Nature of the US Constitution
● Codified - Made by founding fathers during War of Independence (1789)
● 7 Articles, 27 Amendments
- First 10 amendments = the Bill of Rights
● Entrenched by Article v - cannot be changed without supermajority - 2/3 of congress
● Vagueness - implied powers
- Evaluation - Nature
● Entrenched - preserves intentions of the founding fathers
● Vagueness allows for modern interpretation
● Simplicity - easy to understand by citizens
● Clarity - clear separation of powers
● Vagueness - conflict due to differing interpretations
● Hard to amend
● Elastic Clause around congress creates conflict
Constitutional Framework
Articles -
Article I - Legislative powers to congress, election process (Reps - 2yrs, Sen - 6yrs)
Article II - Power to President, VP, both elected by electoral college
Article III - Judicial power, justices appointed by president and approved by senate
Article IV - Relations between states, respect for other states laws, republican gov not a king
Article V - Constitutional amendment process, 3/4 of states and 2/3 of congress
Article VI - Supremacy clause - constitution is the highest law
Article VII - Outlines ratification process for constitution to be put into place
Amendments
● Article V outlines constitutional amendment process
● 2/3 of both Congress houses and formal support of 3/4 of states
- Bill of Rights
- First 10 amendments (1791)
- 1st - Right to freedom of speech and religion
- 2nd - Right to bear arms
- 4th - Right to not have ‘unreasonable searches and seizures’
- 6th - Right to trial by jury
- 8th - Right to not have cruel and unusual punishments
- 10th - All power not granted to the federal, is a state power
- 13th, 14th and 15th - Abolished slavery, civil rights for ex-slaves
- 19th - Women's right to vote
- 22nd - Limits Presidential terms to 2
- 26th - Changed voting age from 21 to 18
- Evaluation
● Populism - Hard for any one group to amend it - Trump tweeting he would overturn 14th
amendment - birthright citizenship - with an executive order, this is not possible
● States’ rights - Amendment process protects states’ rights
● Protects founding fathers’ wishes - regular elections and separation of powers
● States overrepresented - all have equal say - Wyoming vs California
● Undemocratic - 13 states can block will of the people - feminists have tried to introduce an
Equal Rights Amendment since 1921, blocked by conservative states
Federalism
● Power divided between the central (federal) and state governments
● Articles I-IV set out power of the states and federal government
, ● 10th Amendment gives all powers not for the federal, to the states
- Evaluation
● Each state has fully working gov with 3 branches
● Protections, rights and some taxes are different in many states
● States have power to ratify amendments to the constitution
● Congress can issue mandates that the state governments have to follow
● Most states do not have year-round legislatures compared to congress
● Powers given to the fed vs states is vague, fed power has increased significantly
Separation of powers
● Influenced by John Locke, no branch should have too much power
● 3 branches of government are totally separate
● EXAMPLE - Obama (P), Biden (VP) they had to give up their seats in the Senate
- Checks and Balances
● Check actions made by other branches
● Often exclusive to one branch
● Ensures no branch goes unchecked, prevents unequal power distribution
- EXAMPLE - Justices are appointed by P but approved by Senate
● President can choose to veto a law passed by a Congress but if Congress can override with
2/3 majority
● Congress has power of the purse, can declare war, can override president veto
● SC can declare laws and executive actions unconstitutional
- Evaluation
● Executive orders can be nullified by Congress, as congressional laws are more significant
than executive orders
● SC is able to strike down laws as being unconstitutional, their ability to do this has not
changed
● Recent attempts by the executive to change the structure of the SC in order to pass
legislation have been blocked by Congress
● President is unable to fire judges, very few have been impeached
● President is the de facto leader of the party and has power over the legislative agenda
● Process of separation of powers means that legislation is slow to pass, if it passes at all -
Congressional gridlock is common
● Increased use of executive orders have bypassed the legislative process through Congress,
concentrating power in the hands of the President
● The nature of the appointment process for the judicial branch means that separation of
powers is not always effective
- President can appoint judges for political gain
- If one party has majority in the Senate, they can deny a nomination, or refuse to hold
confirmation hearings
- EXAMPLE - Senate, under Mitch McConnell in 2016, refused to hold confirmation
hearings for Obama's nomination of Garland
- Judges with political views may not adequately check the actions of the executive
they support
Bipartisanship
● 2 groups work together to pass laws
- Evaluation
● 1960s two parties worked together under Lyndon B Johnson (Democrat) and in the 1980s
under Ronald Reagan (Republican)
● Little bipartisanship under Obama, but in 2010 ‘Dont ask, Dont tell’ was sponsored by
