Political Cartoon
CHAPTER 3
TERMS AND QUESTIONS
CHAPTER 3 SECTION 1
The Six Basic Principles
CHAPTER 3
• What is the purpose of the Preamble to the
Constitution?
• What are the six basic principles of the Constitution and
explain each?
• Constitutionalism
• Rule of Law
• Separation of powers
• Checks and balances
• Veto
• What Presidents have been impeached?
• Constitutional
An Outline of the Constitution
CHAPTER 3
• The Constitution was written in 1787 and took effect in
1789. The Constitution is this nation’s fundamental law.
It is in its own terms, “the supreme Law of the Land” –
the highest form of law in the United States.
• The Constitution sets out the basic principles upon
which government in the United States was built.
• It a fairly brief document, 7,000 words and can be read in
half an hour.
• The Constitution’s greatest strength is that its words
deal largely with matters of basic principle.
An Outline of the Constitution
CHAPTER 3
• The Constitution is organized into eight sections: the Preamble introduction and seven articles – or sections. The original document
is followed by 27 amendments.
• The first three articles deal with the three branches of the National
Government. They outline their organization and powers of each
branch and how they are chosen.
• Article IV deals with the place of the States in the American Union
and their relationship with the National Government and one
another.
• Article V explains how formal amendments may be added.
• Article VI declares the Constitution as the supreme law.
• Article VII states the requirements for ratification.
Articles of the Constitution
CHAPTER 3
Section
Subject
Preamble
States the purpose
Article I
Legislative branch
Article II
Executive branch
Article III
Judicial branch
Article IV
Relations among the States and with the
National Government
Article V
Amending the Constitution
Article VI
National debts, supremacy of national law, and
oaths of office
Article VII
Ratifying the Constitution
The Six Basic Principles of the Constitution
CHAPTER 3
Six Basic Principles
CHAPTER 3
POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY
CHAPTER 3
• 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 people have given their
government the power that it has
through the Constitution.
LIMITED GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER 3
• The principle of limited government holds that no
government is all-powerful, that a government may do
only those things that the people have given it the power
to do. The government must obey the law.
• Constitutionalism – that government must be conducted
according to constitutional principles.
• The concept of limited government is also described as
the rule of law, which holds that government and its
officers are always subject to the law.
• This is set out in the First Amendment, which begins
with the words: “Congress shall make no law . . .”
SEPARATION OF POWERS
CHAPTER 3
• In a presidential system, separation of
powers the basic powers are distributed
among three distinct and independent
branches of government.
• The Constitution distributes the powers of
the National Government among the
Congress, the President, and the courts.
• Article I, II and III finds the powers being
divided.
Separation of Powers
CHAPTER 3
CHECKS AND BALANCES
CHAPTER 3
• The national government is organized around three
separate branches. The Constitution gives each branch
its own field of governmental authority.
• Checks and balances – means that each branch is
subject to a number of constitutional restraints by the
other branches. Each branch has powers to check the
operations of the other two.
• Congress can make law.
• The President may veto or reject, any act of Congress
• The judicial branch can rule acts unconstitutional.
Checks & Balances
CHAPTER 3
Checks & Balances
CHAPTER 3
JUDICAL REVIEW
CHAPTER 3
• Judicial review is the power of courts to
determine whether what government does is in
accord with what the Constitution provides.
• Unconstitutional – to declare illegal, null and
void, of no force and effect – a governmental
actions found to violate some provision in the
Constitution.
• Marbury v. Madison 1803 established the power
of judicial review.
Judicial Review
CHAPTER 3
FEDERALISM
CHAPTER 3
• The powers held by government are distributed on
a territorial basis. The National Government holds
some of those powers, and others belong to the 50
States.
• Federalism – the division of power among a
central government and several regional
governments – came to the Constitution out of
both experience and necessity.
• The colonist had rebelled against the harsh rule of
a powerful and distant central government.
