Big Ideas:

• The US Constitution provides the basic framework of government and serves as the supreme law of the land

• The United States Constitution and other founding documents (eg. the Federalist Papers and the Declaration of Independence) resulted in the country’s “constitutionalism”

• Liberty and order is how a balance is achieved between the power of government and the individual rights of the people

• Within the constitution, there are built-in mechanisms that create competing policy-making interests and processes that guarantee that the people’s interests will be represented

Evolution of Representative Democracy

History of Democracy:

• Democracy originated in ancient Greece under the premise that governmental rule should be that of the many rather than the few

• Enlightenment thinkers proposed that democracy should rely on the consent of the people and that there were certain rights that could not be taken away by the government (i.e. life, liberty, and property)

• The individual would be the central focus of government policy

Theories of Representative Democracy:

• Three models of representative democracy

  • Pluralist: various groups all vie for control of the policy agenda, which forces compromise

    • Maintains that competing groups are healthy because they provide a political connection to the government → The competition often clarifies information and prevents any one group from dominating the government→ Competing groups have each developed a political strategy to achieve their goals, and eventually, the resources of one group will independently affect governmental policy

  • Participatory: emphasizes participation in politics

    • Maintains that direct democracy that relies on majority rule defeats the idea of a representative form of government → this model can result in a violation of minority rights since all decisions are made by majority rule → a majority-rule approach to government can work only on a limited basis, such as in a “town meeting” setting

  • Elite: defines group behavior as deriving from an upper class

    • Maintains that power is concentrated in the most prominent and wealthiest organizations → The unequal nature of the power of groups negates the fact that groups are increasing → Ultimately money talks, and these large groups will have the most influence.

• Merging of Political Theories:

  • Each political theory has its own advantages and disadvantages, but most political analysts lean toward a democracy characterized by a pluralist society working in harmony and achieving compromise through centrist positions

Origins of the Constitution:

Federalists vs. Anti Federalists

• Federalists were worried about a “tyranny of the majority”, and hoped that the checks and balances of the Constitution, along with the separation of the three branches of government, would ensure the protection of the minorities

  • This was outlined in a series of articles known as the Federalist Papers

• Typically, the Federalists represented the upper class (eg. bankers and affluent property owners) while the Anti-Federalists were led by the emerging (and far more populous) middle class

  • Anti-Federalists argued that the Constitution would erode the principles of the Declaration of Independence by establishing an economic elite

• Once the Constitution was ratified, two leading parties evolved: the Federalist Party (supporting a robust national government) and the Democratic-Republicans (the party of the “common man”, wanting a more limited role of the central government")

Compromises and the Development of the US System of Government

• Delegates at the 1789 Constitutional Convention were split on how to reconcile fundamental differences regarding the organization of a new government

• Compromises were made to ensure that the government could run smoothly

  • The Connecticut Compromise resulted in the formation of a bicameral (two-house Congress): one house was represented equally by the states (the Senate) and the other was represented by population (the House of Representatives)

  • The Three-Fifths Compromise tried to resolve the issue of slavery in order to keep the economy (particularly in the South) afloat by compromising on the importation of slaves and deciding that every 5 enslaved people would count as 3 people for representation and tax purposes (to balance the power of representation in government)

• The Elastic Cause gave Congress the ability to make “all laws necessary and proper” to carry out the stated powers of Congress

• The Electoral College was established in Article II of the Constitution

• The Amendment Process was ratified in Article V of the Constitution

The Constitution

• The Goals of the Constitution (as set forth by the Preamble):

  • The establishment of justice

  • The assurance of domestic tranquility

  • The promotion of the general welfare

  • The security of individual liberty

• The first three articles of the Constitution provide the basics for the government

  • Article I defines the legislative powers of Congress and how they shall be appointed

  • Article II determines the role of the chief executive (the president and vice president), how succession/appointment would work, and their executive powers

    • Executive actions by the president are defined as policy directives that are ordered by the president without any Congressional authorization

    • Executive orders are legally binding and can be reversed by Congress and the courts

  • Article III outlines the nature of the judicial branch (the Supreme Court) and how justices would be appointed

    • The authority of judicial review was given to the Supreme Court in the landmark case of Marbury v. Madison (1803)

• The unwritten Constitution and its elasticity add to its viability, making it a living document

• A balance of power is achieved through checks and balances, which ensure that no one of the three branches of government becomes too powerful

Federalism

• Federalism, the division of power between a central, or federal, government and state governments, has been a fundamental and evolving feature of our system of government

• Federalism is defined as a vigorous relationship between the Federal and State governments

  • The 10th Amendment specifically tells the state that they have reserved powers: those powers which are not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution belong to the states

• Advocates of a strong federal system believe state and local governments do not have the sophistication to deal with the major problems facing the country while critics of a strong federal system point out that local leaders are most sensitive to the needs of their constituents

• Federalism establishes a unique working relationship with the other levels of government and its people since neither component can abolish or alter the other single-handedly

Types of Federalism:

• Dual Federalism: The Constitution provides for the rules of the federal system by giving delegated powers to the federal government and reserved powers to the states

• Layer-Cake Federalism: A national government exercising its powers independently from state governments, which each level of government trying to exercise its own control over its own sphere of influence

• Marble-Cake Federalism: Similar to Layer-Cake, the federal government has become more intrusive in what had been typically the domain of state governments

• Fiscal Federalism: offers states pieces of the marble cake but has them accept it with conditions and with a promise to develop programs on their own → leads to grants