CONSTITUTION - Features of the Constitution and its institutions Flashcards
FEATURES
Codification
It’s a single document containing all rules and principles of the US.
Judiciable – a constitution which contains a higher form of law, and therefore allows other laws to be judged against it and be deemed constitutional or unconstitutional.
The Constitution is the ultimate power and any powers that the federal or the state government has is given by the constitution.
FEATURES
Entrenchment
A Constitution that is protected from change through a legal process. For the US Constitution, this is the two-stage amendment process, which requires a supermajority approval from Congress and all 50 states.
This makes it difficult for the US Constitution to be amended because the document is protected by Law.
The Article V outlines the amendment process and protects the US Constitution.
This ensures that the Constitution could be changed in response to any need but would not be malleable.
FEATURES
How many amendments have there been?
There have only been 27 amendments, 10 of which were passed together in 1791 which formed the Bill of Rights.
FEATURES
Deliberate vagueness ;
What are enumerated powers?
Powers which are specifically and explicitly written down in the US Constitution.
FEATURES
Deliberate vagueness ;What are implied powers?
Powers which are not specifically granted in the Constitution but are assumed or implied from the wording of this document and the powers that it grants.
FEATURES
Deliberate vagueness; ‘Necessary and proper clause’
A clause within Article 1 of the Constitution which allows Congress to imply any powers which are needed for it to carry out the enumerated powers. These may also be known as the ‘elastic clause’
This has been used to extend the powers of Congress over the years
FEATURES
Deliberate vagueness; Why is it so vague?
The Constitution is short and so it is vague.
Though there are debates as to why it’s so vague, the Founding Fathers had different views on the role of states, power of central govt, and the Bill of Rights…. the vagueness allows for compromise of the delegates and agreement of the states.
Not every power is clearly outlined.
Enumerated powers are quickly outlined in the first 3 articles in the Constitution.
FEATURES
Deliberate vagueness; What does Article one refer too?
Article One refers to Congress as being explicitly given the power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imports, and Excises.
This was an important development from the Articles of Confederation where the central government had no power over taxes and so relied on the state for money.
ARTICLE I
Legislature
What did this establish?
Establishes Congress as the national legislature, defining its membership, qualifications, and method of election of members, as well as its powers.
ARTICLE I
Legislature
Senate? House of Rep?
435 - House of Representatives
100 - Senate
ARTICLE I
Legislature
Elastic clause
The final clause of Article I, Section 8, gives Congress the power to make all laws ‘necessary and proper’ to carry out the federal government’s duties. This is known as the ‘elastic laws’ an example of this, is the power to print money.
ARTICLE II
Executive
What did it establish?
Invests ALL executive power in the hands of ‘a president’
This article also specifies that the President is to be chosen indirectly via the electoral college.
ARTICLE II
Executive
Potential flaws?
Hilary Clinton won 3 million + votes than Trump (she won the popular vote) but she lost because of the electoral college.
Having a single executive is a surprising choice considering that they’re making a single executive - you’d struggle a lot in trying to restrict them. Impeachment is one way to restrict them but even then, Trump’s impeachment is an example of how it is difficult to do so.
ARTICLE III
Judiciary
What did establish?
Established the US Supreme Court. Congress quickly added the trial and appeal courts.
It is not explicitly granted, but the Court was to have the role of umpire of the Constitution.
This is implied by the provision in Article III that the Court’s judicial power:
‘applies to all cases arising under this Constitution’
The Court’s power is emphasised in the Supremacy Clause of Article VI.
ROLE OF ALL THREE
Passage of Obamacare
Firstly, both houses of the Congress had to pass the healthcare reform bill with identical success. This is because both of the houses have equal legislative power.
This FINALLY happened on 21st March 2010, after one year of trying.
For this bill to become a law, the President needs to sign it. Two days later, on the 23rd, Obama signed healthcare reform into the law.
The executive is now responsible for rolling out provisions made for healthcare and healthcare insurance.
Thus far, Congress had passed the law and the President signed it, but some opponents of the new law thought it was unconstitutional – part of it was not permitted by the US Constitution.
Two years after the law became effective, lawyers from both sides of the argument argued their case before the nine justices of the Supreme Court.
On the 28th June 2012, the court announced the decision, upholding the law’s provisions.