Roots of Federalism
CHAPTER 3
Section Review
CHAPTER 3
Section 1 Assessment
CHAPTER 3
1. Article II of the Constitution establishes the powers of the
(a) executive branch.
(b) legislative branch.
(c) States.
(d) judicial branch.
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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Section 1 Assessment
CHAPTER 3
1. Article II of the Constitution establishes the powers of the
(a) executive branch.
(b) legislative branch.
(c) States.
(d) judicial branch.
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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TERMS AND QUESTIONS
CHAPTER 3 SECTION 2
CHAPTER 3
List two steps involved in the first method of amending the Constitution.
List two steps involved in the second method of amending the
Constitution.
List two steps involved in the third method of amending the Constitution.
List two steps involved in the fourth method of amending the constitution.
Bill of Rights
List and explain the Civil War Amendments.
Amendment
Formal amendment process
Explain each Amendment:
11th Amendment
18th Amendment
26th Amendment
27th Amendment
THE AMENDMENT PROCESS
CHAPTER 3
Amending the Constitution
CHAPTER 3
• The Constitution provides for its own
amendment—that is, for changes in
its written words.
• 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.
FIRST METHOD OF AMENDMENT
CHAPTER 3
• An amendment may be proposed by a twothirds vote in each house of Congress and
be ratified by three fourths of the State
legislatures.
• 38 State legislatures must approve for it to
become a part of the Constitution.
• 26 of the 27 amendments have been
adopted using this method.
The Amendment Process
CHAPTER 3
SECOND METHOD OF AMENDMENT
CHAPTER 3
• An amendment may be proposed
by Congress and then ratified by
conventions in three fourths of the
States.
• 21st Amendment only adopted this
way.
THIRD METHOD OF AMENDMENT
CHAPTER 3
• An amendment may be proposed by a
national convention, called by Congress at
the request of two thirds of the State
legislatures
• 34 State legislatures is needed
• It must then be ratified by three fourths of
the State legislatures.
• Congress has not called such a convention.
FOURTH METHOD OF AMENDMENT
CHAPTER 3
• An amendment may be proposed by a
national convention and ratified by
conventions in three fourths of the
States.
• The Constitution was adopted in much
the same way.
• Need 38 State conventions.
Formal Amendment Process
CHAPTER 3
The four
different
ways by
which
amendments
may be
added to the
Constitution
are shown
here:
FEDERALISM AND POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY
CHAPTER 3
• The formal amendment process
emphasizes the federal character of the
governmental system. Proposal takes
place at the national level and ratification
is a State-by-State matter.
• When the Constitution is amended, the
action represents the expression of the
people’s sovereign will. The people have
spoken.
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
CHAPTER 3
• The Constitution places only one restriction on
the subjects with which a proposed amendment
may deal. Article V declares that “no State,
without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal
Suffrage in the Senate.”
• Once a State has approved an amendment, that
action is final and unchangeable.
• More than 10,000 joint resolutions calling for
amendments to the Constitution have been
proposed in Congress since 1789. Only 27 have
been finally ratified.
Amendments to the Constitution
CHAPTER 3
Collectively, the
first ten
amendments
are known as
the Bill of
Rights. They set
out many of our
basic freedoms.
THE BILL OF RIGHTS
CHAPTER 3
• The first ten amendments were added to
the Constitution less than three years after
it became effective. They were proposed
by the first session of the First Congress
in 1789 and were ratified by the States in
late 1791.
• The first ten amendments are known as
the Bill of Rights.
THE BILL OF RIGHTS
CHAPTER 3
THE LATER AMENDMENTS
CHAPTER 3
• Each of the other amendments that has been added to
the Constitution over the past 200 years also grew about
because of some particular set of circumstances.
• 11th Amendment declares that no State may be sued in
the federal courts by a citizen of another State or by
citizen of any foreign state.
