Chapter 3The Constitution

How has the Constitution lasted through changing times?

Section 1:Basic Principles

• Objectives:– Understand the basic outline of the Constitution.– Understand the six basic principles of the

Constitution: popular sovereignty, limited government, separation of powers, checks and balances, judicial review, and federalism.

The Constitution of the United States

• Written in 1787, it took effect in 1789• Is the nation’s fundamental law. • “The supreme Law of the Land”– The highest form of law in the United States

An Outline of the Constitution

• The Constitution sets out the basic principles upon which government in the United States was built and operates today.– Framework of government– People are sovereign and government is limited– Distributes powers among three branches of

government– Each branch has the power to check the other

branches

• Basic rules of American politics– Who wins and loses in the political arena– Deals largely with matters of basic principle– Not weighted down with detailed and

cumbersome provisions

Organization• Preamble-introduction• Seven sections-articles• 27 amendments– Printed in the order in which each provision was

adopted

The Seven Articles

• Preamble-states the purpose of the Constitution• Article I-Creates the Legislative branch• Article II-Creates the Executive Branch• Article III-Creates the Judicial branch• Article IV-relations among the States• Article V-Amending the Constitution• Article VI-National debts, supremacy of national

law, and oaths of office• Article VII-Ratifying the Constitution

Six Basic Principles

• Popular sovereignty• Limited government• Separation of powers • checks and balances• Judicial Review• Federalism

Popular Sovereignty

• All political power resides in the people• The people are the only source for any and all

governmental power– Elected leaders – Chosen by the people– Represent the people

Limited Government• No government is all-powerful• Government may do only

those things that the people have given it the power to do

• Government must obey the law– Constitutionalism-government

must be conducted according to constitutional principles

– Rule of law-government and its officers, in all that they do, are always subject to the law

Separation of Powers• Basic powers are distributed-separated-among

three distinct and independent branches of the government– Congress-legislative branch

• Lawmaking branch– President-executive branch

• Law executing, law enforcing, and law-administering powers of the National government

– Courts-the judicial branch• Supreme Court, interpret and apply the laws of the US in

cases brought before them.

Checks and Balances

• Three branches are tied together by checks and balances.– Each branch is subject to a number of

constitutional checks, or restraints, by the other branches

– Each branch has certain powers with which it can check the operations of the other two• Example: Congress makes law, President may veto,

Congress can override veto by a two-thirds vote

Judicial Review• The power of a court to

determine the constitutionality of a governmental action– Judicial review is the power to

declare unconstitutional– to declare illegal, null and void, of

no force and effect– Governmental action found to

violate some provision in the Constitution

Federalism• Division of power among a central

government and several regional governs

Section 2:Formal Amendment

• Objectives– Identify the four different ways by which the

Constitution may be formally changed– Explain how the formal amendment process

illustrates the principles of federalism and popular sovereignty

– Understand that several amendments have been proposed, but not ratified

– Outline the 27 amendments that have been added to the Constitution.

Formal Amendment Process• Changes or additions that become part of the

written language of the Constitution– Article V sets out two methods for the proposal

and two methods for the ratification of amendments

– Four possible methods

• 1st-– amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds

vote in each house of Congress and ratified by three fourths of the State Legislature• Today @ least 38 State legislatures must approve an

amendment to make it a part of the Constitution

• 2nd-– amendment may be proposed by Congress and

ratified by conventions called for that purpose, in three fourths of the States• Only the 21st Amendment was adopted in this way

• 3rd- – an amendment may be proposed by a national

convention, called by Congress at the request of two thirds of the State legislatures• 34 votes today• Then it must be ratified by three fourths of the State

legislatures

• 4th-– an amendment may be proposed by a national

convention and then ratified by conventions in three fourths of the States

Federalism and Popular Sovereignty

• Proposal takes place at the national level and ratification is a State-by-State matter.

• When Constitution is amended, that action represents the expression of the people’s sovereign will.

Proposed Amendments

• *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.”

The 27 Amendments

• Bill of Rights:– First 10 Amendments• Added less than 3 years after it became effective

• The Later Amendments– Added to the Constitution over the last 200 years

Section 3:Change by Other Means

• Objectives:– Identify how basic legislation has added to our

understanding of the Constitution over time.– Describe the ways in which the executive and

judicial branches have interpreted the Constitution.

– Analyze the role of party practices and custom in interpreting the Constitution.

Basic Legislation

• Congress-agent of constitutional change– 1st:passed a number of laws to clarify several of

the Constitution’s brief provisions– 2nd:added to the Constitution by the way in which

it has used many of its powers. • Example: Regulate foreign and interstate commerce

Executive Action

• Presidents using their power– Example: Only Congress can declare war. But the

Constitution also makes the President the commander in chief of the nation’s armed forces.• Several Presidents have declared war without Congress

– Executive agreement-a pact made by the President directly with the head of a foreign state• Do not need approved by Senate

– Treaty-a formal agreement between two or more sovereign states

Court Decisions

• United States Supreme court– Interpret and apply the Constitution in many of

the cases they hear– Court established Judicial Review• Not specifically mentioned in the Constitution

Party Practices

• No mention in the Constitution• Most of the framers were against political

parties• 1830s– Major parties held national conventions to elect

presidential candidates

• Electoral College-body that makes the formal selection of the nation’s President

Custom and Usage• Unwritten customs– Constitution does not say so– Examples

• Not because the constitution says so, the heads of the 15 executive departments make up the Cabinet, an advisory body to the President

• On each of the 8 occasions when a President died in office, the Vice President succeeded to that office. Yet, the written words of the Constitution did not provide for this practice until the adoption of the 25th Amendment in 1967. Until then the Constitution said only that he powers and duties of the presidency, but not the office itself, “shall devolve on” the Vice President.