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
Constitution
“The Supreme
Law of the
Land”
Highest form of law in the United States
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An Outline of the Constitution
7,000 words
Few details
Organized in a simple straightforward way.
Tells the way:
 that the federal government is organized,
how the leaders are selected,
the procedures they must follow as they perform
their duties,
sets the limits within which government can operate.
Outlines how politics run… helps determine who
wins and loses
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How the constitution is divided
Preamble: states the purpose of the Constitution
7 Articles
• #1 Creates the Legislative Branch
• #2 Creates the Executive Branch
• #3 Creates the Judicial Branch
• #4 Relations among the States
• #5 Process of Amending the Constitution
• #6 National debts; constitution as supremacy of national law,
and oaths of office
• #7 Ratifying the Constitution
27 Amendments
First ten are called “The Bill of Rights”
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6 principles of the Constitution
• The constitution is built around 6 basic principles
1. Popular sovereignty
2. Limited government
3. Separation of powers
4. Checks and balances
5. Judicial review
6. Federalism
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#1 POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY
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•
•
•
People are the ONLY source of any and all government
power
Government can exist only with the consent of the
government [approval of the people]
That’s why it starts with: “We the people of the United
States…do ordain and establish this Constitution
of the United States of America.”
People give the government power through the
Constitution -----> government exercises powers through
the elected leaders that are chosen by the people to
represent them.
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How does
this cartoon
show
popular
sovereignty?
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#2 LIMITED GOVERNMENT
•
•
•
No government is all-powerful
Government is restricted in what it may do and it can
only do those things that the people have given it the
power to do
Government must obey the law- called
constitutionalism… government must be conducted
according to constitutional principles
also known as rule of the law… meaning that
government and its officers are always subject to, and
never above, the law.
•
Each individual has rights that government cannot take
away.
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How does this
cartoon show
limited
government?
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#3 SEPERATION OF POWERS
•
•
Principle in which the executive, legislative, and judicial
branches of government are three independent and
coequal branches of government.
We divide up the power between Congress [the legislative],
the President [the executive], and the courts [the judicial]
Each branch has its own article that outlines their duties
Legislative: they make the laws
Executive: law-executing, law-enforcing, lawadministering
Judicial: interpret and apply the laws in cases brought
before them
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How does this
cartoon show
separation of
powers?
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#4 CHECKS AND BALANCES
• System that allows the legislative,
executive, and judicial branches to
check, or restrain, the actions of one
another
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How does this
cartoon show
checks and
balances?
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#5 JUDICIAL REVIEW
•
Consists of the power of a court to determine the
constitutionality of a governmental action.
If the courts declare something as unconstitutionalthey’re saying its illegal, null and void, or no force or
effect…meaning that government action is violating the
constitution
•
•
Talked about my Alexander Hamilton in The Federalist
Papers
In a famous court case; Marbury v. Madison 1803- Supreme
court established power of judicial review
• Since 1803… Supreme court has found 150 cases in which
an act of part of an act of Congress was unconstitutional
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How does this
cartoon show
judicial
review?
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#6 FEDERALISM
•
•
A system of government in which the powers of government
are divided between a central government and several local
governments
Power is divided between the federal government and then
between the 50 states because they wanted to limit the power of
the central government
 Framers of the constitution were convinced that
1. Governmental power poses a threat to individual liberty
2. So exercise of governmental power needs to be
restrained
3. So divided governmental power is to prevent abuse of
power
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How power is divided
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How does this
cartoon show
federalism?
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Section 1 Review
1. Which of the following principles includes the power of the courts to
determine whether a governmental action is constitutional or not?
(a) Checks and balances
(b) Judicial Review
(c) Separation of Powers
(d) Federalism
2. The principle of popular sovereignty asserts that the
(a) government should be divided into three branches.
(b) monarch is the supreme ruler.
(c) means of production should be owned by the proletariat.
(d) people are the source of any and all government power.
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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
Changes in America Through Time
•
1789:
• Four million people scattered over 1,300
miles of the Eastern border
• Agricultural nation
• 13 states
• Transportation via horseback and sailing
ships
•
2012
• Over 300 million people across whole
continent
• Most powerful nation
• Highly industrialized/technological
• 50 states
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Durability of the Constitution
How has the Constitution, written in 1789,
endure and kept pace with these changes and
growth?
•
Answer:
Constitution of today is the same as that of 1789…. Same
words, same meanings…. Just some new words have been
added………..
The process of constitutional change, of modification and
growth, happens in one of two ways:
1. Formal amendment
2. Informal means
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Amending the Constitution
• The Constitution provides for its own
amendment—that is, for changes in its
written words…it explain how to make
changes to itself
• 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
• Formal Amendment is the changes or
additions that become part of the
written language of the Constitution
itself
• Framers didn’t want to make it easy to
change the constitution- So they came
up with four hard ways to do it.
