chapter 17: The US Constitution and Federalism

Define constitution

A set of rules, principles and conventions that outline the location of sovereignty, the political system and the relationship between the government and those governed.

Define federalism

The idea of a centralised federal government sharing power with individual states.

What are the features of the US Constitution? 4 things

codified, entrenched, bipartisan and vague

What are the principles of the US Government?

A separation of powers, a limited government, checks and balances, and federalism

What is separation of powers?

Avoiding a tyrannical centralised government: separating the government into 3 branches: the judiciary, the executive and the legislative.

How does the legislative branch of the US operate?

It is a bicameral system: comprises a House of Representatives and the Senate

What is the Bill of Rights?

The first ten amendments to the Constitution guarantee fundamental rights and freedoms, including speech, assembly, religion, and due process of law.

When was the Bill of Rights Passed?

1791

When was the War of Independence?

1775-83

When was the US constitution put into place?

ratified in 1788, put into place in 1789

define a limited government

The US federal government is limited to certain restrictions, through checks and balances over the branches of government- avoids tyrannical power

define a separation of powers

Made the judicial, legislative and executive powers separate, to prevent an individual from gaining too much power.

what are checks and balances?

made each branch of the government have the ability to oversee the actions of other branches and, in some cases, prevent the other branch from acting, providing a ‘balance’ of power.

what does codified mean?

a single written document for a constitution

Because the constitution is codified and entrenched, what else does this mean?

it is judiciable- the constitution containing higher law so that other laws made can be deemed constitutional or unconstitutional.

define entrenched

a constitution protected from change through legal process.

define enumerated powers and give 1 example

powers that are explicitly and specifically written in the constitution.

e.g. Article I saying congress have the right to ‘lay and collect taxes’ or the 2nd Ammendment

define implied powers and give one example

powers that are not explicitly written into the constitution but are assumed from the wording of the constitution or from the already stated powers

e.g. the necessary and proper clause allowing congress any extra power that would assist them in carrying out their enumerated powers.

define bipartisanship

involving the agreement or cooperation of two political parties that usually oppose each other's policies.h

how did the constitution seek to implement bipartisanship

some powers of congress and the amendment ratification process require supermajorities

different elections and appointments for each branch.

What is the amendment process?

Proposal brought before congress- both houses must vote a supermajority in favour of it (2/3 of both senate and house)

Brought to state level- Must be voted for by ¾ of state legislatures.

How many amendments have been proposed and how many have been ratified?

12,000 proposed, 27 ratified

Why have so few amendment sbeen ratified?

because of the difficulty in getting a congressional supermajority

because higher US population means more ideological differences, meaning less demographics tend to vote in line with one another.

what are 4 advantages of the amendment process with an example for each?

• Protects the rights of smaller states against larger states  - Article V states ¾ of the US states must ratify an amendment 

• Prevents populist amendments - Trump tweeted he would get rid of birthright citizenship, but this right is protected by the 14th amendment

• Founding fathers intended for this process to be difficult 

• Prevents abuse of power - rejected of Bush’s request for a line-item veto power in 2006

what are 4 disadvantages of the amendment process with an example for each?

• Difficulty in ensuring constitution remains up to date- e.g. Equal RIghts Amendment failed to be ratified, and would have granted women and men equal rights much earlier.

• Smaller states have the same say in constitutional amendments as larger states - Wyoming has a population of 580,000 but California has nearly 40 million

• Difficult to adapt to modern day scenarios - Equal Rights Amendment was passed in both Houses in 1972, but not ratified due to not gaining ¾ majority of the states

• Amendment process is undemocratic - only 13 out of 50 states need to oppose an amendment to block it - Flag protection amendment got over 50% support but did not get super majority amongst states