Democrats and Republicans
● When there is a divided gov, the need for bipartisanship has caused many problems
, ● Political parties have become more polarised - hard to reach compromise
● This ‘political evil’ was feared by John Adams (a founding father)
Limited Government
● One of the key principles of a liberal democracy, important to FF who believed power in the
hands of one person/group was dangerous
How the gov is limited
● Separation of powers and system of checks and balances were put in place to restrict power
of federal government
● Codification and entrenchment of the constitution prevents the gov from imposing their will on
citizens
● The addition to the Bill of Rights also limited the power of the gov by protecting the rights of
the individual and the states
- Evaluation
● SC has often struck down legislation on the basis that it imposes on the rights of citizens as
set out in the Bill of Rights
● Checks and balances and divided gov has often prevented or diluted social reforms by the
democrats that would expand the powers of the federal government
● Conservatives and libertarians argue the gov has gotten too big as it has expanded its role
into economic and social policy
● They want to limit the government's role in these areas especially welfare programs
● Many also argue that the federal government has grown too large and has more power over
the states than the FF originally intended
Nature and Basis of US Federalism
● US has a fed gov which makes laws that apply to all states, territories and DofC
● Individual states
- states have different histories, politics and cultures
- Were incorporated into the union at different times - originally 13
- States rights keeps the individual culture and histories alive, and means each state
has different characteristics today
● State government
- 50 states all have own gov with 3 branches
- Executive is run by a governor - elected, responsible for implementation of state laws
and running executive branch
● Basis of federalism
- 10th amendment - non federal power = state power
History of Federalism
● Dual federalism (1780s - 1930s)
- States had strong rights
- President and federal was much less powerful
● Cooperative Federalism (1930s - 60s)
- Federal power over states increased - new departments e.g. defence
- Grants with specific purposes were increased which specified what money has to be
spent on
● New Federalism (1970s - 90s)
- Power back to the states from central gov
- Republican presidents mostly responsible for this
- EXAMPLE - block grants, given to states to do whatever they want with
● Federalism under Obama
● Codified - Made by founding fathers during War of Independence (1789)
● 7 Articles, 27 Amendments
- First 10 amendments = the Bill of Rights
● Entrenched by Article v - cannot be changed without supermajority - 2/3 of congress
● Vagueness - implied powers
- Evaluation - Nature
● Entrenched - preserves intentions of the founding fathers
● Vagueness allows for modern interpretation
● Simplicity - easy to understand by citizens
● Clarity - clear separation of powers
● Vagueness - conflict due to differing interpretations
● Hard to amend
● Elastic Clause around congress creates conflict
Constitutional Framework
Articles -
Article I - Legislative powers to congress, election process (Reps - 2yrs, Sen - 6yrs)
Article II - Power to President, VP, both elected by electoral college
Article III - Judicial power, justices appointed by president and approved by senate
Article IV - Relations between states, respect for other states laws, republican gov not a king
Article V - Constitutional amendment process, 3/4 of states and 2/3 of congress
Article VI - Supremacy clause - constitution is the highest law
Article VII - Outlines ratification process for constitution to be put into place
Amendments
● Article V outlines constitutional amendment process
● 2/3 of both Congress houses and formal support of 3/4 of states
- Bill of Rights
- First 10 amendments (1791)
- 1st - Right to freedom of speech and religion
- 2nd - Right to bear arms
- 4th - Right to not have ‘unreasonable searches and seizures’
- 6th - Right to trial by jury
- 8th - Right to not have cruel and unusual punishments
- 10th - All power not granted to the federal, is a state power
- 13th, 14th and 15th - Abolished slavery, civil rights for ex-slaves
- 19th - Women's right to vote
- 22nd - Limits Presidential terms to 2
- 26th - Changed voting age from 21 to 18
- Evaluation
● Populism - Hard for any one group to amend it - Trump tweeting he would overturn 14th
amendment - birthright citizenship - with an executive order, this is not possible
● States’ rights - Amendment process protects states’ rights
● Protects founding fathers’ wishes - regular elections and separation of powers
● States overrepresented - all have equal say - Wyoming vs California
● Undemocratic - 13 states can block will of the people - feminists have tried to introduce an
Equal Rights Amendment since 1921, blocked by conservative states
Federalism
● Power divided between the central (federal) and state governments
● Articles I-IV set out power of the states and federal government
, ● 10th Amendment gives all powers not for the federal, to the states
- Evaluation
