APGOV Unit 1 Review
The main idea in the Constitution is limited government
The idea for a limited government was inspired by a European movement (the Enlightenment)
Enlightenment ideas in the Constitution
natural rights: people are born with certain rights that are given to them by their Creator (not given to them by a monarch, so couldn’t be taken away by a monarch)
John Locke, Thomas Hobbes
state of nature: comes before government, where humans are free
Hobbs argues that a state of nature without a government would be nasty because everyone would be stepping over one another to have their rights secured
Locke argues that everyone is born free
popular sovereignty/social contract
By nature, the power to govern is in the hands of the people
social contract: to protect their natural rights, people willingly give over some of their power to the government (Jean-Jacques Rousseau)
If the government violates the agreement, it’s the people’s duty to overthrow it and replace it
The state is the servant of the people, not the other way around
Republicanism
Baron de Montesquieu (book “The Spirit of Laws)
A republic form of government is people elect leaders to represent them and create laws in the public interest
In order to keep power from becoming tyrannical, the power needs to be separated between three branches (legislative, executive, and judicial)
Declaration of Independence
outlined the reasons for the official break between the American colonies and the British Empire
written by Thomas Jefferson with help from John Adams and Benjamin Franklin
Constitution
separation of powers
republicanism
The Articles of Confederation wasn’t very effective
Constitutional Convention/Philadelphia Convention 1787: The new constitution was drafted
originally just to discuss the weaknesses of the Articles, but soon turned into drafting the new Constitution by eliminating the weaknesses and strengthening the central government
George Washington presided
The grand committee was in charge of forming the compromises to draft the new governing document
James Madison took the lead on writing it
Laid the foundation for republicanism and the separation of powers
the Framers created a representative republic
Instead of a pure democracy (everybody gets a vote), the people would elect into office representatives who would legislate on behalf of the people
Framers feared pure democracy because they feared it would lead to mob rule
DIFFERENT TYPES OF DEMOCRACY
participatory democracy
broad participation in politics and civil society
wants as many people to come to the democracy party
Citizens vote on laws directly (not with representatives)
shows up in many local politics: town hall meetings, where anyone can participate in local policy-making
initiative: when voters put a measure on a ballot that they want passed into law
referendum: people oppose a law that is passed by their legislature; if the vote is widely unpopular, they can call for a vote to defeat that law
elite democracy
limited participation, only by a few, well-educated and informed group of people who are qualified to direct the nation through law-making on behalf of the people
Elite democracies can prevent the people from making unwise policy decisions
The President of the US appoints justices to the Supreme Court (the population has no say)
electoral college: people don’t vote for the president, only a handful of electors from states
pluralist democracy
middle ground between the elite and participatory
group-based activism by regular people who work to impact political decision-making
interest groups (NRA, NAACP)
states: each represents the interest of its citizens, and they argue to try to pass legislation that is best for their state’s people
These types in the Constitution
Elite: provides elected representatives who legislate on behalf of the people
Pluralist: In order to get a law passed, various interests, both state and otherwise, have to compromise to get it done
participatory: separation of power between the federal and state governments
Federalist 10
Tyranny is almost impossible because all the factions would have to compete against one another
Such competition would protect the nation from tyranny
Main argument: “Mischief of factions”
factions: groups of people who believe their interests are more important than any other interests
If the majority always prevailed, then the minority would never be represented, but if too many protections were provided to the minority, the common good would never prevail
The solution is to create a republican style government combined with the large size of the US
There would be so many factions and competing interests that they would have to debate and compromise to get any laws passed
Majority rule and minority rights would be upheld
Brutus 1
wants the participatory model of democracy
he feared the tyranny of a powerful central government
wanted the majority of the power in the hands of the states
argues that history has never seen a republican style government govern a population as large as the United States
Under the necessary and proper clause and the supremacy clause, the central government would be too powerful and state governments would be unnecessary
would squash the interests of the states
Federalist 10 v Brutus 1
Majority rule v minority rights
Federalists (Hamilton, Madison, John Jay): more centralized government v Anti-Federalists (Patrick Henry, George Mason): against ratification of the Constitution because they thought the Constitution, already in place, which gave most of the power to the states, was what America needed
