3 The Constitution

Question 1

constitutionalism

Answer 1

adhering to and a love for the constitution

Question 2

constitutional democracy

Answer 2

generated by the codification and adherence to a constitution; the ppl’s representatives are constrained by the constitution

Question 3

unconstitutional (parliamentary) democracy

Answer 3

doesn’t have a codified constitution so legitimacy rests in Parliament; the ppl’s reps determine what’s in the constitution

Question 4

constitutional convention

Answer 4

unwritten practices and consequences that are accepted as norms

Question 4

originalism

Answer 4

if you believe the constitution to be the best, then those who wrote it are the best and serve as guides

Question 5

why are amendments difficult to make?

Answer 5

amendments have to be introduced in Congress and must be ratified by 3/4 of states, so majority of them die

Question 6

what emerged out of the American Revolution?

Answer 6

• an idea of the USA and American ideals (which didn’t exist prior due to states having distinct, colonial identities)
• a fear of governmental control and skepticism of large gov’ts

Question 7

what was the original design of the Founding Fathers?

Answer 7

they emphasized liberalism and individuality, so they aimed for a small gov’t with a written set of guidelines

Question 8

3 types of systems

Answer 8

• confederal
• federal
• unitary

Question 9

confederal systems

Answer 9

• power goes up
• central authority only has the power granted to it by the components
• ex. the UN, which is empowered by member-states

Question 10

federal systems

Answer 10

• power is equal
• subnational and national components are separate but equal to each other
• ex. Canada, with its federal and provincial gov’ts

Question 11

unitary systems

Answer 11

• power goes down
• a strong central/level of gov’t
• subnational components which derive power and authority from the central gov’t
• ex. the UK, whose Parliament is the privileged actor

Question 12

The Articles of Confederation

Answer 12

• the first constitution that failed by creating a confederal gov’t
• the colonies had virtually all the power and the central gov’t basically had none
• America’s debt couldn’t be resolved since the central gov’t had no mechanisms to gain money

Question 13

The Philadelphia Convention

Answer 13

• attempted to compromise between the larger and smaller states’ preferences
• introduced a bicameral legislature (where one chamber/House is based on representation by population, and the other/Senate protects states thru 2 appointed senators from each state)

Question 14

Federalists

Answer 14

sought a national gov’t with more control

Question 15

Anti-Federalists

Answer 15

distrusted a strong central gov’t

Question 16

Federalists vs Anti-Federalists

Answer 16

the fight between these two camps led to the beginning of party politics in the USA

Question 17

17th Amendment

Answer 17

made senators required to be elected

Question 18

Bill of Rights (1791)

Answer 18

consists of the first 10 amendments to the constitution as a response to fears of the gov’t’s strength; amendments were to incentivize smaller states to agree

Question 19

key issues of the Bill of Rights

Answer 19

• what happens if someone (person or state) breaks the Bill?
• what happens if a state or gov’t fight?

Question 20

how did the Civil War determine the nature of the US?

Answer 20

• when the North won, it became clear that the US was more than the sum of its parts (states)
• central federalism (where federal gov’t eclipses state authority) was adopted

Question 21

President Franklin Roosevelt

Answer 21

• proposed the New Deal, which required the federal gov’t to become bigger and infringe on areas in state jurisdiction
• made constitutional
• allowed the gov’t to grow in size and expand beyond the states

Question 22

The Cold War

Answer 22

• after WWII, the Americans demobilized but mobilized again due to tensions with Russia
• wars can only be fought if there’s a lot of gov’t authority
• demanded the continual expansion of the size of the federal gov’t

Question 23

President Landon B. Johnson

Answer 23

oversaw the largest expansion of the federal gov’t since the New Deal, wherein he proposed his Great Society Programs (medicare, Civil Rights Act, etc.)

Question 24

contemporary questions about the constitution

Answer 24

• how has constitutional legitimacy been impaired by those who ignore constitutional conventions and political norms?
• what are the legitimate boundaries of executive orders, which are increasingly being given out in unprecedented ways?