Dove- US Constitution Flashcards
Origins of Constitution/Early America
-1787 war of independence
- New revolutionary America is politically unstable
Name of early constitution
- Article of Confederation (made in secrecy)
-55 founding farthers ( mainly old white men)
Legislature (what is established)
- All legislative powers shall be vested in a congress of the US which shall consist of a senate and a House of Representatives
-Two senators from each state
Executive (what is establishes)
- outlines what power the president has
-Can be removed from office Via impeachment EG Trump 2021
judiciary
- establishes the Supreme Court
-has final say unless congress gets involved
Does the constitution do a good job- YES
- Can be amended
- vagueness enables democratic decisions/can be changed slightly
-comprise between state and fed. gov.
-gridlock forces extreme scrutiny
-codified constitution allows for easy access to public +clarity
-entrenched nature (stops tyrannical leaders from abusing power)
Does the constitution do a good job- NO
- codified= tough to amend = gridlock
-vaugeness has led to civil war + the intended meaning of F.F can get lost
-initially fails to mention slavery or rights
-weak on representative democracy
how many articles are there in the constitution and what are the first 3
-7
-congress, executive, judiciary
why did the founding fathers decide of separation of powers
-to limit the ability of one branch to dominate each other
-deter the emergence of a monarch like figure
-protect federalism
-allows checks and balances
what happened in 1807 regarding the supreme court
-gave itself the ability of judicial review to enable it to strike down primary legisation
Marbury V Madison case 1803
-established the judicial review, the constitution didn’t allow the Supreme Court to have judicial review
-mabury didn’t get his job as promised by the presiden
-court sided with the president that he didn’t have to give him his job as it was un constitutional
- it shows the supreme court can decide if something is unconstitutional or not
what are the interactions between the executive branch and the judicial branch + visa versa
-executive branch has the power to appoint judges and pardon power
-judicial branch can declare presidential acts unconstitutional
what are the interactions between the judicial branch and legislative branch +visa versa
-judicial branch can declare laws unconstitutional
-legislative branch approves federal judges
what are the interactions between the legislative branch and executive branch + visa versa
-legislative branch can impeach president and override vetoes with 2/3 vote
-executive can veto bills
bill of rights 1791
-first 10 amendments
-EG right to fair trial, right to bear arms, quartering of soldiers, free speech
issues with the constitution
-inconsistent: EG ( cali state laws allow canibis, federal law states its illegal// guns ok in Montana but not in other states)
-vagueness: constitution doesn’t make the extent of federal power clear
-entrenched ( cannot be amended easily in times of crisis)
positives about the constituion
-constitution does tie the states together ( unifying document)
-constitution establishes security
-how constitution balances out state power ( house of rep= larger populated states have a larger voice than small states and 2 equal senators from each state)
-states act act a experimental lab where they can experiment with democratic ideas
-federal gov. built hoover dam ( big infrastructure projects done by federal gov)
what is federalism
-idea of a umbrella gov, its the main ultimate source of power that overarches smaller state govs
how did federalism originate
-founding fathers wanted to strengthen the union and make a national gov
-but wanted to keep the states happy by giving them some power
how was federalism incorporated into the constitution
-10th amendment which gave all powers to “the states and people”
-in the Supreme Court which was to be the umpire between state and federal gov
issues with federalism
-simultaneous existence of two governments can cause conflict and confusion
-states are forced to accept the federal rulings but don’t necessarily have to enforce them
-state law gives more rights to citizens than federal law
amendment process of us constitution
-only 27 amendments have succeeded out of 11,000 since the constitution got drafted
- for an amendment to be proposed it has to receive a 2/3 vote of approval in both houses of congress or a request from 2/3 state legislature to call a national convention
-amendment must be ratified by 3/4 of all states
similarities between uk and us constitution
-both seek to establish the functions of democratic politics and accountable political institutions
-both seek to defend rights and establish how rights are protected
-both evolve overtime to adapt to man democracy
differences between uk and us constitution
-uncodifided vs codified
-uk is easy to adapt and flexible vs us is rigid
