The Constitution
Chapter 3
Government
The U.S. Constitution
The U.S. Constitution is the oldest
constitution in the world’s history.
This document is not known as a
dead document but a living breathing
document. It is a document than
worked in 1789 and still works in
2015.
Why?
Interpretations?
Two types of interpretations
Thomas Jefferson was a support of strict
interpretation of the Constitution. Under
this interpretation, unless it is written in the
Constitution, the government cannot do it.
Alexander Hamilton was a support of loose
interpretation of the Constitution. Under
this interpretation of the Constitution,
unless the Constitution says you cannot do
it, then you can.
Loose interpretation wins
Fortunately for the United States,
Alexander Hamilton’s views of the
Constitution won and Thomas
Jefferson himself used this view
when he became president.
The loose interpretation allows the
Constitution to be known as a living
document and it can change as time
continues.
Structure of the Constitution
The Constitution is a very simple, short
document. It is just over 7,000 words.
It deals with basic principles of government.
It does not go into a lot of details. It is very
simple and straightforward. Works with the
key issues.
It starts with a Preamble which is the
introduction.
The Constitution is written in
seven sections known as
articles.
Article one: Legislative branch
Article two: Executive Branch
Article three: Judicial Branch
Article four: The state
governments and their
relationship with the National
Government
Article five: Amendment
procedure to the Constitution
Article six: Supreme Law of the
Law: oaths of office and national
debt
Article seven: The ratification
process
Six Basic Principles of
Constitution
The Constitution is written around six basic
principles;
1.) Popular sovereignty
2.) Limited Government
3.) Separation of powers
4.) Checks and balances
5.) Judicial Review
6.) Federalism
Popular Sovereignty
Under the Constitution, the National
Government knows that their power
comes from the people. The people
are sovereign and they are the only
source of power.
The government can only govern with
the consent of the people they rule.
Limited Government
Under the Constitution, the National
government understands completely that
they have limited powers. The National
government must follow the law of the land
which is the constitution and therefore this
is known as Constitutionalism.
Also known as rule of law, because the
government and its officers are to follow
the law set.
Separation of Power
The National Government power does not
rest in the hands of one branch like in
Parliamentary form instead the power of
the National Government rest in the hand
of three branches of government. No one
branch more powerful than the other.
The Legislative branch makes laws,
while the Executive branch enforces the law,
while the Judiciary branch interprets and
applies the law.
Checks and Balances
Each branch has their own powers but the other
branches have powers that can “check” the branch,
so that no one branch gets too powerful.
For example:
1.) Congress makes laws but the President has to sign
them or Veto them. Congress can override a veto
with 2/3 votes. Supreme Court can declare a law
unconstitutional, known as judicial review.
2.) President is in charge of armed services but
Congress controls the purse strings (budget).
3.) President picks executive branch members (cabinet)
but the Senates has to approve them.
4.) House of Representatives can impeach the
president, the Senate holds the trial.
Positives and Negative
with Checks-n-balances
Positives: Makes three branches work
hand in hand with compromises,
which is the key to democracy.
Negatives: If the President is from one
political party and the other political
party controls Congress, not much
gets done.
Judicial Review
This power was first earned under Chief Justice John
Marshall during the court case known as the
Marbury v. Madison case.
This case was a landmark case, because it is the first
time that John Marshall and the Supreme Court
declared a law by Congress unconstitutional.
Judicial Review is the Courts power to determine the
constitutionality of government action.
If any action is unconstitutional, then it is declared null
and void.
Judicial review is not in the Constitution but it is
implied.
Federalism
Definition: The division of power
between the central/national
government and the state
governments.
Under Federalism, the Framers were
able to create the new strong
national government without the
states losing all their powers.
Learning the Constitution
• Use the U.S. Constitution in your
book on page R28 (right before the
glossary) to complete the Constitution
worksheet
Amendment Process
Question:
Is the U.S. Constitution of today the
same, and at the same time is not,
the document of 1787?
Amendment Process
There are two processes that the
U.S. Constitution made be
changed;
1.) Formally through the
amendment process
2.) Informally, through a
precedent.
Formal Amendment
Process
There are 4 possible methods to amend the Constitution:
1.) In this method, both houses of Congress propose an
amendment with 2/3’s vote. Then the state
legislatures ratify the amendment with a ¾’s vote.
This is the most popular method with 26 of the 27
amendments becoming part of the written constitution
this way.
2.) Congress proposed the amendment with a 2/3’s vote
and then the amendment is approved by a State
Convention. The delegates to the State Convention
are elected on the sole purpose of how they support
the amendment. This truly shows the feelings of the
general public. Only one amendment was done with
this process, it was 21st amendment.
