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Paper 3 content > The US constitution and federalism > Flashcards

The US constitution and federalism Flashcards

1
Q

define codification

A

when a constitution is written down all in one document

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2
Q

what are the 3 branches of the federal government?

A
  • the legislature (makes the laws)
  • the executive (carry out the laws)
  • the judiciary (enforces and interprets the laws
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3
Q

what does article I outine?

A

established congress as the legislature

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4
Q

what does Article II outline?

A

all executive power goes to the president who is chosen indirectly by an electoral college

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5
Q

what did article III outline?

A

established the US supreme court and they were required to watch the constitution and ensure laws were upheld

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6
Q

an advantage of the vagueness of the constitution
give an example

A
  • it allows the constitution to evolve without the need for reform, ensuring that the constitution remains relevant today
    for example: Obergefell v Hodges - made same sex marriage legal
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7
Q

a disadvantage of the vagueness of the constitution
give an example

A

it has allowed interpretation to become too broad, which has allowed rulings that the Founding Fathers wouldn’t have liked, for example, same sex marriage (Obergefell v Hudges) or abortion (Roe V Wade)

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8
Q

what are reserved powers?

A

powers not delegated to the federal government, they are set aside for the states and the people

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9
Q

what are concurrent powers?

A

powers possessed by the federal and state government

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10
Q

what is entrenchment ?

A

extra safeguards that are put in place to make it more difficult to change / abolish laws

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11
Q

why is it good that the US constitution is entrenched?

A

the founding fathers purposely made the amendment process difficult to avoid giving the president too much power, also to avoid the constitution changing too many times

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12
Q

what is the second amendment

A

the right to bear arms

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13
Q

what are some advantages of the formal amendment process?

A
  • protects the constitution from quick changes
  • requires broad support : supermajorities lead to everyone being happy
  • prevents ill thought out amendments
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14
Q

what was the 18th amendment and why is it a good example of why the amendment process is difficult ?

A

the 18th amendment prohibited the sale and transportation of alcohol, this amendment was then repealed
it is a good example as the difficulty of the amendment process prevents ill thought out amendments

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15
Q

what are some disadvantages of the formal amendment?

A
  • difficult to amend outdated amendments
  • goes against concept of a majoritarian democracy
  • gives the supreme court power to make interpretive amendments
  • states with a small population have too much power (it is possible for the 13 smallest states to block a proposal)
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16
Q

whats an example of outdated amendments being hard to change

A

equal rights- despite a broad agreement over women’s rights, an equal rights amendment still hasn’t been passed as it failed to be supported by the required number of states

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17
Q

what’s an example of the amendment process going against a majoritarian democracy

A

the flag protection amendment received over 50% of the vote but this fell short of the supermajority

only 13 out of 50 states need to oppose an amendment, which is unfair and leads to tyranny of the minority as those 13 states represent just 24% of the US, which is wrong as they were able to overturn the amendment that the majority wanted

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18
Q

give an example of why the supreme having power to make interpretive amendments is bad

A

Roe V Wade: five out of the nine judges of the US Supreme Court decided that a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion is no longer constitutionally protected.

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19
Q

what is the separation of powers?

A

the idea that political power is distributed among the legislature, the executive and the judiciary

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20
Q

how did Obamacare become a law (separation of powers)

A
  1. both houses of congress had to pass the healthcare reform bill in identical forms (both houses have equal power)
  2. the president needs to sign the bill in order for it to become a law, which Obama did in march 2010
  3. however, some opponents thought some aspects of this law were unconstitutional, which is where the supreme court steps in and 2 years later, the court announced its decision, upholding the laws provisions
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21
Q

how can congress exercise checks on the powers of the president?

A
  • they can amend, block or reject items of legislation
  • they can override the presidents veto
  • they can reject a budget submitted by the president (power of the purse)
  • congress has the power to declare war
  • they can impeach
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22
Q

give an example of congress blocking a presidents legislation

A

in 2017, Trump argued that he would ‘repeal and replace’ Obamacare, but this was blocked by Congress

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23
Q

when has congress overridden a presidential veto?

A

congress overrode Obamas veto of the justices against sponsors of the terrorism act 2016 - this however requires a supermajority (2/3), so overriding a presidential veto isn’t easy

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24
Q

give an example of congress using the power of the purse on the president

A

in 2018, congress did not agree with trump over his budget on boarder security, which then led to a federal government shut down late 2018-2019

25
Q

how many times has congress used their power to declare war, when was the last formal use of this power?

A

11 times

1941: the second world war

26
Q

how many times has congress used their power to declare war, when was the last formal use of this power?

A

11 times

1941: the second world war

27
Q

what impact did the war powers act 2973 have on congress? give an example of an event where it has been effective

A

before the act, congress had little say in the decision to use troops abroad, which gave the president more power, but the act then gave congress the right to withdraw troops after 60 days if congress had not voted to approve action.
example: Clinton was forced to withdraw troops from Somalia in 1994

28
Q

how can the senate exercise checks on the power of the president? give an example for each of the 2

A
  • ratify treaties: requires 2/3 of a majority: in 1999 senate rejected the comprehensive test ban treaty
  • approve/reject the appointment of judges (only a simple majority required) : 1987, senate rejected Reagans nomination Robert Bork for the supreme court
29
Q

how can the president exercise checks on the power of congress?

