Good Morning 9/16/14
• Please take a handout, grab your notebook and a textbook and have a seat.
• Prepare to take notes on the Constitution
• We will complete the handout after taking notes
• Anyone who wishes to retake the test (if you have your study guide initialed) can do so at any time

Article
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Preamble
Article I
Article II
Article III
Article IV
Article V
Article VI
Article
VII
Subject
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 states the purpose of the Constitution
Legislative Branch
Executive Branch
Judicial Branch
Relations among the states
Amending the Constitution
National debts, supremacy of national law, and oaths of office
Ratifying the constitution

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SIX BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE
CONSTITUTION
1. Popular Sovereignty: political power belongs to the people
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“We the People…”
National government is given power from the people via the
Constitution
State governments are given power from the people via state constitutions
National Law supersedes state law in most cases

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SIX BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE
CONSTITUTION
2. Limited Government
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No government should be all-powerful.
The other side of popular sovereignty
People give the power to govern and the government cannot do anything other than the things the people have given them power to do.
Constitutionalism – government must be conducted according to constitutional principles
Rule of Law – government and its officers are always subject to – never above – the law.

SIX BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE
CONSTITUTION
 3. Separation of Powers
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Power is distributed to the branches of government.
Each branch has specific power/responsibility
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Article I Section 1: “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in the
Congress of the United States.”
 Congress has lawmaking power
Article II Section 1: “The executive power shall be vested in a President of the
United States of America.”
 The President has the power to execute, enforce, and administer the law.
Article III Section 1: “The judicial power of the United States will be vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish”
 The Supreme Court and the Federal Courts interpret and apply the law.

SIX BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE
CONSTITUTION
 4. Checks & Balances
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The branches of government are not entirely separate from one another.
Each branch is subject to a number of constitutional restraints by the other branches.
 i.e. The President’s power to veto a bill
See the chart on p.68

SIX BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE
CONSTITUTION
 5. Judicial Review
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The power of the courts to determine whether what government does is in accord with what the Constitution provides.
 The power of the court to determine the Constitutionality of governmental action.
Though the Constitution does not explicitly provide for the power of judicial review, it is an implied power.
 Hamilton wrote in The Federalist No. 78 “independent judges are an essential safeguard against the effects of occasional ill humors in society.”
The Supreme Court established the power of judicial review in the
Madison v. Marbury case.

SIX BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE
CONSTITUTION
 6. Federalism
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The division of power among a central government and several regional
(state) governments
 This concept arose as a solution to the failures of the Articles of Confederation
Federalism was an alternative to the system of nearly independent states and a safeguard against a powerful central government.