The constitutional framework of US government and comparisons with the UK

Question 1

Powers of the president

Answer 1

• commander-in-chief of armed forces
• can issue pardons
• oversees foreign policy
• nominates federal judges

Question 2

Powers of congress

Answer 2

• passes laws and raises taxes
• the senate confirms presidential appointments
• can impeach the president and judges
• ratifies foreign treaties

Question 3

Example - Congress cannot serve in government

Answer 3

• Deb Haaland had to resign as a congresswoman for New Mexico when appointed by Joe Biden as Interior Secretary in 2021

Question 4

Powers of Supreme Court

Answer 4

• interprets the constitution
• can strike down unconstitutional laws and actions
• ensures actions of Congress and president are constitutional

Question 5

How does the president check congress

Answer 5

• can veto bills and threaten to do so (Obama vetoed the Keystone XL pipeline and issued 12 regular vetoes during his 2 terms in office, as well as threatening to veto things regarding Obamacare and immigration controls “if a bill comes to my desk that tries to do anything of these things, I will veto it”)
• can issue executive orders (Trump’s 2017 ban on visitors from Muslim-majority countries)
• can initiate military action (in 2001 and 2003, Bush ordered the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq)

Question 6

How does the president check the judiciary

Answer 6

• issuing pardons and commutations (Ford pardoned his immediate predecessor Nixon after the Watergate scandal, and on Obama’s last day he issued 330 commutations)
• appoints all SC and federal level justices (Trump appointed Neil Gorusch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett)

Question 7

How does the judiciary check the president

Answer 7

• can declare presidential actions unconstitutional (in 2020, two cases involving Trump’s tax and financial records ruled that the president is not immune from state criminal subpoenas/ not above the law even when in office)
• justices serve for life and cannot be replaced by subsequent presidents

Question 8

How does the judiciary check congress

Answer 8

• can rule acts of congress unconstitutional (in 2013, the Defence of Marriage act was ruled unconstitutional, a major advance in the legalisation of same-sex marriage)
• justices are permanent and can’t be removed by congressional voted

Question 9

How does congress check the president

Answer 9

• can override presidential veto with a supermajority (in 2016, Congress overturned Obama’s JASTA veto)
• power of the purse (can turn down requests for funding like Trump’s attempts to get his Mexican border wall built)
• impeachment (Trump was voted to be impeached twice, for abuse of power/ obstruction of Congress, and inciting violence at the Capitol)
• senate must confirm presidential appointments and foreign treaties (in 2013, the Senate blocked Obama’s appointment of Robert Wilkins to the District of Columbia court of appeals)

Question 10

How does congress check the judiciary

Answer 10

• impeachment of judges (Louisiana federal judge Thomas Porteous was impeached for corruption)
• can pass new laws to get around court rulings

Question 11

Bill of Rights

Answer 11

• the first 10 amendments to the constitution, including right to bear arms and free speech
• has been debated lots, for example the death penalty and the 8th amendment that bans ‘cruel and unusual punishment’

Question 12

Federalism

Answer 12

• power is shared between central govt. and the 50 states as per the 10th amendment
• states have power over local taxes, whether to have the death penalty, and aspects of their election process

Question 13

Direct clash between state and federal law - Marijuana

Answer 13

• federal law prohibits the sale and cultivation of marijuana, but it has been legalised in many states including California

Question 14

Formal amendment process

Answer 14

• there have only ever been 27 formal amendments as they are hard to pass
• they require a supermajority from both houses of Congress and ratification from 3/4 of states

Question 15

Informal amendment process

Answer 15

• the constitution is mainly updated by the SCOTUS and judicial review
• rights of LGBT Americans were informally amended via Obergefell v Hodges

Question 16

Obergefell v Hodges 2015

Answer 16

• ruled that the right to marry is extended and guaranteed to same-sex couples under the Equal Protection Clause and the Due Process Clause (14th amendment)
• legalised same-sex marriage across the United States.

Question 17

District of Columbia v Heller 2008

Answer 17

• found that Washington DC’s ban on handguns was unconstitutional because the 2nd Amendment protected an individual right to bear arms
• the explicit right to private gun ownership

Question 18

Miranda rights

Answer 18

• the right of those stopped by the police to remain silent and avoid self-incrimination
• following Miranda v. Arizona 1966, which found that the 5th and 6th amendment rights of Ernesto Arturo Miranda had been violated during his arrest and trial for armed robbery, kidnapping, and rape of a young woman

Question 19

Covid-19 and Federalism

Answer 19

• ## the US lacked coordination during the pandemic, with some states, like Ohio, quick to lock down and others, including Arkansas, not even issuing a full lockdown order

Question 20

Defences of the constitution in the 21st century

Answer 20

• provides stability and continuity
• the lack of precision allows for interpretations to change with time and society

Question 21

Criticisms of the constitution in the 21st century

Answer 21

• it is too difficult to amend and change easily
• specific clauses are outdated, eg. gun ownership
• some powers overlap and cause conflict, eg. over foreign policy

Question 22

How does the constitution protect civil liberties and rights?

Answer 22

• they are entrenched and easily understood in the Bill of Rights
• the ‘elastic clause’ and SC promote rights

Question 23

How does the constitution not protect civil liberties and rights very well?

Answer 23

• the SC’s interpretations change over time due to makeup + politicisation
• not all rights are equally protected, eg. entrenched gun rights but not for women and children
• it’s too difficult to change with the times

Question 24

Key differences between the two constitutions

Answer 24

• US is codified, UK isn’t
• US constitution is sovereign, whereas in the UK parliament is sovereign (this makes the SCOTUS extremely powerful)
• the UK constitution is much easier to amend
• federalism is embedded in the US, whereas devolution could be reversed

Question 25

Key similarities between the two constitutions

Answer 25

• both embrace representative govt. and democracy
• both provide an independent judiciary and some separation of powers
• both seek to protect individual rights of citizens

Question 26

Contrasting devolution and federalism

Answer 26

• federalism is entrenched in the US, whereas devolution could be reversed, and initially was very controversial
• federalism applies equally to all 50 states, whereas devolution only applies in Scotland, Wales, and NI
• US states have greater legislative power than devolved regions, eg. whether to have the death penalty

Question 27

Legislators resembling their voters

Answer 27

• both parliament and Congress are mainly male, whiter, and older than the general population
• however, a record 34% women was elected to parliament in 2019, and a quarter of Congress was female after 2020
• 10% of MPs are BAME, and 1/4 of Congress

Question 28

Legislators as political representatives

Answer 28

• both use majoritarian electoral systems, meaning the two largest parties are considerably overrepresented
• the US is worse, with no 3rd party represented in Congress, whereas the UK has a wider range of parties including the Lib Dems and nationalist parties

Question 29

Legislators as checks on the executive

Answer 29

• the PM must be aware of backbencher power, whereas the president can only be removed by impeachment
• congressional scrutiny can be very powerful and committees can launch inquiries into all executive action
• select committees in the UK lack power to enforce their findings on govt., as they can be easily ignored
• parliament has the advantage of PMQs, which directly scrutinise the executive

Question 30

Legislators as effective lawmakers

Answer 30

• parliament is typically more effective due to strong party discipline, Commons dominance, and parliamentary sovereignty
• bills progress more slowly in Congress, since both chambers are democratically elected
• simple things like the budget can be fiercely debated and stalled in the US, even leading to partial govt. shutdown like in 2018-19
• however, both legislatures can push through emergency legislation if need be, eg. Covid-19

Question 31

Legislators as viewed by the voters

Answer 31

• ## Congress is historically unpopular, with ratings of 19% in 2020