● Each state has fully working gov with 3 branches
● Protections, rights and some taxes are different in many states
● States have power to ratify amendments to the constitution
● Congress can issue mandates that the state governments have to follow
● Most states do not have year-round legislatures compared to congress
● Powers given to the fed vs states is vague, fed power has increased significantly
Separation of powers
● Influenced by John Locke, no branch should have too much power
● 3 branches of government are totally separate
● EXAMPLE - Obama (P), Biden (VP) they had to give up their seats in the Senate
- Checks and Balances
● Check actions made by other branches
● Often exclusive to one branch
● Ensures no branch goes unchecked, prevents unequal power distribution
- EXAMPLE - Justices are appointed by P but approved by Senate
● President can choose to veto a law passed by a Congress but if Congress can override with
2/3 majority
● Congress has power of the purse, can declare war, can override president veto
● SC can declare laws and executive actions unconstitutional
- Evaluation
● Executive orders can be nullified by Congress, as congressional laws are more significant
than executive orders
● SC is able to strike down laws as being unconstitutional, their ability to do this has not
changed
● Recent attempts by the executive to change the structure of the SC in order to pass
legislation have been blocked by Congress
● President is unable to fire judges, very few have been impeached
● President is the de facto leader of the party and has power over the legislative agenda
● Process of separation of powers means that legislation is slow to pass, if it passes at all -
Congressional gridlock is common
● Increased use of executive orders have bypassed the legislative process through Congress,
concentrating power in the hands of the President
● The nature of the appointment process for the judicial branch means that separation of
powers is not always effective
- President can appoint judges for political gain
- If one party has majority in the Senate, they can deny a nomination, or refuse to hold
confirmation hearings
- EXAMPLE - Senate, under Mitch McConnell in 2016, refused to hold confirmation
hearings for Obama's nomination of Garland
- Judges with political views may not adequately check the actions of the executive
they support
Bipartisanship
● 2 groups work together to pass laws
- Evaluation
● 1960s two parties worked together under Lyndon B Johnson (Democrat) and in the 1980s
under Ronald Reagan (Republican)
● Little bipartisanship under Obama, but in 2010 ‘Dont ask, Dont tell’ was sponsored by
Democrats and Republicans
● When there is a divided gov, the need for bipartisanship has caused many problems
, ● Political parties have become more polarised - hard to reach compromise
● This ‘political evil’ was feared by John Adams (a founding father)
Limited Government
● One of the key principles of a liberal democracy, important to FF who believed power in the
hands of one person/group was dangerous
How the gov is limited
● Separation of powers and system of checks and balances were put in place to restrict power
of federal government
● Codification and entrenchment of the constitution prevents the gov from imposing their will on
citizens
● The addition to the Bill of Rights also limited the power of the gov by protecting the rights of
the individual and the states
- Evaluation
● SC has often struck down legislation on the basis that it imposes on the rights of citizens as
set out in the Bill of Rights
● Checks and balances and divided gov has often prevented or diluted social reforms by the
democrats that would expand the powers of the federal government
● Conservatives and libertarians argue the gov has gotten too big as it has expanded its role
into economic and social policy
● They want to limit the government's role in these areas especially welfare programs
● Many also argue that the federal government has grown too large and has more power over
the states than the FF originally intended
Nature and Basis of US Federalism
● US has a fed gov which makes laws that apply to all states, territories and DofC
● Individual states
- states have different histories, politics and cultures
- Were incorporated into the union at different times - originally 13
- States rights keeps the individual culture and histories alive, and means each state
has different characteristics today
● State government
- 50 states all have own gov with 3 branches
- Executive is run by a governor - elected, responsible for implementation of state laws
and running executive branch
● Basis of federalism
- 10th amendment - non federal power = state power
History of Federalism
● Dual federalism (1780s - 1930s)
- States had strong rights
- President and federal was much less powerful
● Cooperative Federalism (1930s - 60s)
- Federal power over states increased - new departments e.g. defence
- Grants with specific purposes were increased which specified what money has to be
spent on
● New Federalism (1970s - 90s)
- Power back to the states from central gov
- Republican presidents mostly responsible for this
- EXAMPLE - block grants, given to states to do whatever they want with
● Federalism under Obama