A
  • veto legislation
  • use of executive agreements instead of treaties to negotiate with foreign power
30
Q

give an example when a president has vetoed congress’ legislation

A

May 2020, Trump vetoed the Iran War powers regulation, which would have limited the presidents ability to wage war against Iran

31
Q

give an example of when a president has used executive agreements instead of treaties to negotiate with foreign power

A

when Obama knew that Congress would not ratify a nuclear deal that he negotiated with Iran, so he therefore signed the Joint Comprehensive Unit Plan of Action agreement with Iran

32
Q

how can the Supreme Court exercise checks on the power of Congress? give an example (1)

A
  • they can declare acts of congress as unconstitutional through judicial review.

e.g: United States V Windsor : SC declared the defence of marriage act unconstitutional

33
Q

what is bipartisanship?

A

close cooperation between the 2 major parties to achieve their desired political goals

34
Q

what is a divided government?

A

when the presidency is controlled by one party, and one or both houses of congress are controlled by another party

35
Q

when has bipartisanship been good?

A

George W Bush managed to achieve his education reforms as he worked with democrats

36
Q

what is the impact of a divided government? (positive)

A
  • bills are scrutinised more closely
  • ## treaties are checked more carefully
37
Q

what is the impact of a divided government? (negative)

A
  • party polarisation: the ideological gap makes it hard for 2 parties to compromise
38
Q

what major legislation was made under divided government in the 98th Congress? (2)

A
  • The Declaration of Martin Luther Kings birthday as a federal holiday
  • The Comprehensive Crime Control Act : major revision of the federal criminal code which increased penalties for drug trafficking and terrorism
39
Q

what is federalism?

A

when power is divided through national government and state governments

40
Q

what is a limited government?

A

the idea the government would only interfere when it is essential - leaving freedoms and rights untouched

41
Q

give 2 examples of federal government powers

A
  • declaring war
  • creating and maintaining armed forces
42
Q

give 2 examples of concurrent (shared between federal and state) powers

A
  • making constitutional amendments
  • levying taxes
43
Q

give 2 examples of state government powers

A
  • establishing local governments
  • regulating elections
44
Q

is federalism a fixed concept? explain why

A

no, as federalism has changed over time , it has evolved in 3 broad stages

45
Q

dual federalism (1790s to 1930s)

A

limited role for federal government

where state and federal governments were co-equal with distinct policy boundaries

the states undertook most governing and exercised the most political power

46
Q

cooperative federalism (1930s to 1960s)
what was the new deal?

A

federal and state governments worked together

after the Wall Street crash the Great Depression, and the second World War, the federal government began to gain more power under the presidency of Franklin D Roosevelt

the New Deal: the federal government took responsibilities such as unemployment benefit, work programmes and providing local schools

47
Q

New Federalism (1960s to 2000s)

A

an attempt to reduce federal power and give it back to the states

however, this still resembles cooperative federalism as there are still blurred lines between the division of powers

48
Q

arguments that the states retain sovereignty

A
  • laws vary across states
  • healthcare
  • electoral practices vary widely
  • autonomy towards the handling of national crises
  • SC ruling supports the state over federal government
49
Q

how do laws vary across states? (criminal punishment and taxes)

A

punishment: death penalty is legal in 29 states and has been abolished in 21 states

taxes: tax can be set at state level, e.g California have 13% and 7 states have 0% tax

50
Q

how do states have autonomy over healthcare?

A

after Obamacare was passed, the states have power over the provision of medical insurance

51
Q

how do states have autonomy over electoral practices in states?

A

article I of the constitution allows states to run their own elections, and they have can set their own boundaries for the districts in their states

52
Q

how do states have autonomy towards the handling of national crises? give an example

A

during covid, each of the states had the responsibility of creating their own plans for how they were to deal with it

the Ohio governor was the first to call state wide closure of schools, meanwhile 7 states didn’t issue orders to stay home

53
Q

how do Supreme Court rulings support state governments over federal government?

A

United States V Texas: the SC struck down Obamas use of an executive order to implement his immigration reform programme, ruling it to be unconstitutional due to the cost it had to the states

54
Q

arguments that the federal government is challenging state autonomy

A
  • taxation and federal financing
  • healthcare
  • federal government encroachment on numerous state issues
  • federal encroachment on state autonomy during a national crises
55
Q

how does the federal government challenge state autonomy though taxation and federal financing? give an example

A

state citizens have to pay federal income tax and the states rely on the federal government when their finances run low

for example, in 2005, after hurricane Katrina, the federal government gave $120 billion of aid to state governments

56
Q

how does the federal government challenge state autonomy through healthcare? give an example

A

healthcare provision is heavily dependent on federal funding

e.g Bush signed into law the Medicare Prescription Drug Modernisation Act, which majorly expanded Medicare, this cost $400 billion

57
Q

how does the federal government challenge state autonomy through encroachment on state issues? (education)

A

education: The No Child Left Behind Act signed into law by Bush increased the federal governments role in education - this law mandated that states test children annually

58
Q

how does the federal government challenge state autonomy through encroachment during national crises?

A

federal government gave $120 billion of aid after Hurricane Katrina

59
Q

when has Supreme Court rulings supported federal government over state government?

A

the SC upheld the Affordable Care Act, which gave the federal government more control over healthcare

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