Flashcards
constitutional amendments
Cards in this deck (41)
- 1did the founding fathers want to make the process of amending easier or difficult?difficult
- 2it is a two stage process, that requires super majorities of more than ___%50
- 3give examples of these 'super majorities' needed to amend2/3rds majority or 3/4 majority
- 4what are the two stages ?stage 1 = proposal
stage 2 = ratification - 5who can propose an amendment ?congress or a national constitutional convention
- 6all constitutional amendments so far have been proposed by ?congress
- 7once the amendment has been successfully proposed it is sent to the states for what?ratification
- 8an amendment can be ratified by either 3/4 of state legislatures or by what in 3/4 of the states ?constitutional conventions
- 9of the 27 amendments added to the constitution how many have been ratified by constitutional convention ?one - 21st
- 10out of 33 passed to the states for ratification by congress how many have been ratified by the states ?27
- 11of the 27 amendments the first 10 are collectively known as ?the bill of rights
- 12it can be said that the states had somewhat reluctantly signed up to the new federal constitution with a potentially powerful what?centralised government
- 13the bill of rights was designed to protect americans against what?over powerful federal gov
- 14during the presidency of Clinton (1993-2001) there were 17 votes on proposed constitutional amendments - what was this seen as ?no this was unusually high
- 15all these votes happened in a 6 year period when who controlled both houses of congress ?republicans
- 16give some examples of proposals to amend the C which the house of representatives agreed to but the senate rejected ?- flag desecration
- balanced budget - 17why has the constitution been amended so few times give simple points ?- ff made it deliberately a difficult process
- ff created the c to be unspecific at times
- judicial review
- cautious of tampering - 18explain why the constitution has been amended so rarely bcs the ff created a deliberately difficult processthe need for both congress and the state to agree and the need for super-majorities make the amendment process difficult
- 19explain why the constitution has been amended so rarely bcs of parts of the c are deliberately unspecificcongress is given the power, for example, 'to provide for the common defence and general welfare' - allowed the document to evolve without the need for formal amendment
- 20explain why the constitution has been amended so rarely bcs of judicial reviewjudicial review allows the court to interpret the constitution and thereby in effect change the meaning of the words - make 'interpretative amendments' rather than formal amendments
- 21explain why the constitution has been amended so rarely bcs of americans become cautious of tampering with their cthe prohibition amendment and then the one repealing it is an example of how it has proved to be an important lesson for subsequent generations
- 22define constitutional rightsthe fundamental rights guaranteed by the federal c
- 23at the start of the 113th congress in January 2013, bills to amend the constitution were introduced on a range of subjects - give some examples- require a balanced federal budget
- ban flag desecration
- reverse recent SC decisions on campaign finance
- guarantee equal rights for men and women
- introduced congressional term limits - 24In November 2016, outgoing democrat Barbara Boxer of California introduced a bill to abolish what ?the electoral college
- 25why did she introduce this bill ?in the aftermath of the presidential election result in the month that saw democrat Hillary Clinton win the popular vote but lose in the EC
- 26only 6 amendments have failed the ratification stage in over how many years ?210
- 27ADVANTAGES OF AMENDMENT PROCESS: super majorities ensure against what ?small majorities being able to impose its will on a large minority
- 28ADVANTAGES OF AMENDMENT PROCESS: the lengthy and complicated process makes it less likely that the constitution will be amended on what ?amended on merely temporary issue
- 29ADVANTAGES OF AMENDMENT PROCESS: it ensures that both the federal and state governments must what ?favour a proposal
- 30ADVANTAGES OF AMENDMENT PROCESS: it gives a magnified voice to the smaller-population states - how ?through senate's role and the requirement for agreement of three quarters if state legislatures
- 31ADVANTAGES OF AMENDMENT PROCESS: provision for a constitutional convention called by the states ensures against what ?a veto being operated by congress on the initiation of amendments
- 32DISADVANTAGES OF AMENDMENT PROCESS: it makes it overly difficult for the constitution to be amended and thereby does what ?perpetuates what some see as outdated provisions i.e. the electoral college
- 33DISADVANTAGES OF AMENDMENT PROCESS: it makes possible the thwarting of the will of the majority by what ?a small unrepresentative minority
- 34DISADVANTAGES OF AMENDMENT PROCESS: the lengthy and complicated process nonetheless let what happened ?the prohibition amendment to be passed
- 35DISADVANTAGES OF AMENDMENT PROCESS: the difficulty of formal amendment enhances the power of who ?the supreme court to make interpretative amendments
- 36DISADVANTAGES OF AMENDMENT PROCESS: the voice of small-population states is what?over-represented
- 37Of 27 amendments to the constitution the first 10 were proposed together by congress in September 1789, in what year were these ratified by 3/4 of states ?1791
- 38collectively these first 10 amendments are known as what ?bill of rights
- 39many states somewhat reluctantly signed up to the new federal constitution with its potentially powerful what ?centralised government
- 40The bill of rights was designed the constitutional pill how ?by protecting americans against an over-powerful federal government
- 41—
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- A level government of the USA (constitution) Flashcards on constitutional amendments , created by niamh bergin on 22/11/2017.
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