principles of American dem Flashcards
Article 1 Section 1
Creation of Congress
Legislature: 2 houses: Senate and House of Reps
(direct result of the Great Compromise)
Senate: looking out for welfare of the entire state
House of Reps: specific, districts(states broken into districts) they represent who live in these districts
Roles of members of Congress
- Represent the people
- Investigation and oversight- looking for problems to solve
- Legislation: develop public policy, laws
- Management- establish a organized structure, retain staff
- Politics: build relations with party leadership, shape party platform, maintain bipartisan relations
- Collaboration: work well as a unit, organize and negotiate, support, build trust
- Leadership: representing the country, serve as models
Article 1 Section 2 (requirements)
Specific to House of Reps
Must be 25 years old
2 years terms-holds them accountable for the people, gives people the choice, direct elections,
Article 1 Section 2 (exclusive powers)
Initiate any bills involving money
Power of impeachment
Elect president in case of an electoral tie
draw district lines every 10 years when census occurs
435 members- must divide by population
Article 1 Section 3 (requirements)
Specific to the Senate the “we”
elected to represent the entire state
New Jersey plan- equality
can serve 6 years- time to actually get something done, steady, can make change
Must be 30 years old
originally indirect election- but then couldn’t trust the people, thought they’d vote selfishly, 17th amendment passed for direct election of Senate
must be a resident of the state
Article 1 Section 3 (exclusive powers)
provide advice and consent to presidential nominations
ratify treaties
conviction and removal of high ranking officials
amending the constitution
Article 1 Section 4
The elections clause
when, where and how with the elections- all decided by the states
(states enact rules for how elections look)
Gerrymandering
process of drawing electoral district lines in a manner limiting the voice of a party
one person, one vote
racial- breaking 14th amendment, supreme court will get involved
political, not enough evidence, supreme court won’t
crack- spread out members of opposing party
pack- place members of opposing party into same district
Article 1 Section 5
quorum call
Article 1 Section 7
origination clause- all bills pertaining to money originate in the house of reps
all other bills can originate in either house of Congress, then must go to the other house
Legislative process- bills
Bill can be proposed by anyone
must originate in Congress and be sponsored by a senator or rep
the Bill then goes to the committee for research, change, etc
the committee votes to accept or reject the bill, if accepted it goes to Senate or house of reps for debate
the house or Senate votes , if passed it must go to the other house and repeat the process-
Article 1 Section 8
Loose interpretation of constitution; guide, allows national government to assume implied powers
Strict interpretation- anti feds argued for; gives power to do what is listed only, limits gov from becoming corrupt
The Federalist Papers
series of 85 essays in support of a stronger national government
written by Hamilton, John hay and James Madison
revises the articles of confederation
focus on unity
#1: Can humans self-govern?
#2: How much is too much, democracy-gov control?
#10: How does this all come together to form political factions?
Federalist 51
weigh of legislative authority by James Madison
split into 2
6 principles of US Constitution
limited gov, separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, popular sovereignty, judicial review
Limited government
the people delegate powers to the government- if not they would have no power
the gov is empowered by the words written in the Constitution
all powers not delegated are reserved for the people/state
Popular sovereignty
we the people, gov based on consent of people
in return for consent, the national gov would serve the people
Federalism
balance between the state and national government
Separation of powers/checks and balances
legislative, executive, and judicial branch with specific powers
judicial review
power given to themselves
right to deem other’s actions constitutional
The US Constitution; preamble
begins with the preamble, establishes people as the sovereignty and SCT and what we expect in return, permission to gov
Constitution, Articles 1,2,3
designed to address separation of powers, create checks and balances, legislative, executive and juridical
more concerned about state represenation- more power with legislative
Article 4
all states receive the same treatment under the gov
Article 5
amendments need to be proposed at national level and ratified at state level- 2/3 of nat gov and 3/4 of state level- to ratify
only 17 changes to constitution over time, hard to do
(states stronger than nat gov)
Article 6
the constitution is the supreme law of the land
Article 7
9/13 states to agree, ratification
debate between federalists (strong nat gov) and anti federalists (weak nat gov) took place during ratification process-, without a compromise guaranteeing individual rights vs the oppressive gov, the constitution would not have been ratified- the feds needed a compromise, so they created the bill of rights
Bias towards state representation
legislature listed first, has most powers and checks, need 3/4 at state level to ratify
Clause 18, article 1 Section 8
elastic clause, gives the national government the power to create laws that are necessary and proper to execute the powers of the federal government
Article 2 section 1
requierments for president, 35 years old, US born citizen, resident of US for at least 14 years (used to be unlimited 4 year terms but was changes to limited, 2 4 year terms
Roles of President
Chief of state: symbolic leader of the country
Chief executive: appoints heads of government departments
Chief diplomat: negotiate treaties, work with foriegn counties
Chief legislator: public policy, sign and veto laws
Chief of party: leader of their political party
Commander in chief: leader of military
Electoral college
435 members + 3 votes given to DC + 100 = 538 electoral votes
need 270 of those electoral votes to win election
