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Politics paper 3 > 1. US constitution and federalism > Flashcards

1. US constitution and federalism Flashcards

1
Q

When was the Constitution ratified?

A

Between 1781 and 1790

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2
Q

What do the first 4 articles deal with?

A

Key institutions of government in the US: President, Congress, Supreme Court, states

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3
Q

What does the ‘supremacy clause’ state and where is it found?

A

Found in article 6, established the Constitution as the highest law in the land

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4
Q

How many amendments?

A

27

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5
Q

What is the Bill of Rights?

A

The first ten amendments of the Constitution, passed in 1791

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6
Q

What is the aim of the Bill of Rights?

A

A method of protecting the rights of the individual against government power and also protecting the power of the states

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7
Q

What is the 1st amendment?

A

Freedom of expression and religion

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8
Q

What is the 2nd amendment?

A

Right to bear arms

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9
Q

What is the 10th amendment?

A

Right of the states to have reserved powers

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10
Q

What is the 13th amendment?

A

End slavery

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11
Q

What is the 19th amendment?

A

Gives women the vote

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11
Q

What is the 19th amendment?

A

Gives women the vote

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12
Q

What is the 22nd amendment?

A

Limits the president to two terms in office

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13
Q

What is the 25th amendment?

A

Allows VP to assume office of president temporarily (brought about following assassination of JFK in 1963)

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14
Q

What does the codification of the constitution mean x3?

A
  • Authoritative – higher level than ordinary law
  • Entrenched – hard to amend or abolish
  • Judiciable – other laws can be judged against it using the judiciary
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15
Q

What is an enumerated power?

A

Powers explicitly stated in the Constitution

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16
Q

What is an implied power?

A

A power that is not expressly written down in the Constitution but is needed to perform an enumerated power

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17
Q

Name some enumerated powers held by Congress:

A
  • Declaration of war
  • Collection of taxes
  • Raise income tax (16th amendment)
  • Borrowing money on behalf of the country
  • Establishing currency
  • Maintenance of an army and navy
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18
Q

Name some enumerated powers held by the president:

A
  • Heads the executive
  • Nominates cabinet members, judiciary
  • Grants pardons
  • Vetoes legislation
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19
Q

Name an enumerated power held by the Courts:

A
  • Rules on cases
20
Q

Name some implied powers held by Congress:

A
  • The necessary and proper clause

- Interstates commerce clause

21
Q

Name an implied powers held by the President:

A
  • Commander in chief of the armed forces
22
Q

Name an implied power held by the Courts:

A
  • Power of judicial review
23
Q

What is the necessary and proper clause?

A

Also known as the ‘elastic clause’, article 1 section 8 states that Congress has the power ‘to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper’ – allows congress to stretch its power

24
Q

What are some concerns associated with the Constitution?

A
  • The Constitution could fail to regulate political practice ie vagueness of the constitution undermines its authority
  • Supreme Court could become too powerful ie vagueness of Constitution allows judges own interpretations on cases using own ideologies
  • Significant conflict ie lack of clarity leads to disputes between liberals and conservatives over federalism, gay rights etc
25
Q

What are the two stages of the amendment process?

A

Proposal and then ratification

26
Q

Who can propose?

A

States or Congress (two-thirds vote of each house = most common)

27
Q

Who can ratify?

A

Only states – either three-quarters of state legislatures (most common) or three-quarters of the state convention

28
Q

Example of proposal passed by Congress that didn’t receive sufficient state support:

A

The Equal Rights amendment – would have provided equality of rights on account of sex

29
Q

Example of proposal voted on in Congress that did not receive a two-thirds majority in both chambers:

A

The Flag Protection amendment – would have made it illegal to desecrate the flag – always failed in Senate despite being passed in House 6 times

30
Q

How many operating amendments have there been in the past 200 years?

A

15 ( first ten passed at same time as constitution and 18th and 21st cancel each other out)

31
Q

Disadvantages of the formal amendment process:

A
  • Difficult to remove out of date ideas – 200 years old and US society has changed dramatically eg electoral college was introduced so that irrational voting couldn’t occur through election of an electorate but now is highly undemocratic + states given too much power
  • Difficult to incorporate new ideas – entrenched nature makes it nearly impossible eg huge consensus for gender equality but Equal Rights Amendment failed
  • Process is undemocratic – goes against a majoritarian democracy eg to block an amendment only 13 states have to oppose and could be smallest states
  • Gives the SC excessive power – 9 unelected judges who are biased have final say on key issues = imperial judiciary
32
Q

Advantages of the formal amendment process:

A
  • Protects key principles of the political process – SOPs essential
  • Protects states and upholds federalism – ensured through 10th amendment and the amendment process, attempts to remove electoral college are unsuccessful
  • Prevents the abuse of power – stops an individual changing constitution rule for own benefit = key aim of FF
  • Prevents ill-thought amendments – involves several institutions and cross-party support which prevents short-term irrational thinking which could be quickly outdated
33
Q

What are the 5 key principles of the US constitution?

A 
Federalism 
Separation of powers
Checks and balances 
Bipartisanship
Limited government
34
Q

Federalism: describe it

A

The way in which power is divided between federal government and the states so that citizens are ruled by two governments

35
Q

Federalism: why has federal government increased hugely in recent years?

A

In response to economic crisis, increased demands for civil rights protection and greater provision of social policy

36
Q

SOPs: what does it mean?

A

Refers to the complete division of system of government into three branches: the executive (president), the legislature (Congress) and the judiciary (Supreme Court)

37
Q

SOPs: why have it?

A

Based on a desire to share power to prevent one institution from dominating the political system

38
Q

Checks and balances: what does it mean?

A

Each branch of government has exclusive power, limiting the ability of other branches to operate in an unrestrained manner

39
Q

Checks and balances: what can executive do?

A
  • President appoints justices (judiciary)
  • President can grant pardons (judiciary)
  • Veto bills (legislature)
  • Recommend legislation (Congress)
40
Q

Checks and balances: what can legislature do?

A
  • Override presidential veto (executive)
  • Control appropriations (executive)
  • Ratify treaties (executive)
  • Declare war (executive)
  • Refuse presidential appointments (executive)
  • Impeach the president (executive)
  • Refuse judicial appointments (judiciary)
  • Impeach judges (judiciary)
  • Can propose amendments to overrule SC decisions (judiciary)
41
Q

Checks and balances: what can judiciary do?

A
  • Rule presidential action unconstitutional (executive)

- Interpret law and can rule unconstitutional (legislature)

42
Q

Bipartisanship: what is it?

A

Attempts within the structure of the US Congress to ensure the two main parties work together to fulfil congressional functions

43
Q

Bipartisanship: why is compromise inevitable?

A

The constitution does not mention the parties so its inevitable compromise must be made

44
Q

Bipartisanship: when is it prominent?

A

When divided government occurs, the parties must work together to pass policy

45
Q

Bipartisanship: what did John Adams (Founding Father) say regarding parties?

A

“It is the greatest political evil under our constitution”

46
Q

Limited government: what is it?

A

The role of government is limited by checks and balances, and a separation of powers

47
Q

Limited government: what does the Bill of Rights prevent?

A

Prevents the federal government from restricting the rights of the individual or the rights of states

48
Q

Limited government: what amendments limit government?

A

1st amendment – freedom of expression
4th amendment – freedom from unreasonable searches
10th amendment reserving power for states and individuals

Politics paper 3 (7 decks)

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