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Formal Amendment Process
•
The four different ways by which amendments may be added to the
Constitution are shown here:
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Chapter 3, Section 2
METHOD #1
• Proposed by twothirds vote of each
house of Congress
• Ratified by three
fourths of State
Legislatures
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METHOD #2
• Proposed by
two-thirds vote
of each house
of Congress
• Ratified by
conventions in
three-fourths of
states
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METHOD #3
• Proposed by national
convention called by
Congress at request
of two thirds of state
legislatures
• Ratified by threefourths of state
legislatures
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METHOD #4
• Proposed by
national
convention called
by Congress at
request of two
thirds of state
legislatures
• Ratified by
conventions in
three fourths of
states
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Formal Amendment Process Highlights
Constitutional Principles
• Formal Amendment process works on two basic
principles of the Constitution:
1. Federalism
Proposal always takes place at the national level
Ratification always takes place at the state level
2. Popular Sovereignty
When an amendment is proposed, its voted on by the
people… so the action represents the expression of the
people’s sovereign will!
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Some were a FLOP!
•
•
Since 1789, 15,000 resolutions for amendments have been sent to
Congress…. Only 33 passed votes in the two houses and made it to
State legislatures… of those, only 27 passed!
Some that were proposed, and didn’t pass….
1789: Distribution of
seats in the House of
Representatives
1861: Prohibited
forever any
amendment relating
to slavery
1924: Give Congress
power to regulate 1978: Give District of
child labor
Columbia Seats in
Congress
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1810: Voided
citizenship of anyone
who had any foreign
title or honor.
1972: Equal Rights of
Women [ERA] to give
equality of rights
under the law to
women
Amendments to the Constitution
Collectively, the first ten amendments are known as the Bill of
Rights. They set out many of our basic freedoms.
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Chapter 3, Section 2
Section 2 Review
1. A formal amendment
(a) changes the Constitution by passing laws.
(b) changes the written language of the Constitution itself.
(c) allows States to secede from the United States.
(d) none of the above.
2. Many of the basic rights of citizens are constitutionally guaranteed in
(a) English common law.
(b) the Declaration of Independence.
(c) the Magna Carta.
(d) the Bill of Rights.
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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
• Many changes and interpretations
have been made to the Constitution
that have not involved any changed
in its written words
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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 and usage
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Chapter 3, Section 3
#1 Basic legislation by Congress: 2 ways
1) Passed laws that clarify several of the
Constitution’s brief provisions
Ex: Article III, Section I only talks about having a
Supreme Court and “such inferior courts a the Congress
may from time to time ordain and establish”…. Congress
passed the Judiciary Act in 1789 ad since then, has
created all the federal courts….
2) Congress has added to the Constitution by the
way in which it has used many of its powers
Ex: Constitution says that Congress has the power to
“regulate foreign and interstate commerce.”…Congress
has passed thousands of laws about this so that they
expanded the words of the Constitution
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#2 Executive Action
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•
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•
Presidential actions such as the use of the
military under the power of commander in chief.
Presidents add on to “executive power” based on
what they think it means…. Thomas Jefferson
took it to mean he can buy more land for the U.S.
with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, even
though the Constitution doesn’t say he could
An executive agreement is a pact made by the
President directly with the head of a foreign state
and they do not need to be approved by
Senate…
A treaty is a formal agreement between two or
more sovereign states that needs to be approved
by Senate
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#3 Court Decisions
• The nation’s courts,
most importantly the
United States
Supreme Court,
interpret and apply
the Constitution in
many cases they
hear.
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#4 Party Practices
•
•
No mention of parties in the Constitution
Ex: No method for nominating a person
for the presidency
• Since 1830s, parties have held
national conventions to do that
• Changed the purpose of the electoral
college
• Congress conducts its business on the
basis of parties
• President makes appointments to
office based on parties
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#5 Custom and Usage
• Custom: A traditional and widely accepted way of
behaving or doing something that is specific to a
particular society, place, or time.
•
Examples:
• Heads of the 15 executive departments make up the
Cabinet
• Senate approves the presidential appointments who
are acceptable to the senator or senators of the
President’s party from the State involved
• “No-third term tradition” was started by George
Washington and followed for over 150 years until
1940 and 1944 when President Roosevelt won a third
and fourth term…so they added the 22nd Amendment
limiting the President to two terms only
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Chapter 3, Section 3
Section 3 Review
1. Name two of the five methods
by which we can informally
amend the Constitution.
2. Define “executive agreement”.
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Chapter 3, Section 3
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
What is the difference between an executive agreement and a treaty
Define what we mean by basic legislation
Define what we mean by executive action
Define what we mean by court decisions
Define what we mean by party practices
Define what we mean by custom and usage
Give an example of _______
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