Karteikarten
Constitution
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- 1The US Constitution;Constitutional amendment;
Stage 1- Proposition of amendment. It can be called by Congress with a 2/3rds majority in both Houses.
OR it can be called by the National Constitutional Convention by at least 2/3rds of the states.
Stage 2- to ratify the amendment. It can be ratified by state legislatures with 3/4s of the state legislatures
OR State Constitutional Convention, 3/4s of states must hold conventions and vote to ratify. - 2There have been 27 amendments to the constitution. The first 10 were proposed by Congress in 89 (3/4s of states). Known as the bill of rights-protecting the Americans against an over-powerful federal government. Amendment 1- Right to free speech. Amendment 2- Right to bear arms. Amendment 3- No quartering of solicitors Amendment 4- No illegal stop and searches Amendment 5- Right to remain silent. Amendment 6- Right to attorney, fair and speedy trial. Amendment 7- Jury trial in civil cases Amendment 8- No cruel/unusual punishments Amendment 9- Rights of people.Amendment 10- Reserve powers to the state governments.
Amendment 11-Limits lawsuits against gov.
Amendment 12- separate elections for P and VP.
Amendment 13- Abolition of slavery
Amendment 14- Equal protection
Amendment 15-Voting rights
Amendment 16-Created income tax
Amendment 17-Direct elections of Senators
Amendment 18-prohibition
Amendment 19-women's suffrage
Amendment 20-lame duck election
Amendment 21-repeal of 18th
Amendment 22- P's 2 terns - 3Amendment 23- 3 EC votes to DC Amendment 24-Abolition of poll tax Amendment 25- line of next presidential people Amendment 26- 18+ may vote Amendment 27-limits congressional pay rises During Clinton-18 attempts on amendments e.g. Balanced budget-97, tax limitations-2000, school prayers-2000, flag desecration-2000. Bush-10 attempts e.g. marriage protection and flag desecration 2006.Why has the Constitution been amended to rarely?
1) The Founding Father deliberately made it difficult, you need both Congress and the states agreeing to get a super-majority thus making it difficult.
2) Judicial review had more of less amended the constitution- they interpret the constitution and therefore change the meaning of the written constitution to make 'interpretive amendments'.
3) Americans have become cautious about changing the constitution-they hold it to importance, e.g. when the prohibited alcohol it led to trouble 14 years later it was repealed. They have therefore learnt by their mistakes. - 4The constitution drawn up at the Philadelphia Convention divided the national Gov. into 3 branches based on the doctrine of separation of powers: A theory of government whereby political power is distributed among 3 branches of government -the legislature, the executive and the judiciary- acting both independently and interdependently. It's the institutions of government that are separate while the powers are shared through an elaborate series of checks and balances.This was put into place by the Founding Fathers because of fear of tyranny- separation avoids tyranny because when the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person then there can be no liberty (MONTESQUIEU).
Founding fathers wanted the 3 independent but able to co-check. They wanted limited government whereby Gov. would do only what was essential, leaving citizens fundamental rights and freedoms untouched.
Limited gov. is a principle that the size and scope of the federal government should be limited to what's necessary only for the common good of the people. - 5So, the 3 branches were to be separate in terms of personnel. e.g. Obama in 2008 had to resign from Senate. Institutions are separate but powers aren't (all doing the same thing- making sure of the people's powers). This is what the checks and balances are for- founding fathers made sure each branch of the fed.gov. checks the other two. Checks and balances: exercised by each branch of the federal government- the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. A system a government in which each branch- exercises control over the actions of other branches of government.Checks on the legislature (congress) by the executive; 1) Recommended legislation, on January of each year the President delivers a speech to Congress and SC (+TV) where he lays out his legislative agenda. In 2016 Obama addressed immigration and Gun Control. 2) The President has veto powers- veto a bill passed by Congress. Obama has used this power 9 times, Reagan 39 times.
By the judiciary; 1) SC possess the power of judicial review- declare acts of Congress unconstitutional. E.g. 2012 they declared the ACA constitutional- check by deciding Congress couldn't required non-insured Americans to buy healthcare influence. - 6Checks on the executive by legislature; 1) Congress can amend, block and reject legislation recommended by president. E.g. ACA was extremely amended. 2) Congress can override the president's Veto with 2/3rds majority in Congress. Bush had 11 overridden. 3) Congress has the 'power of the purse' controls money president wants to spend on policies. 2007 Congress limited Bush's Iraq money. 4) Only Congress can declare war- last time was 1941. President needs permission to go to war. 2002 Bush needed permission for Iraq.5) Senate can ratify treaties-2/3rd of majority. 2010 they ratified the new START Treaty with Russia.
