Constitution & Federalism Flashcards
declaration of independance
1776
articles of confederation
1781 - acted as the first us constitution
federalism
when power is divided between state and federal gov
Philadelphia Convention
1787 - states were fighting over commerce + currency so 55 delegates sat together and created federal constitution, bill of rights + checks and balances. but there were disagreements.
Connecticut compromise
formed bicameral legislature with house of reps (states repped on population size) + senate (states repped equally)
how many seats in house of reps
435
how many seats in senate
100 (2 per state)
legislature who and what
- congress (makes laws)
- house of reps + senate
executive who and what
- carries out laws
- prezzy + cabinet
judiciary who and what
- enforces + interprets laws
- SC + other federal courts
first 3 articles
- division of power + enumerated/delegated powers
- article 1 - congress can ‘coin money’ and ‘declare war’
- article 2 - executive power all in president
- article 3 - US supreme court estabished. and supremacy clause which says constitution ‘supreme law of the land’. federal law is supreme over state law.
supreme court elastic clause example
McCulloch v Maryland - congress has the power to create a national bank, despite creating a a bank not being an enumerated power of congress under the constitution.
judicial review implied power
supreme court can declare things unconstitutional meaning it can veto an Act of Congress executive order or state law.
reserved powers
powers left to states
concurrent powers
shared by federal and state
the amendment process
- requires supermajorities of more than 50%
- constitutional amendments can be proposed by congress or by a national convention called by congress
- all so far been proposed by congress
- stage 1 proposal stage 2 amendment
- amendment can be ratified either by 3/4s of the state legislatures or by state constitutional conevntions in 3/4s of the states. - only 1 ratified by constituional conventions 21st amendment which ended the prohibition of alcohol
- need for 2/3s majorities in both houses in congress + need for ratificaiton makes it hard and none have been successful since 1992
amendments stat
only 17 in the last 210 years
advantages of the amendment process
-requires broad support:
- supermajorities requre genuine consensus.
- e.g. for liberals, repealing the second amendment (right to bear arms) seemed like a good example to get rid of archaic part of the constitution but 2018 YouGov poll shows only 1/5 support this
- prevents ill-thought out amendments: passing 18th admendment (no alchohol).
disadvantages of the amendment process
too difficult to pass amendments:
- electoral college which has produced prezzys that lost the popular vote (W bush 2000 & Trump 2016) has failed to pass congress
- balanced budget amendment: 1999-2018 there were 134 attempts to pass a balanced budget amendment
what are the key features of the us constitution
- separation of powers
- check and balances
- bipartisanship
- federalism
checks and balances on presidential powers
on presidential powers:
- congress can amend/block/reject items of legislation recommended by president e.g. 2017 Trump said he wanted to ‘repeal and replace’ Obamacare but he was blocked by congress
- congress can override the president’s veto with 2/3 majority e.g. Obama’s veto of Justices against sponsors of terrorism act 2016. BUT need for supermaj makes it hard because it needs bipartisan support from memebers of 1 party to vote against their president. Since 1789, prezzy has vetoed more than 2500 bills & congress has overidden less than 5% of them.
- senate has the power to approve/reject by simple majority appointment of judges (even though president appoints them ) e.g. 1987 senate rejected Reagan’s nom for Robert Bork for a place on SC. also Andrew Pudzer (trumps nom for secretary of labour) withdrew after republican senators expressed concern
- congress can impeach - bill clinton 1998 and donald trump in 2019 has been impeached by House of Representatives
- SC can declare executive’s actions unconstitutional by judicial review e.g. 2014 National Labour Relations Board v Noel Canning ruled obama unconstitutional in making appointments to the board without senate’s approval.
checks and balances on congress
- president can veto legislation. depending on how hard congress finds it to overturn a veto it almost acts as the president having a final say on legislation. e.g. may 2020 trump vetoed the Iran War Powers regulation which would have limited president’s ability to wage war against Iran.
- SC can say acts of congress unconstituional using judicial review 2013 US vs Windsor, SC declared the defence of marriage Act 1996 unconstituional.
checks and balances on judiciary
- congress can propose constituional amendments to overturn decision of SC e.g. 1896 SC declared federal income to be unconstituional but congress proposed 16th amendment granting congress power to levy income tax . BUT amendments are rare so ineffective check on the judiciary.
- congress can impeach members of judiciary **
- presidential pardon can overturn judgements of the judiciary.
impact of divided gov on the effectiveness of checks and balances
- divided gov leads to less effective gov. party polarisation means bipartisanship is more difficult to achieve. when there has been bipartisanship important laws have been passed e.g. CARES act 2020 which gave $2.2 trillion stimulus for the economy.
federalism evolution
dual federalism: clear defined dispersal of power
cooperative federalism: fed gov + states work together on things like unemployment benefits.
new federalism: reduce federal power and return autonomy to the states.
arguments that the states retain autonomy & sovereignty
Laws vary across states
- death penalty legal in 29 states but abolished in 21 +differneces in taxation 7 states have 0 taxation whilst california has 13%
Healthcare
- states have power over medical insurance after obamacare 2010
electoral system varies
- article 1 of the constitution allows states to run their own elections e.g. paper ballot in alabama and electronic in Florida
states have autonomy in the handling of national crises
- covid revealed power of the 10th amendment where any power not granted explicitly to fed gov is left to states. e.g. in the beginning 32 states issued own state emergency before trump did
- states decided when their states would come out of lockdown.
SC rulings support states over fed gov
- obama wanted to expand the medicaid programme where states had to participate otherwise they would lose their funding for Medicaid. states argued that this was coercion in National Federation of Independant Business v Sebelius 2012 SC struck it down.
- United states v Texas 2016 SC striked down Obama’s immigration reform programme saying it was unconstitutional due to cost to the states
arguments that federal gov is challenging state autonomy
Taxation and federal financing
- states rely on support from fedgov finances run low or natural disasters e.g. hurricane katrina in 2005 gave 120 billion worth of aid. also covid 19 2020 economic relief package
Healthcare
- heavily dependant on federal funding.
e.g. George W bush signed into law the Medicare prescription drug modernisation act (expansion of medicare) costed around 400 billion in first 10 years
- Obamacare expanded healthcare coverage and fed gov provided most of the financing for subsidised coverage. while national federation of independant business v sebelius 2012 ruling meant states couldnt be compelled to expand Medicaid 14 states have expanded the programme
Fed Gov encroachment on state issues
- new law mandated states test children anually in No child left behind Act by president Bush 2002
- 2001-2009 spending by Department of defense increased by 125% following 9/11 attacks. Us Patriot act also gave fed gov powers to detain people/ hold info on them. individual states didnt form own strategies to terrorism, instead homeland security directed it which was a federal response.
- trumps build a wall policy was fed and saw 16 states file suits against fed gov m may 2019 judge gillian of district court blocked funding of the wall because executive has overstepped its authority but in july SC allowed administration to continue construcion while litigation continued. fed gov attempted to encroach on state autonomy.
fed gov encroachment on state autonomy during national crises
- covid 19 has seen the fed gov actively involved . CARES act was 2.2 trillion economic relief package
SC supports fed gov over the states
- Even though National Federation of Independant Business v Sebelius struck down medicaid provision, it upheald the affodable care act leaving fed gov with consdierable control over healthcare.
