US Constitution and feder alism
Con stitution : a collection of rules, principles and conventions that outlines our
political system, location of sovereignty and relationship between the government
and those being governed
Feder alism : System of government in which power and sovereignty are shared
between the federal government and the individual states
5 key pr inciples of the constitution:
Lim ited gover n m en t:
The founding fathers did not want to create a federal government with the limited
powers that could resemble parliament, as they fought for independence from the
British monarchy. They therefore wanted to limit it through separation of powers
and checks and balances which would prevent anyone brand from gaining too much
power over the other. Also, the Bill of Rights gave rights protection to individuals and
meant the government could not challenge that. In the case of Trump V Vance, the
Supreme Court struck down presidential immunity, saying that Trump did not have
the absolute immunity from subpoenas directed at his private papers.
Checks an d balan ces:
This is where each branch of government should be given the power to oversee the
actions of the other branches and even, in some cases, prevent the other branches
from acting. President Biden tried to pass his Build Back Better agenda, which
consisted of the American Rescue plan, American Jobs plan and American Families
plan. He managed to get the Rescue plan signed in March 2021, and part of the Job
plan included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs plan.
Separ ation of pow er s:
The US Federal government is divided into three branches that are entirely
independent of another; congress, the president and the Supreme Court. They each
have a separate article in the constitution outlining its power. Vice President Kamala
Harris had to leave a seat in the Senate to take up her role in the executive branch.
Feder alism :
, Federalism is a system of shared sovereignty, where the federal government would
have the authority over some aspects of political life while the states would remain
sovereign over others. This would ensure that the states right and individual cultures
and beliefs were not ignored. In 2021, 19 states past laws to restrict voting rights
while 25 states past laws to expand voting rights. The power to run how elections
happen belong to the state based on Article I of the US Constitution.
B ipar tisan ship:
The ability of two or more parties to work together to achieve an outcome. This is
enforced by the super majorities required in the constitution.
The am endm ent pr ocess:
Feder al level: either a proposed amendment passes the House of
Representatives and the Senate with a 2/3 vote in both, or a national constitutional
convention is called on an amendment by 2/3 of state legislatures
State level: Either an amendment is ratified by a simple majority in 3/4 of state
legislature or an amendment is ratified by a state ratifying convention in 3/4 of states
Out of nearly 12,000 proposed constitutional amendments, only 27 have passed
through this process successfully, and a further 6 only made it through the first stage.
The requirement for super majorities is a big stumbling block. This level of consensus
and compromises very difficult to achieve. Also getting 38 out of 50 states to agree is
also challenging. The USA expanded graphically in terms of people, from a
population of three5 million and 1789 to nearly 330,000,000 today. It has expanded
culturally too, and the states is now very immensely in their beliefs
Disadvan tages:
There are changes in modern society that are not reflected in the constitution
due to the difficulty of the amendment process. The Equal Rights amendment
would've recognised the rights of women and men equally, yet only managed
to get the support of 38th state (Virginia) in 2020, nearly 50 years after the
amendment had been sent for state ratification and long after the deadline for
approving it had passed
There remain several outdated aspects in the constitution that are still
enforced today. Some of the changes in the USA have been reflected in
constitutional amendments, such as changing the Senate from an appointed to
an elected house, but many outdated aspects remain. One of these was pointed
Con stitution : a collection of rules, principles and conventions that outlines our
political system, location of sovereignty and relationship between the government
and those being governed
Feder alism : System of government in which power and sovereignty are shared
between the federal government and the individual states
5 key pr inciples of the constitution:
Lim ited gover n m en t:
The founding fathers did not want to create a federal government with the limited
powers that could resemble parliament, as they fought for independence from the
British monarchy. They therefore wanted to limit it through separation of powers
and checks and balances which would prevent anyone brand from gaining too much
power over the other. Also, the Bill of Rights gave rights protection to individuals and
meant the government could not challenge that. In the case of Trump V Vance, the
Supreme Court struck down presidential immunity, saying that Trump did not have
the absolute immunity from subpoenas directed at his private papers.
Checks an d balan ces:
This is where each branch of government should be given the power to oversee the
actions of the other branches and even, in some cases, prevent the other branches
from acting. President Biden tried to pass his Build Back Better agenda, which
consisted of the American Rescue plan, American Jobs plan and American Families
plan. He managed to get the Rescue plan signed in March 2021, and part of the Job
plan included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs plan.
Separ ation of pow er s:
The US Federal government is divided into three branches that are entirely
independent of another; congress, the president and the Supreme Court. They each
have a separate article in the constitution outlining its power. Vice President Kamala
Harris had to leave a seat in the Senate to take up her role in the executive branch.
Feder alism :
, Federalism is a system of shared sovereignty, where the federal government would
have the authority over some aspects of political life while the states would remain
sovereign over others. This would ensure that the states right and individual cultures
and beliefs were not ignored. In 2021, 19 states past laws to restrict voting rights
while 25 states past laws to expand voting rights. The power to run how elections
happen belong to the state based on Article I of the US Constitution.
B ipar tisan ship:
The ability of two or more parties to work together to achieve an outcome. This is
enforced by the super majorities required in the constitution.
The am endm ent pr ocess:
Feder al level: either a proposed amendment passes the House of
Representatives and the Senate with a 2/3 vote in both, or a national constitutional
convention is called on an amendment by 2/3 of state legislatures
State level: Either an amendment is ratified by a simple majority in 3/4 of state
legislature or an amendment is ratified by a state ratifying convention in 3/4 of states
Out of nearly 12,000 proposed constitutional amendments, only 27 have passed
through this process successfully, and a further 6 only made it through the first stage.
The requirement for super majorities is a big stumbling block. This level of consensus
and compromises very difficult to achieve. Also getting 38 out of 50 states to agree is
also challenging. The USA expanded graphically in terms of people, from a
population of three5 million and 1789 to nearly 330,000,000 today. It has expanded
culturally too, and the states is now very immensely in their beliefs
Disadvan tages:
There are changes in modern society that are not reflected in the constitution
due to the difficulty of the amendment process. The Equal Rights amendment
would've recognised the rights of women and men equally, yet only managed
to get the support of 38th state (Virginia) in 2020, nearly 50 years after the
amendment had been sent for state ratification and long after the deadline for
approving it had passed
There remain several outdated aspects in the constitution that are still
enforced today. Some of the changes in the USA have been reflected in
constitutional amendments, such as changing the Senate from an appointed to
an elected house, but many outdated aspects remain. One of these was pointed
