congress to detail as circumstances required).
• Example: Article III, Section 1 ―one supreme Court, and
…such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time
ordain and establish.‖
– With the Judiciary Act of 1789 all the federal courts, except
the Supreme Court, have been set up by acts of Congress.
•
Congress has added to the Constitution by the way in which it has
used many of its powers.
• Example: Constitution gives Congress the power to ―regulate
foreign and interstate commerce‖. The Constitution doesn’t
clarify what foreign means and what interstate means. Thus,
Congress has done much to define them.
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Executive Actions
•
The manner in which various Presidents have used their
powers has also contributed to the growth of the Constitution.
• Example: Constitution says that only Congress can
declare war. Constitution also makes the President
commander in chief of the armed forces. Acting under
that authority several Presidents have made war without
a declaration of war by Congress.
• Example: The use of executive agreements in conducting
foreign affairs.
– Executive agreement: a pact made by the President
directly with the head of a foreign state.
– Treaty: formal agreement between two or more
sovereign states.
**The difference is that executive agreements don’t
need the approval of the Senate””
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Court Decisions
• The nation’s courts, most importantly the
United States Supreme Court, interpret and
apply the Constitution in many cases they
hear.
• Woodrow Wilson said that the Supreme
Court is ―a constitutional convention in
continuous session.‖
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Party Practices
•
•
Constitution makes no mention of political parties. Most Framers were
against them. George Washington warned the people against what he
called ―the baneful effects of the spirit of party.‖
Political parties have played a major role in the shaping of government and
its processes as a result of a long history of informal constitutional change.
Example: Neither the Constitution or any other law provides for the
nomination of candidates for the presidency. However, major parties
hold national conventions to do just that.
Example: The parties have converted the electoral college from what
the Framers intended into a ―rubber stamp‖ for each State’s popular
vote in presidential elections.
Example: Both houses of Congress are organized and conduct their
business on the basis of party.
Example: President makes appointments to office along party lines the
majority of the time.
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Custom
•
Unwritten custom may be as strong as written law, and many customs have
developed in our governmental system.
Example: By custom, not because the Constitution says so, the heads of the 15
exec. Departments make up the Cabinet: an advisory body to the Pres.
• Example: On the 8 occasions when a Pres. Died in office the VP succeeded to
that office even though the Constitution didn’t provide for that until the 25 th
Amendment was adopted in 1967.
•
The strength and importance of unwritten customs can be seen in the
reaction to the rare circumstances in which a custom has not been
observed.
• Example: For nearly 150 years the ―no-third-term tradition‖ was a
closely followed rule in presidential politics. (began when George
Washington refused to seek a 3rd term). FDR broke the custom
winning a 3rd and 4th term. As a direct result, the 22nd Amendment
was added to the Constitution in 1951.
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