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
July 1776: American colonists gained independence from Britain
They had no government, so they had to create one
Each state drafted a constitution for itself, but it varied a lot, so they created a Constitution for the entire nation
Since they had just come from a monarchy, it was as far from a monarchy as you can get
States held most of the power
The central government was very weak
Weaknesses
The federal government only had one branch (Congress)
In order to amend, all 13 states had to agree
Congress had no power to raise tax revenues (if they wanted more money, they had to ask the states), so the federal Congress was broke
in order to help, in 1782, Congress proposed a solution that would grant them the power to raise funds through a 5% tariff
11 states said yes, Virginia was in between, and Rhode Island said no
No national currency (all states had different money)
Congress had no power to raise a national army
Shay’s rebellion: the economy was poopy butt, and Congress had no money so they weren’t paying the Revolutionary War soldiers what they were due
This was a problem for the farmers because they had gone into debt while they were fighting, and they were having trouble paying off the debt due to inflation and taxes being raised
The farmers petitioned for relief from the federal and state governments, but they offered no relief and just demanded that they pay their taxes and debts
One of the farmers was called Daniel Shays in MA, who raised a militia of around 1K other farmers, who armed themselves for a proper rebellion
MA gathered their own army and basically COOKED them to ASHES
When Shays's army began shooting, the governor of MA asked for help from the national army, but THERE IS NO NATIONAL ARMY, HAHAHA I BET I GOT YOU THERE
After Shays, the government began to wonder if other people like Shays would come up, but if they would be successful
COMPROMISES IN THE CONSTITUTION
from the Constitutional Convention
Great compromise: debate how people would be represented in the new Congress
The new Constitution would establish a republican government with representatives who would do the work of government
How to decide how many representatives each state would get
Virginia Plan: representatives ought to be apportioned by population (bigger states would have more representatives)
Large states get the advantage
New Jersey Plan: representatives ought to be apportioned equally (each state gets one vote)
Small states get the advantage
took these two plans and created the bicameral legislature with two houses
House of Representatives: apportioned by population
Senate: apportioned equally
How the president would be elected
Some say they should be elected by representatives (Congress), others by the people
Electoral College: Each state is given the same number of electors as they have representatives in Congress, and it is the electors who put the president in office
States make their own decision on how the representative votes
3/5 Compromise: how enslaved people would count for representation in the House of Representatives
Northern delegates want representation by the free population (because enslaved people are property, not people
Southerners disagreed and threatened to leave the convention, and if they did, there would be no Constitution
They compromised to count 3/5 of the enslaved population for purposes of representation and taxation
Compromise on the importation of the enslaved
Some wanted to abolish the slave trade in the Constitution, but the southerners didn’t want to
The deal was that the slave trade wouldn’t be touched for another 20 years, after which it would be abolished, which it was in 1808
It was difficult for the Articles to get amended
In Article V of the Constitution, they laid out a two-stage process of amending the Constitution
proposal: either Congress or special state conventions can propose an amendment
A 2/3 vote is needed to pass the amendment to the next stage
After that, the proposed amendment has to be ratified or accepted by ¾ of the states
can be done by state legislatures or state ratifying conventions
If ¾ of the states vote to approve the amendment, it becomes one
The Constitution has been amended 27 times (the first 10 were amended all at once)
It took until 1790 to get the Constitution ratified, and Rhode Island was the last to ratify
Continuing Debates
Government Surveillance
9/11 attacks (led by men who had lived in America) caused the government to pass the USA Patriot Act to try to stop future terrorist attacks by monitoring Americans’ phones and emails
Americans argued it violated their 4th Amendment Rights for no unreasonable searches or seizures
The debate was central power v individual rights
Education
originally falls within the domain of state authority
In 2001, Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act: in order for schools to receive funding, they had to meet certain criteria (it was very high), and if they didn’t meet them, the government imposed sanctions on those states
The debate is how much the federal government can wiggle into the authority of the state
Separation of Power: power is separated; no one branch of government holds all authority
legislative branch: two houses —> Congress
House of Representatives
Senate
power to propose and make laws (no other branch can do that)
executive branch: POTUS, bureaucracy
execute/enforce the laws
Judicial branch: SCOTUS, federal courts
Interpret the constitutionality of the law
Checks and Balances: Each branch has the power to check the other branches
