Flashcards
Gov and Pol - US Constitution
Cards in this deck (30)
- 1Origins of US constitution- 1776 = America consisted of 13 British colonies
- 1783 = colonies won the War of Independence
- There was a need to create a national government
- 1787 = 55 'Founding Fathers' met a convention --> George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison (KEY FIGURES)
- Wrote the US constitution --> codified - 2Comparison to UK- Uncodified constitution and this means that is constantly evolving.
- 3Articles of constitutionArticle 1 - Legislative branch --> functions and structure
Article 2 - Executive branch --> powers of President, VP and elections
Article 3 - Judicial branch --> requires trial by jury in all criminal cases
Article 4 - system of government --> relationship between states & federal government and also imposes the Republican system
Article 5 - Process of amendments to constitution
Article 6 - constitution is supreme law of the land --> laws have to be made in accordance with it
Article 7 - original requirements for ratification of the constitution by states - 4Principles of US constitution- Form of government --> not the unitary system of Britain (central system) but instead created FEDERALISM
- Limited government - under British rule suffered from arbitrary rule and uncontrolled power --> F.F wanted to limit the power of the government through the written constitution.
- Democracy --> firmly rooted in constitution that citizens should have influence in govt.
- Protection of individual rights --> original constitution did not have clear protection of rights and rectified through Bill of Rights
- Separation of Powers --> inspired by French philosopher Montesquieu and stated three branches of govt. needed to be separate to stop one from becoming too powerful = regulated by a system of checks and balances. - 5Amendment process of US constitutionAmendment process made deliberately difficult by Founding Fathers
- Proposal of amendment --> 2/3rds majority in both Houses of Congress OR national constitutional convention called on the request of 2/3rds of State Parliaments (This method has never been used)
- Ratification of amendment --> 3/4 of State Parliaments must agree to amendment within specified time limit OR 3/4 State Parliaments must hold national convention and vote (only happened once) - 6Examples of amendments to constitutionOnly been 27 amendments
- First 10 were the Bill of Rights (1789 - 1791) and now considered part of the original constitution
* 1 - Freedom of speech, religion, assembly, petition and press
* 2 - Right to bear arms
* 8 - Forbids cruel and unusual punishment
- Further 17 amendments since this
* 13 - 1865 Abolition of slavery
* 18 1919 Prohibition
* 19 1920 Votes for Women
* 20 1933 Repeal of Prohibition
* 1992 - Limited Congressional pay rises --> last amendment - 7Recent attempts at passing a constitutional amendment- 2006 - Flag Desecration amendment failed to achieve 2/3rd majority in Senate but did in House --> House has supported this amendment 6 times since 1995
- Last few years there have been limited nearly successful attempts. Some attempts:
* Term limits on Congress (2009)
* November 2016 - Boxer introduced an amendment to abolish the Electoral College. - 8Comparison to the UK- Uncodified nature means that the constitution in UK is very flexible
- Parliamentary majority - overturn Fixed Term Parliament Act 2017 - 9Why has the constitution been amended so rarely?- Created a deliberately difficult process --> very few will succeed but this ensures no hasty measures are passed
- Formal amendment is not always needed
- Deliberately unspecific in some parts --> LINK to role of PGs, Political Parties and Congressional committees were not mentioned in the original constitution but now play a very significant role.
- Role of Supreme Court = constitution is a 'living' document and means that it is constantly updated
- Cautious around tampering with the constitution --> prohibition amendment had to be repealed 14 years later - 10Arguments FOR the constitution still working- Federalism has proved to be an excellent compromise between strong national govt. and state govt. diversity
- Very adaptable to changes in US society - Roe vs Wade 1973 and Obergefell vs Hodges 2015
- Demands of amendment process has stopped ill thought out amendments from being made.
- Rights and liberties of Americans have been protected
- Judicial review has made it even more adaptable through 'interpretative amendment' - 11Arguments AGAINST the constitution still working- Amendment process is too difficult = almost impossible to amend outdated parts.
- Supreme court has too much power
- It is too negative --> giving too much to those who oppose change
- Some parts of the constitution make no sense in today's society (E.g Electoral college)
- some parts don't work as the Founders set out for them to be (E.g War making powers) - 12War - making powers (Does the constitution still work?)- Constitution states powers --> President is Commander-in-chief / Congress must declare war and has power of the purse
- This is meant to be a check and balance on each other
- Congress has declared war 5 times and US troops have been used very frequently nevertheless --> Afghanistan, Libya and Syria (recent examples) - 13Equal representation of states in the Senate (Does the constitution still work?)- Article I protects the rights and voices of small populated states
- All 13 states had equal representation within the Senate
- Now the population has changed and there is less equal representation - 14The Electoral College (Does the constitution still work?)- 7 rogue electors in 2016 and there are arguments which suggest that these should not exist
- ECV are not proportional to population
- Serious talks of abolishing the Electoral College came after Nixon won popular vote by 1% but ECV by 301 majority - 15Advice and consent powers of the Senate (Does the constitution still work?)- President can appoint members of the executive and judicial branch
- Must be with the 'advice and consent' of the Senate
- Era of high partisanship this does not work well
- Obama in 2016 wanted to appoint Merrick Garland after death of Scalia but this was blocked by Reps Senate
- Neil Gorsuch was supported 54-45 whereas Scalia in 1986 received 98-0 --> shows the impact of partisanship - 16The constitution and guns (does the constitution still work?)- 2nd amendment causes controversy as Supreme Courts and constitutional experts disagree on what it means
- Collective right vs individual right
- 2008 D.C vs Heller - was very decisive on which view is right
- Supporters include the NRA ="guns don't kill people; people kill people"
- This amendment does not prove relevant in 21st century. - 17The amendment process (Does the constitution still work?)- Nearly impossible to pass an amendment
- Past 50 years --> only one significant amendment = 26th - lowered voting age from 21 to 18
- Deliberate difficult but even worse in the modern day.
