U.S. Government
Chapter 3: The Constitution
Section 1: Structure and Principles
• Simple and Brief
–
Vague: It left many of the details to be decided as
the need arose
Section 1: Structure and Principles
• Three Parts:
– The Preamble
• Introduction and Explanation for the Constitution
– The Seven Articles
• Each Article covers a general topic
• Articles I,II, and II establish the three branches of
government
• Article III, Section 2: Jurisdiction
• Article VI: The Supremacy Clause
– The Amendments
• 27 Amendments
Section 1: Structure and Principles
The Constitution is based on
Six major principles
1. Popular Sovereignty
– Rule by the people – all authority is at the consent of the governed
2. Federalism
– Power divided between national (federal) government and state
governments
– This was a result of the failure of the Articles of Confederation and the
remaining fear of giving up too much power to the federal
government.
3. Separation of Powers
–
Each branch has its own powers, preventing any one branch from
becoming too powerful
Section 1: Structure and Principles
The Constitution is based on
Six major principles
4. Checks and Balances
–
–
Each branch has some control over the others
Congress passes laws, but President can Veto
•
–
–
Congress can still override by 2/3s vote
Congress passes laws, but Courts can say law violates
constitution
The President chooses who is on Courts, but Senate
must approve those appointments
Section 1: Structure and Principles
The Constitution is based on
Six major principles
5. Judicial Review
–
–
–
Gives the courts the power to void a law that is determined to
be unconstitutional .
Supreme Court has final authority to do this.
Not explicitly stated in Constitution but firmly established by
the Supreme Court case, Marbury v. Madison, 1803.
6. Limited Government
–
–
Limits the power of government by specifically listing what
powers the government has
Protects people from abuses of power
Section 2:
Three Branches of Government
• Article 1
– Establishes a Bicameral Legislative Branch
• The House of Representatives is the voice of the people,
elected by popular vote
• The Senate speaks for states as a whole and Senators are
chosen by state legislatures
– The founders believed the Legislative Branch should
be the most important
– They feared it could be too powerful, such as
Parliament was in the UK
– To combat this, they limited Congress to only
expressed powers.
Section 2:
Three Branches of Government
• The Enumerated Powers
– Congress was limited to 18 powers in Article 1,
Section 8
1.Levy Taxes
2.Borrow Money
3.Regulate Commerce
4.Coin Money
5.Punish Counterfeiting
6.Punish Pirates
7.Declare War
8.Raise and Support and army
9.Raise and Support a Navy
10. Call Forth a Militia
11. Organize a Militia
12.Naturalize Citizens
13.Bankruptcy Law
14.Establish Post Offices
15.Secure Patents and Copyrights
16. Establish Courts
17.Govern the District of Columbia
18.Do what is necessary and proper to
carry out expressed powers
Section 2:
Three Branches of Government
• The Elastic Clause
– This is the Necessary and Proper Clause
To make all Laws which shall be necessary
and proper for carrying into Execution the
foregoing Powers, and all other Powers
vested by this Constitution in the
Government of the United States, or in any
Department or Officer thereof.
Section 2:
Three Branches of Government
• The Elastic Clause
– This is the Necessary and Proper Clause
– How broadly this could be interpreted was
decided in the Supreme Court case McCulloch v.
Maryland, 1819.
Section 2:
Three Branches of Government
• The Original Congress met in Federal Hall in
NYC.
• The First Speaker or the house was Fredrick A.
Muhlenberg.
• He established rules a procedures.
• Congress counted the electoral votes that
named George Washington and John Adams
the first President and Vice President.
Section 2:
Three Branches of Government
• In the first Congress, the Senate only
introduced 24 bills and the House introduced
143
• The most recent completed Congress (113th)
introduced 10,637.
• Being a Congressman wasn’t considered a full
time job until the mid-20th Century.
Section 2:
Three Branches of Government
•The Executive Branch
•It is defined in Article II, not I, indicating its relative importance
to the Founders
•It has grown in importance tremendously since 1789.
•President is the head of the Executive Branch
•He is tasked with carrying out the acts of Congress
•Founder did not trust the people to directly elect the President.
They feared they would elect someone who would try to
redistribute the wealth.
•Powers are very vague, giving the president “executive power”,
which has been broadly interpreted.
Section 2:
Three Branches of Government
•The Executive Branch
•Specific Powers
•Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces and state militias.
•Appoints (with Senate approval) heads of executive departments
(Secretary of State, Secretary of War, Secretary of Treasury, etc.)
•May pardon people who commit felonies
•Make treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate
•Deliver an annual State of the Union address to Congress
•Call Congress into special session
•Meet with Heads of State , ambassadors, and other foreign
officials
•commission all military officers of the United States
•Ensures laws passed by Congress are “faithfully executed”
Section 2:
Three Branches of Government
•The Executive Branch
•The role of the president changes with the personality and
priorities of each person to hold the office.
•The Founders were mostly certain George Washington would
be the first POTUS when they were drafting the Constitution.
•George Washington did not necessarily want to the be
president.
•He was very careful in his actions, knowing that they would set
a precedent for the role of president.
•He refused to appoint friends and family above others and
retired after two terms.
Section 2:
Three Branches of Government
•The Executive Branch
•This role has changed greatly in the last 200+ years.
•George Washington had a lot of free time. Now the
President’s schedule is timed by the minute.
•All of John Adam’s paperwork fit in seven boxes. Now each
president fills a library with their documents.
•Today the Whitehouse has a staff of hundreds and military
has millions
•The executive offices (the Federal Bureaucracy) is huge,
managing the operation of the government with 2.7 million.