Legislative branch (Senate) checks the executive branch with its power of advice and consent; they vote to approve some high-level presidential appointments (cabinet positions, SCOTUS justices), hold the power of impeachment
The executive branch has the power to check Congress through the veto (Article 2, Section 7). For a bill to become a law, the last step is for the president to sign it, but if he doesn’t like the law, then he can veto it, and it gets sent back to Congress to start over again. If he vetoes a bill, Congress can override the veto with a 2/3 vote (becomes a law without the president’s signature)
The judicial branch checks the legislative branch through judicial review
Federalist 51
The separation of powers and checks and balances are able to control the abuse of power by any one branch
Each branch has to work as independently of the others as possible, but also possess the necessary checking powers to keep the others in their lane
The chief danger to the new republic would be investing too much power in one branch above the others
Stakeholder: anyone with a vested interest in the outcome of policymaking
We the people are the stakeholders
How stakeholders interact with the branches
Legislative Branch
Interest groups can pay professional lobbyists to meet with representatives to make them aware of the group’s main issue and try to get them to vote in their interest
Average citizens can write letters to try to persuade legislators
Executive Branch
Citizens have access to the bureaucratic agencies run by the executive branch
stakeholders can file a complaint with these agencies if a law is being broken
Judicial Branch
stakeholders can use the courts to challenge unjust and unconstitutional laws or appeal wrongful convictions
FEDERALISM
Federalism: shared power between the states and the federal government
exclusive powers: powers delegated by the Constitution to the federal government (like declaring war)
reserved powers: the powers kept by the states (10th Amendment)
Concurrent powers: both the national and state governments share (taxes)
fiscal federalism: Congress establishes national standards, then directs funds to states that comply with the standards, and withholds funds from those that don’t
happens through grants
categorical grant: gives federal money to the states as long as they comply with specific federal standards
Civil Rights Act of 1964: withheld federal funds from schools that segregated
Elementary/Secondary Education Act: further requirements that needed to be met if a school wanted to receive federal funding
Block grant: first created in 1966
Returned some of the power back to the states; still, money given to the states by the federal government
Federal money is given to be spent in a broad category, and the states determine how that money is spent within the broad boundaries that are given
Mandates: require states to follow federal directives, and give money to the states so that they can carry out the mandates
Clean Air Act: created national environmental standards; states were required to comply, but received funding to help them be able to do so
Unfunded mandate:
The federal government sets the mandate, but doesn’t give money to help the states comply
Reserved Powers: 10th Amendment: powers not explicitly belonging to the federal government in the Constitution are to be granted to the states
Regulation of trade within a state (the federal government regulates trade within states)
14th Amendment: Reconstruction Era (after the Civil War)
The 13th Amendment gave Blacks protections federally, but states could still technically violate that amendment
applies the Bill of Rights to the states
Commerce Clause (Article 1, Section 8)
Congress has the authority to regulate commerce among the states
Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic Clause) (Article 1, Section 8)
Congress has the power to pass any law which shall be deemed necessary and proper to the carrying out of its enumerated powers
Full Faith and Credit Clause
Each state must respect the other’s laws
Your driver’s license is valid if you cross the state line
Supremacy Clause
Whenever there is a conflict between the state and federal governments, the federal government always wins
FEDERALISM IN ACTION
Environmental Regulations
In 2015, Obama led the US into the Paris Agreement (climate change)
in order to enter a treaty like this, it would normally need approval by the Senate, which was majority Republican at the time and was not a big fan of that
Obama entered the agreement by executive agreement
All sorts of new environmental regulations were required among the states to reduce carbon emissions
When Trump won the presidency, he got us out of the Paris Agreement, but some states decided to keep the regulations (California), demonstrating that in California, you have to follow much stricter regulations than in the rest of the nation
Legalization of Marijuana
has been legal federally
1970 Controlled Substances Act: severe punishments for the use of marijuana
In 1996, California voted to legalize marijuana, and they did so by statewide vote, and other states followed
In 2008, Colorado legalized recreational marijuana, but by 2012, marijuana was still illegal federally
Obama didn’t really care about it, so he said, although its illegal, he won’t be enforcing the law
Colorado was being a laboratory for democracy
18 more states have also legalized recreational marijuana
Laboratories for democracy: States will pass certain laws, and then representatives of the federal government will look at how the states implement that law to determine if that law should be passed nationally