The other two formal amendment
processes have never been used.
3.) An amendment is proposed by a
national convention which was called
by Congress on the request of 2/3 (34)
of the State legislatures. Then the
3/4’s of the state legislatures must be
approved.
4.) An amendment is proposed by a
national convention then approved by
a state convention.
Arguments for a state convention in
order to approve an amendment
Over the years, many people believe
that a state convention is needed in
order to get the true feelings of the
public because members of the state
legislature are not elected with an
amendment in mind. Instead they
are elected with other issues in mind.
Proposed Amendments
Note: The president does not sign off on the
amendment. It is no making a law, it is
changing the Constitution.
Over the past 200 years, 15,000 resolutions
have called for a new amendment. But
only 33 have been sent to the States for
ratifying. The most recent proposed
amendment that did not pass was the
ERA- Equal Rights Amendment.
Only 27 have been added to the Constitution.
Bill of Rights:
1st: Freedom of speech/religion/press/assembly
2nd: Right to Bear Arms
3rd: Right to not Quarter troops in private homes
4th: Protection from unlawful searches and seizures
5th: Due Process Amendment: double jeopardy, no selfincrimination, no unfair trial
6th: Criminal Proceedings: Right to a trial, must be informed of
the charges, right to cross examine witnesses, right to attorney
7th: Civil Trials: Right to a jury trial in a civil case
8th: Punishment for Crimes: Punishment must fit the crime-no
excessive bails or cruel and unusual punishment
9th: Unenumerated Rights: Not all rights are listed in the
Constitution, those not mentioned still belong to the people
10th: Powers Reserved to the States: All powers not given to
the National Government and not forbid to the States, belong to
the States and the People of the States.
*9th and 10th are considered the safety net amendments.
Other Amendments:
11th: No state may be sued in federal court by a resident of another
state
12th: Election of the President and the Vice President
13th: Ending of Slavery
14th: Makes African Americans Citizens-Due Process of Law for all
citizens, equal before the law!
15th: African Americans get the right to vote
16th: Income tax
17th: Direct election of senators
18th: Prohibition of Alcohol
19th: Women gain the right to vote
20th: Date in which the President and VP takes office moves to
January instead of March-Known as the Lame Duck
21st: Repeal of 18th Amendment
22nd: Presidential Tenure:
23rd: Presidential electors for Washington D.C.
24th: Ending of the Poll Tax
25th: Presidential Succession
26th: Lowered voting age to 18
27th: Congressional Pay raises-first done on September 1789
passed in May 1992.
Other informal changes
to the Constitution
There are five basic ways to change the
Constitution in the informal method;
1.) passage of basic legislation
2.) Action taken by a President
3.) Key decisions by the Supreme Court
4.) Activities of a political party
5.) Custom/precedent
Basic Legislation
1.) Pass laws adding meat to the skeleton
outline of the Constitution.
For Example: The creating of the
Presidential cabinet and other federal
agencies.
2.) Way Congress uses the powers given to
it by Constitution.
For Example: the power to regulate foreign
and interstate commerce, this goes into
child labor laws, minimum wage, etc.
Executive Action
Executive Action is the President’s use of the power
given to the office by the Constitution. For example:
The President is in charge of the armed services but
Congress can declare war, but many presidents
have sent men to “war” without declaring war, Korea
and Vietnam.
Executive Agreement is another example: An
executive agreement is a pact made by the
President directly with the head of a foreign state.
But a treaty is a formal agreement between two or
more states. The treaty has to be approved by the
Senate, but the executive agreement does not.
Thomas Jefferson used the power of making a treaty to
purchase land which is not a power of the
President.
Supreme Court decisions
The Supreme Courts job is to
interpret and apply the
Constitution in the cases that
they hear.
The cases that are important like
the Marbury v. Madison case are
known as landmark cases.
Party Practices
The Constitution did not discuss the idea of political
parties. Washington warned the American against
political parties in his farewell address. He believed
that political parties would not be good for the
country because they would stop people from doing
what is right for the country.
What do you think? Is he right?
The Constitution does not discuss how parties should
nominate their candidates for president.
Political parties have changed the meaning of the
electoral college. It has turned into a rubber stamp
instead of what it was meant to be.
Custom/precedent
Traditions become strong as law. For
example: the presidential cabinet, the
vice president taking the office of the
president.
For example: No third term for
president, This was started by
Washington and it lasted for 150
years, until FDR. After FDR, the
custom became the 22nd amendment.
The End