6) Senate has the power to confirm appointments made by the president- exclusive branch+ judiciary e.g. SC-Senate rejected Bork.
7) Congress can investigate through its committees- e.g. 2012 the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee launched an investigation of possible security failures by Obama administration.
8) Impeachment- congress may impeach any member of the executive. Clinton in 98 was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice. Once a person is impeached they go to trial and if found guilty they are removed from office. Clinton wasn't found not guilty. - 7Checks on the executive by judiciary; 1) The SC has the power of judicial review which is the ability to declare actions of members of executive branch as being unconstitutional. E.G. the US V Nixon-the court ordered Nixon to hand over White House tapes and impeded investigation of Watergate affair.Checks on the judiciary by the legislature;
1) Power of impeachment by Congress and found guilty by a 2/3rds majority removal from office. 2010 impeached a judge Porteous for corruption (removed from office).
2) Congress can propose constitutional amendment to overturn SC decision- Congress has tried (and failed) - 8Checks on the judiciary by the executive; 1) The President nominates all federal judges to the trial court, appeal court and SC. Obama appointed Sotomayor and Kagan- matching his ideological views. 2) President has the power of pardon- Ford pardoned Nixon for any crimes he may have committed. Obama pardoned 22 people in under 4 years.Checks and balanced important?
They encourage bipartisanship (co-operation between 2 major partners) and compromise between the president and Congress. 2010 Obama got the Tax Relief passed because Reps and Dems worked together.
Consequences of it-
Gridlock- (two legislative houses, or the executive branch and the legislature are controlled by different political parties, or otherwise cannot agree.). - 9Divided government; one party controls the executive branch while another party controls one or both houses of the legislative branch (22 years where Congress isn't controlled by the P's Party) e.g. 2012 where Dems controlled Senate but not HOR. Does divided gov. make checks and balances on P, more or less effective? MORE- Bills are scrutinized more closely, treaties are checked more carefully and nominees questioned more rigorously. When Congress and P are same party-not careful, once twice in 50 years of majority in both houses was something vetoed.LESS- e.g. the treatment of SC nominees Bork and Roberts or the impeachment of Clinton by Rep Controlled Gov.
Tricky checks and balances e.g. Power to declare war as President has been to war in Kosovo or Obama's drones in Afghanistan. And confirmation of judges has become overly politicized 'innocent until nomination'.
Founding fathers would be impressed. - 10FEDERALISM; a theory of government by which political power is divided between a national government and state governments each have their own jurisdictional area. It involves decentralisation (the principle by which government and political is vested not only in the federal government but also in the state government). However, federalism isn't officially in the constitution. It is mentioned; 1) Into powers such as Congress's 'power of the purse', President's 'commander in chief' 2) Implied in federal government's powers- 'elastic clause' in the constitution Congress -'make all laws necessary + proper for carrying into executive the foregoing powers'3) Implied in federal government's powers- 'elastic clause' in the constitution Congress may be able to 'make all laws necessary + proper for carrying into executive the foregoing powers'
4) The federal government and the states were given concurrent powers e.g. power to tax.
5) 10th amendment reserved all remaining powers to the states and to the people.
6) SC is the umpire of disagreements. - 11States rights- the rights, powers and duties of the state governments. States rights advocates call for an interpretation of the Constitution that places limits on the implemented powers of the federal government and gives expensive interpretation to the reserved powers of the states. New federation- an approach to federalism characterised by a turn of certain powers and responsibilities from the federal government to state governments. Seen as an attempt to reverse the growth of the federal government under successive Dem. Presidents e.g. Johnson. It is closely associated with the Rep presidents Nixon.Rise of block grants-money given to states by the federal government to be used at their discretion within broad policy areas.
Under Bush-expected him to shrink size of government but federal government by 33% in the first term. He expanded federal government in 4 areas 1) education-department spending increased 165% 'no child left behind'. 2) medicare- raised $400 Rep were against this. 3) homeland security and defence-125% increase in spending. due to 9/11 and War on Terror. - 12Under Obama; He focused on domestic policy as a way of delivering change. Relationship between Washington and the states. Federal-state relationships observed. Obama's healthcare reform was end of federalism- those in Tea Party called Obama socialist.Consequences of federalism;
1) legal consequences- variety of state law about matters such as age of marriage, age of driving a car or drugs. Oregon allows doctor-assisted suicide
2) Political consequences- elections are state based and run under state law, each states decides the details of it. Montana with postal voting.
3) Consequence for political parties- they are decentralised and state based e.g. Texas dems are more conservative than those in massachusetts.
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- A-Level Politics- 4c- Governing the USA Karteikarten am Constitution, erstellt von vesara am 14/06/2016.
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