Exam II - Essay I Flashcards
Thesis to Q: Did the U.S. Constitution successfully provide the checks and balances required for the building of a national government? (was it regulated properly for this purpose) Please outline the main features of the constitution, the intentions of the authors, and the actual interpretation of the document in the Supreme Court.
It is difficult to assess fully that the U.S. Constitution successfully provided the checks and balances required for the building of a national government. Rather, it succeeded in areas but failed to provide the necessary checks and balances in other areas. According to the main features of the constitution, the intentions of the authors, and the actual interpretation of the document in the Supreme Court we can assess that the U.S. Constitution is an imperfect, yet adequate, document in its purpose.
General Information
Ratified in 1788 - supreme law of USA
Strengths: gave federal government the power to fight war and raise an army and the power to print money → currency with which to fight war
Weaknesses: no executive guidance (ie Pres, etc); no power to tax or trade (colonies afraid of recreating the situation that led to the American Revolution); no power to central gov to regulate trade (up to states therefore couldn’t pass navigation acts to protect country/trade) - had to have support of ALL 13 colonies → therefore weak central government bcs people afraid of recreating tearney
Main Features
Popular sovereignty & republicanism Supreme law Separation of powers Presidential system Bill of Rights
Intentions of the Authors
Four major goals: establish a government based on popular consent, strong enough to meet the nation’s need, that would not threaten the existence of the separate states, and would not threaten liberty
Actual Interpretation of the Document in Supreme Court
“Equal justice under law” express responsibility of Supreme Court of USA
Designed to make the national government strong and flexible to meet the needs of the republic, yet sufficiently limited and fair to protect the guaranteed rights of citizens (balance between society’s need for order and individual’s right to freedom)
To accomplish this, the Framers of the Constitution created three independent and coequal branches of government
Checks and balances: has authority to invalidate legislation or executive actions which in the Court’s considered judgment conflict with the Constitution (“judicial review”, meaning the Court is responsible for assuring individual rights are respected and to maintain a living constitution)