• 12th Amendment in 1894, was added to the Constitution
in 1804 after the electoral college had failed to produce a
winner in the presidential election of 1800. The election
went to the House of Representatives.
• 13th Amendment, 1865, abolished slavery in the United
States.
Amendments to the Constitution
After the Bill of Rights
CHAPTER 3
THE LATER AMENDMENTS
CHAPTER 3
• 14th Amendment 1868, gave the freedmen citizenship
• 15th Amendment 1870, gave them the right to vote.
• 18th Amendment 1919, established a nationwide prohibition
of alcohol.
• 21st Amendment 1933, repealed the 18th Amendment.
• 22nd Amendment 1951, limited the number of terms a
president could serve.
• 26th Amendment added in 1971, lowered the voting age to
18 in all elections in the United States.
• 27th Amendment 1992, forbids members of Congress from
raising their own pay during that term.
Section 2 Assessment
CHAPTER 3
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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Section 2 Assessment
CHAPTER 3
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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TERMS AND QUESTIONS
CHAPTER 3 SECTION 3
CHAPTER 3
• What are the 5 basic ways that Constitutional
interpretation takes place?
• How do informal procedures for interpreting the
Constitution differ from formal amendment?
• Judiciary Act of 1789
• 25th Amendment
• What is an executive agreement?
• Treaty
• Electoral college
• Cabinet
• Senatorial courtesy
Informal Amendment Processes
CHAPTER 3
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.)
2.)
3.)
4.)
5.)
the passage of basic legislation by Congress;
actions taken by the President;
key decisions of the Supreme Court;
the activities of political parties;
custom.
Executive Action and Court Decisions
CHAPTER 3
Executive Action
• Presidential actions have
produced a number of important
informal amendments, such as
the use of the military under the
power of commander in chief.
• An executive agreement is a
pact made by the President
directly with the head of a
foreign state.
• Treaty – formal agreement
between two or more sovereign
states.
Court Decisions
• The nation’s courts, most
importantly the United States
Supreme Court, interpret and
apply the Constitution in many
cases they hear.
The Power to Make Treaties
CHAPTER 3
PARTY PRACTICES
CHAPTER 3
• Political parties have also been a source
of Constitutional interpretation. The
Constitution makes no mention of political
parties.
• Neither the Constitution nor any law
provides for the nomination of candidates
for the presidency.
• Electoral college - a group that makes the
formal selection of the nation’s President.
The Electoral College
CHAPTER 3
CUSTOM
CHAPTER 3
• Unwritten customs may be as strong as written laws.
• Cabinet – an advisory body to the President traditionally made up of
the heads of the executive departments and other officers.
• Each time when a President died in office, the Vice President
succeeded to that office.
• 25th Amendment – 1967 finally made it a law that the VP would become
President.
• Senatorial courtesy – a long-established custom that the Senate will
only approve those presidential appointees that are acceptable to the
senator or senators of the President’s party from the State involved.
• For nearly 150 years, “no third term tradition” was a followed rule in
presidential politics. FDR broke the no third term custom
• 22nd Amendment – 1951, was passed to assure of only 2 terms.
22ND AMENDMENT
CHAPTER 3
Section 3 Assessment
CHAPTER 3
1. An informal amendment can be established by
(a) actions taken by the President.
(b) custom.
(c) key decisions of the Supreme Court.
(d) all of the above.
2. An executive agreement is
(a) a promise from the President to the legislature.
(b) a pact made by the President directly with the head of a foreign
state.
(c) a decision made by the President and his cabinet members.
(d) the contract the President signs when he accepts the office.
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Section 3 Assessment
CHAPTER 3
1. An informal amendment can be established by
(a) actions taken by the President.
(b) custom.
(c) key decisions of the Supreme Court.
(d) all of the above.
2. An executive agreement is
(a) a promise from the President to the legislature.
(b) a pact made by the President directly with the head of a foreign
state.
(c) a decision made by the President and his cabinet members.
(d) the contract the President signs when he accepts the office.
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