Constitutional Frameworks and Federal Systems and Federal Powers

 # Introduction to Constitutional Systems and Republicanism

• Course Context: This section marks a transition from the historical background of the United States Constitution into the systemic mechanics of the government it established. It is noted as the longest chapter in the curriculum due to the breadth of historical and systemic details.
• Definition of Republicanism: The founders established a ‘republican’ form of government (referred to with a lowercase ‘r’ to distinguish it from the Republican political party).     - It is defined as a limited form of government.     - It is a system where the people participate, though participation was significantly restricted to certain groups at the time of the founding.
• Federalism: The system is defined by federalism, which is the division of power between a national (federal) government and lower forms of government (the states).     - As originally designed, the national government and the states were intended to be roughly equal in standing.

The Three Branches: Articles I, II, and III

• Separation of Powers: This concept refers specifically to the division of national government powers into three distinct branches to prevent any single entity from gaining total control.
• Article I: The Legislative Branch:     - This article establishes Congress.     - It is the most detailed article in the Constitution, providing specific and exhaustive instructions on the duties and structures of the legislative body.
• Article II: The Executive Branch:     - This article establishes the Presidency.     - While it contains significant detail regarding the office and its powers, it is notably less detailed than Article I.
• Article III: The Judicial Branch:     - This article establishes the court system.     - It is the least detailed of the first three articles because the founders spent the majority of their time arguing over the first two branches.     - Article III technically provides the power to create a Supreme Court and ‘inferior’ (lower) courts, but leaves the specifics to future legislation.
• The Judiciary Act of $1789$: Much of the actual structural detail for the American court system was established here, in the second half of the first session of Congress, rather than in the Constitution itself.

Checks and Balances and Unchecked Power

• Checks and Balances: Within the separated branches, mechanisms exist to allow branches to limit or ‘curtail’ one another.     - Judicial/Executive Check: The President has the power to nominate members of the Supreme Court, but the Senate must approve these nominations.     - Executive/Legislative Check: Congress creates laws, but the President must sign them to enact them. The President can also veto laws.     - Legislative/Executive Check: If a President vetoes a law, Congress has the power to perform a veto override.     - Judicial Review: This is the power of the courts (specifically the Supreme Court) to review the actions of the other branches and state governments to determine their constitutionality.         - Note: The power of judicial review is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution; the courts claimed this power in a later court case.
• The Presidential Power of Pardon: This is identifies as the only completely unchecked power in the Constitution.     - Pardon: If an individual is convicted of a federal crime and sent to a federal prison, the President can issue a pardon. This effectively erases the conviction as if it never happened.     - Commutation: A president can also grant a commutation. Unlike a pardon, this does not erase the conviction, but it does end the individual's prison sentence and allows for their release.     - Unchecked Status: If the President issues a pardon, neither Congress nor the Courts have any legal mechanism to stop or reverse it.

Constitutional Clauses and National Supremacy

• The Supremacy Clause: This clause establishes the hierarchy of law in the United States.     - When national law and state/local laws are in conflict, the national government always wins.     - Local governments are considered to be ‘owned’ or governed by the states, but both are subordinate to national supremacy.     - This was a direct response to the Articles of Confederation, where states frequently ignored national needs.
• The Elastic Clause (Necessary and Proper Clause): This clause is the primary reason the Constitution has remained functional for over two centuries.     - It allows the government to make any laws deemed ‘necessary and proper’ to carry out its functions.     - It provides the flexibility for the Constitution to adapt to changing times, different presidential administrations, and technological shifts such as electricity, steam power, nuclear power, and the Internet.

Enumerated and Implied Powers

• Enumerated Powers: These are the ‘big fancy words’ for powers that are explicitly written down in the Constitution.     - Examples include the power of taxation, the coinage of money, the regulation of interstate commerce (business crossing state lines), and the provision of a national defense.
• Implied Powers: These are powers supported by the Constitution but not expressly stated within the text.     - Example: Prostitution Bans: The national government uses the combination of the Interstate Commerce Clause (since prostitution is technically commerce) and the Necessary and Proper Clause to ban prostitution across state lines. They cannot ban it inside a single state (which is state jurisdiction), but they can regulate it when it crosses borders.     - Example: Labor Laws: Some of the first minimum wage and maximum hour laws (limiting the work week) were established for railroads because railroads physically crossed state lines, triggering federal interstate commerce authority.

Inter-State Relations and Individual Liberties

• Full Faith and Credit Clause: This requires states to recognize the civil judgments and public records of other states as valid.     - This prevents states from ignoring one another's legal documents.     - Marriage Example: The speaker mentions getting married in $2003$ in Florida and moving to Texas in $2004$. Because of this clause, the marriage remained legally valid in Texas without needing a new ceremony.     - Driver's License Example: This clause ensures a driver's license from one state (e.g., Kentucky, Oklahoma, or Florida) is recognized as a valid legal document in all other states.     - Legal Accountability: This clause ensures that legal obligations, such as child support, cannot be evaded simply by crossing state lines.
• The Bill of Rights and Ratification:     - There was a significant divide between proponents of national power and proponents of states' rights during the framing.     - Argument against listing rights: Some argued that if all states already protected rights like freedom of speech, it didn't need to be in the national document.     - Argument for listing rights: Others argued that a citizen from Connecticut might visit Virginia and lose their rights if they weren't protected nationally.     - Compromise: To get the Constitution ratified, the first $10$ amendments (The Bill of Rights) were added to guarantee basic liberties.