- Flaws are impossible to correct which would suggest the constitution does not work in 21st century. - 18The power of judicial review (Does the constitution still work?)- Power of Supreme Court was not mentioned in the Constitution
- Found this power in 1803 Marbury vs Madison
- Highly significant constitutional role
- There are arguments which suggest that the court shouldn't play this role (Strict constructionists and loose constructionists) - 19Federalism- Political power is divided between national government (federal) and local government (state) --> each have own areas of jurisdiction.
- COMPARISON to UK = political power lies with national government and regional governments (and their powers) are established/removed by Parliament. - 20Why did US adopt a federalist system?- After War of Independence, Americans viewed a strong national government as a threat to their liberty --> federalism gave independence for states and still accepted need for some centralised govt.
- 13 states had very diverse needs --> federalism allowed for this to flourish but within an ordered national framework.
- Separation of powers = few politicians do not become too powerful
- Guaranteed powers and independence of states = check on power of national govt. - 21Federalism in practice- Constitution established how sovereign powers were to be divided.
- Sovereign power of either federal or state government = only changed by amendment
- Powers are protected - 22Examples of distribution of powers- ONLY federal govt. --> national defence and internal security / negotiations and treaties with foreign states / regulate of trade with foreign states
- BOTH federal and state govts. --.> enforcement of civil and criminal law / health care, welfare and housing programmes / environment / arrangements and funding of education
- ONLY state govt. --> taxation on property and goods / control over local and city government
ANY POWER NOT ALLOCATED IN CONSTITUTION IS AUTOMATICALLY RESERVED FOR THE STATES - 23Changes to the nature of federalism- Expansion of US = expanded from 13 colonies to Mexico and Pacific coast
- Growth in population - 1790 = 4 million and 2000 = 275 million --> growing nation requires management from growing govt.
- Industrialisation = need for governmental regulation
- Communication = development of technology --> national identity was developed.
- Great Depression = states looked to national government to solve the problems --> FDR's New Deal = solved issues
- Foreign policy = end of WW2, USA emerged as world superpower --> federal govt. exclusive power and therefore the power was increased.
- Supreme court decisions = some rulings massively enhanced the power of federal govt. --> Roe vs Wade 1973 / Obergefell vs Hodges 2015
- Constitutional amendments = 16th amendment allowed the federal govt to impose an income tax --> power to launch schemes such as New Deal and Great Society - 24Phases of federalism- Dual federalism - during first 150 years of US history = states held most political power --> role of federal govt = money, war and peace
- Co-operative federalism - 1930s to 1960s (social reforms programmes) = federal and state govts. co-operated to deal with issues such as poverty and education
- New federalism - emerged from 1970s during a move towards decentralisation = money and power should be returned to the states --> even Clinton agreed "era of big government is now over" - 25Consequences of federalism- Legal consequences - led to variations in laws between states (use of drugs and death penalty) --> New York = no to death penalty, whereas Virginia says yes
- Political consequences - all elections are state based and can decide selections (LINK to primaries) and nature of political parties and 'internal coalitions' (LINK to political parties)
- Economic consequences - complexity of tax system and federal grants
- Regionalism - distinctions between regions (culture, religion and ideology) - 26Conservative perspective of federalism- Most conservatives are strict constructionists and --> limited government and protection of states' rights.
- Growing campaign 'against Washington'
- More strident and aggressive --> emergence of Tea Party and other groups = question laws passed by Obama and his legitimacy - 27Liberal perspective of federalism- Loose constructionist view and lay the emphasis on 'elastic clause'
- Federal government is an important vehicle for change = New Deal era and Great Society - 28Federalism under George W. Bush (2001 - 2009)- It was expected that Bush was pursue an era of shrinking the federal government and decentralisation
- HOWEVER = federal spending grew by 33% during his first term
- Education = No Child Left Behind Act - very important reforms and increased federal govt. intervention in education --> 20% increase in funding for poorest, inner city schools
- Medicare = expansion bill and included new prescription drug benefit and estimated to cost $400 billion in first ten years.
- Homeland security and defence = spending on defence increased by 125% - consequence of Bush's 'war on terror'
- Economy and jobs = take control over two privately owned mortgage companies --> suffered badly in 2008 financial crisis and $700 billion bail out package to Wall Street to end some of the problems - 29Federalism under Obama- Promise of change during the election
- Money from federal govt. which accounted for 25% of state govt. spending in 2008 --> 30% in 2009
- Obama's stimulus package saw $246 billion go to or through state govts. --> programmes such as expansion of Medicaid and Race to the Top programme
- Affordable Care Act 2010 = controversial in terms of federalism --> states had to participate in the expansion or lose federal funding for Medicaid
- 2016 exit poll showed that 69% of Americans were dissatisfied or angry with the federal government. - 30Federalism under Trump- Trump intended to take a much harder approach on federalism than Obama.
- In reality = appear to be rejecting Federalist principles in favour of maintenance of strong central govt.
- Use of marijuana is legal in 44 states --> under federal law it is illegal = Federal government will be doing more to enforce
- Sanctuary cities = deportation of illegal immigrants imposed by Trump and some states have ignored this --> Trump said to cut federal spending = rejection of federalism
- Paris Climate Agreement Withdrawal - some states are refusing to obey and obtaining to the agreement within their local government.
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- A level Politics Flashcards on Gov and Pol - US Constitution, created by Alicia Brown on 19/03/2018.
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- Alicia Brown
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