Section 2:
Three Branches of Government
•The Judicial Branch.
•Established in Article III
•Supreme Court is the head court
•Congress has the power to establish all lower courts
•There are 2 court systems:
•The Federal Courts operate nationally and get power from the
Constitution
•The State courts operate in each state and get their power from
individual state constitutions
•Each court can only hear certain kinds of cases. The kind of cases
they can hear are called their jurisprudence
•Federal Courts hear cases involving federal laws, treaties with foreign
government, interpretation of the Constitution, the law on
international waters, and bankruptcy.
Section 2:
Three Branches of Government
•The Judicial Branch.
•Originally held to be least important.
•Designers of D.C. forgot to include a Supreme Court
building, forcing them to originally meet in a small room in
the Capitol. It didn’t have its own building until 1935.
•The founders did not fear its power, allowing Justices to
serve for life.
•Justices had to go hear appeals in other districts.
•The first Supreme Court Chief Justice was John Jay, who
resigned because of how difficult it was to travel all over the
country.
Section 2:
Three Branches of Government
•The Judicial Branch.
•The Supreme Court’s powers have developed over time,
mainly through court cases creating legal precedent.
•Marbury v. Madison, 1803 – Judicial review
Section 2:
Three Branches of Government
Shared Power and Conflict
• Congress vs. President
•The Power of the Executive has expanded greatly
without changing the Constitution, leading to a lot of
conflict between the two branches.
•During the Great Depression, the courts said
Congress gave too much power to the President,
forcing them to take some of their power back.
(Schechter Poultry Corp. v United States, 1935)
•The two party system has made it difficult to operate
when there is split control. If President is one party
and Congress is another, it can cause major conflict
and deadlock.
Section 2:
Three Branches of Government
Shared Power and Conflict
• Congress vs. Courts
•Congress can create all courts below the Supreme
Court.
•Congress can limit the jurisdiction of the Supreme
Court, but has not done this much.
Section 2:
Three Branches of Government
Shared Power and Conflict
•
Courts vs. President
•Some court decisions need the president to enforce
them.
•If the president disagrees, he can refuse to enforce the
decision.
•Andrew Jackson refused to use the military to
prevent Georgia from taking Cherokee lands in
Worcester v Georgia, 1832.
•“John Marshall has been his decision, now let him
enforce it.” – Andrew Jackson
•FDR was angry the Supreme Court struck down the
NRA and other New Deal programs, so he tried (but
failed) to change the number of Justices .
Section 3:
Amending the Constitution
• In 1787, the U.S.A. had 4 million citizens
across 13 states.
• Now it has 320 million citizens across 50
states.
• This massively changed country is still
operated under the same document, the
Constitution.
• It has maintained its relevance through several
methods of formal and informal amendments.
Section 3:
Amending the Constitution
• The Amendment Process
– Proposing an Amendment:
• 2/3 vote of House of Representative and Senate
• 2/3 of the states can request a Constitutional
Convention. This is called a petition.
– This has never happened, but got close in 1967 with 33 of the
needed 34 states.
– Between 1975 and 1991 with 32 states signed a petition to
pass a balanced budget amendment.
• The convention method is unwieldy, because once it is
called, amendments doing anything could pass.
Section 3:
Amending the Constitution
• The Amendment Process
– Ratifying an Amendment
• ¾ of State Legislatures can ratify for it to be amended
• States can also call a ratifying convention, instead of allowing
the legislature to decide.
• States can change their minds, changing a yes to a no or a no
to a yes.
• The convention method only happened once (21st
amendment).
• This allows a more direct vote from the public.
• Congress sets the rules on how the states will vote on
ratification and how long they have to ratify (7 years
recently).
Section 3:
Amending the Constitution
• Changes through law
– Congress can pass laws to make changes in area
where the Constitution is not specific.
– Congress has created the entire tax system and
executive departments to expand the role and
scope of the government.
– Congress created most of the court system, even
dictating how they operate and who works in
them.
Section 3:
Amending the Constitution
• Changes through Practices
– Congress can define high crimes and
misdemeanors how ever they choose.
– 3 presidents have been investigates for
impeachment (Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon,
Bill Clinton)
Section 3:
Amending the Constitution
• Presidential Changes
– The Constitution says the VP takes over for the
President if he dies, but does not specify if he will
become President.
– The first VP to take over was John Tyler when
William Henry Harrison Died
– This became the practice, but did not become
official until the 25 amendment was passed in
1967.
Section 3:
Amending the Constitution
• Presidential Changes
– The use of executive agreements prevents the
need for Senate to weigh in on treaties.
– Presidents have begun asking Congress to pass
specific legislations, pushing their own agenda
through Congress.
Section 3:
Amending the Constitution
• Court Decisions
– Judicial Review
• Judicial Restraint: Court should avoid making social and
political decisions unless an act of Congress explicitly
violates the Constitution.
• Judicial Activism: Court should shape national policy
through their decisions.
• Chief Justice Earl Warren’s court is an example of an
activist court, making many decisions about Civil Rights.
Section 3:
Amending the Constitution
• Court Decisions
– Judicial Review
– Changing Rulings
• The Court can change its mind
• Plessy v Ferguson, 1896 and Brown v. Board of
Education, 1954
Section 3:
Amending the Constitution
• Customs and Usage
– Changes occur by naturally evolving, without any
laws being passed or changes made.
– There is no mention of the political parties in the
Constitution, but they shape American
government.
Section 4:
The Amendments
• The Bill of Rights
– Added in 1791, the first 10 amendments are called
the Bill of Rights.
– These originally only applied to the national
government.