Constitution

Question 1

What is the US Constitution?

Answer 1

A codified document, which is the supreme and overall law for the Unites States of America.

Question 2

What is the Bill of Rights 1791?

Answer 2

The first 10 amendments to the US Constitution, including the 2nd amendment (the right to bear arms).

Question 3

What is the separation of powers?

Answer 3

Where the legislative, executive and judicial bodies of government are separated and independent from each other.

Question 4

What is the system of checks and balances?

Answer 4

A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power.

Question 5

What is federalism?

Answer 5

The idea that power should be shared between the national and state governments.

Question 6

Outline some of the powers of the Executive/the President in regards to the system of Checks and Balances. HINT: Name as many as you can; there are 5 here!

Answer 6

• Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.
• Oversees foreign policy.
• Can pardon individuals.
• Nominates Supreme Court justices.
• Can veto laws.

Question 7

Outline some of the powers of Congress in regards to the system of Checks and Balances. HINT: Name as many as you can; there are 5 here!

Answer 7

• Passes laws and raises taxes.
• Override the President’s veto.
• Power of the Purse (House of Representatives)
• Can impeach the President and Supreme Court justices.
• Ratifies foreign treaties and formal declarations of war under the War Powers Act 1973.

Question 8

Outline some of the powers of the Supreme Court in regards to the system of Checks and Balances. HINT: Name as many as you can; there are 3 here!

Answer 8

• Interprets the Constitution.
• Ensures the actions of the other branches are not unconstitutional.
• Can ‘strike down’ laws and actions it sees as being unconstitutional.

Question 9

Give an example of a checking power: The Power of the President vetoing acts passed by Congress.

Answer 9

In January 2021, Congress overrode Trump’s veto of a defence spending bill = CONGRESS CAN OVERRIDE THE PRESIDENT’S VETO!

Question 10

Give an example of a checking power: The Power of the President appointing heads of government departments and federal judges.

Answer 10

In 1987, the Senate rejected President Reagan’s nominee, Robert Bork, as a Supreme Court justice.

Question 11

Give an example of a checking power: The Power of the President to control the armed forces (Commander-in-Chief).

Answer 11

In 2002, Congress voted through the Iraq Resolution to allow President George W. Bush to undertake military action in Iraq. Without it, he and other future Presidents would have been on uneasy constitutional and legal ground!

Question 12

Give an example of a checking power: The Power of Congress to pass laws and make resolutions.

Answer 12

In 2019, President Trump vetoed a resolution to end the declaration of a national emergency on the US Mexico border that was declared a few months earlier.

Question 13

Give an example of a checking power: The Power of Congress to impeach the President and justices.

Answer 13

The Senate failed to impeach Trump on 2 occasions: 2019 and 2022. The Senate had also previously failed to impeach Clinton in 1999.

Question 14

Give an example of a checking power: The Power of Congress to ratify foreign treaties.

Answer 14

The Iran Nuclear Deal in 2015 was made by President Obama without congressional approval. In 2018, President Trump withdrew America from the deal without telling Congress.

Question 15

Give an example of a checking power: The Power of the Supreme Court to strike down laws passed by Congress and say they are unconstitutional (JUDICIAL REVIEW).

Answer 15

In 1913, the 13th Amendment permitted a federal income tax following an earlier Supreme Court case (Pollock vs Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co.) that declared federal income tax unconstitutional.

Question 16

Detail what happened in the Pollock vs Farmers’ Loan and Trust Company Case (1895).

Answer 16

In this Supreme Court case, the Supreme Court voided portions of the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act of 1894 that imposed a direct tax on the incomes of American citizens and corporations; thus, the Supreme Court declared that the federal income tax unconstitutional.

Question 17

Give an example of a checking power: The Power of the Supreme Court justices to not be removed from their position and have life tenure.

Answer 17

Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to ‘pack’ the Supreme Court in the 1930s when it struck down some of his New Deal programmes. FDR proposed to reorganise the federal judiciary by adding a new justice each time a justice reached age 70 and failed to retire. Congress refused to back him.

Question 18

What are the criticisms of the US Constitution? HINT: Name as many as you can; there are 5 here!

Answer 18

• The Constitution is too difficult to amend formally and change easily - There is high threshold required for constitutional amendments (the requirement for (three quarters) 3/4 of the states to ratify amendments).
• Some of the Constitution’s terms are vague and imprecise (difficult to interpret).
• Not all rights are equally protected, such as gender and disability.
• Some powers overlap and conflict with each others, including ones over foreign policy.
• Some clauses and laws are outdated or unhelpful, such as the right to gun ownership.

Question 19

What are the defences of the US Constitution? HINT: Name as many as you can; there are 3 here!

Answer 19

• The Constitution provides stability and continuity and is easy to amend informally (as seen with the overturning of Roe vs Wade in 2022).
• Lack of precision in its wording enables interpretations to adjust and conform to the changing times and cultures.
• People’s right are protected in other ways, such as through Acts of Congress and Supreme Court rulings - Includes the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act 2009!

Question 20

How many formal amendments have there been to the US Constitution and when was the last major one?

Answer 20

There have only been 27 amendments to the US Constitution and the last major one was in 1971, which lowered the voting age to 18!

Question 21

Why are formal amendments so hard to pass? HINT: What do they require to pass?

Answer 21

They require a (two-thirds) 2/3 majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate and then they need to be ratified by (three-quarters) 3/4 of states.