Unit 1 Constitutional Underpinnings

Question 1

What safeguards did the framers establish in the Constitution to make sure that changes happened slowly?

Answer 1

Term lengths: the president (4 years), the House (2 years), and the Senate (6 years) all serve different terms; this makes it a time-consuming process for a majority to prevail

Indirect elections: under the Constitution as drafted, both the president and the Senate

The amendment process is difficult, requiring large majorities at each step

Question 2

What checks does the legislative branch exercise over the judicial branch?

Answer 2

The legislative branch exercises numerous checks over the judicial branch, including:

• impeachment
• the ability to create and fund lower courts under
• Senate’s advises and consents of judicial appointments
• proposal of amendments to override judicial decisions

Question 3

According to Article II, what are the president’s responsibilities?

Answer 3

• report on the State of the Union
• recommend to Congress any measures the president deems “necessary and expedient”
• receive foreign ambassadors and representatives
• care for the faithful execution of the law
• commission officers in diplomatic and military service

Question 4

What checks does the executive branch exercise over the judicial branch?

Answer 4

• president appoints federal judges (with the advice and consent of the Senate)
• president may grant reprieves and pardon federal offenders
• president may refuse to enforce court decisions

Question 5

In its original text, the Constitution prohibits bills of attainder. What are bills of attainder?

Answer 5

A bill of attainder is an act of the legislature deeming a person, or groups of persons, guilty of a crime without the benefit of a trial. The Constitution also disallowed bills of attainder from state legislatures.

Question 6

Article I, Section IX bars Congress from suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, unless invasion or rebellion requires it to ensure public safety. What is a writ of habeas corpus?

Answer 6

writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person’s release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention.

Question 7

Article III establishes what governmental branch?

Answer 7

Article III establishes the judicial branch; specifically the Supreme Court and “such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.”

Question 8

Article II’s last section describes the removal of the president, vice president, and all civil officers from their offices. What is the removal process called?

Answer 8

The removal process is called “impeachment”; however, actual removal requires a conviction in the Senate of “[t]reason, [b]ribery, or other [h]igh crimes and [m]isdemeanors.”

Only three presidents, Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump have been impeached, and none were removed.

Question 9

Article III gives the Supreme Court original jurisdiction over what types of cases?

Answer 9

According to Article III, the Supreme Court is the first court to hear:

• Cases involving ambassadors, ministers, and counsel
• Cases in which at least one party is a state (i.e. cases in which the Federal Government has a controversy with a state, or two states are suing each other)

Question 10

What powers does Article II provide to the executive branch?

Answer 10

Article II gives the president the power to:

• command the military
• with the Senate’s advice and consent, make treaties, appoint ambassadors, ministers, judges, and the heads of departments (e.g. the Secretary of State)
• call Congress into special session
• grant reprieves and pardons
• adjourn Congress

Question 11

What types of cases are heard under the Supreme Court’s Article III appellate jurisdiction?

Answer 11

The court’s appellate jurisdiction commonly extends to:

• any case arising under the Constitution
• any case involving a treaty
• admiralty and maritime cases
• controversies between a state and citizens from another state or foreign citizens (abrogated by the 11th Amendment)
• controversies between citizens of different states

Question 12

What are the five basic constitutional principles, as established within the Constitution?

Answer 12

The five basic constitutional principles are:

limited government
federalism
separation of powers
checks and balances
popular sovereignty

Question 13

What is the difference between original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction?

Answer 13

Original jurisdiction is the power to hear a case for the first time, while appellate jurisdiction allows a court to review a lower court’s decision.

Question 14

Article III provides for a trial by _____ in all criminal trials, a right further expanded in the Sixth Amendment.

Answer 14

Article III guarantees a jury trial except in cases of impeachment.

Question 15

Article IV contains the “Full Faith and Credit” Clause, which obligates states to do what?

Answer 15

The clause requires that each state honor judgments and public records from other states.

The clause reads that “[F]ull faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of other states.”

Question 16

Article III defines which crime as consisting “only in levying War against them (the United States), or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort”?

Answer 16

This passage is Article III’s definition of treason and provides that no one shall be convicted of treason absent the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or the accused’s confession.

Question 17

Pursuant to Article IV, what form of government does the federal government guarantee to each state?

Answer 17

Article IV contains the federal government’s guarantee of a republican form of government.

Only rarely reviewed by the Supreme Court, scholars believe this clause was designed to allow the federal government to intervene in the case of an intrastate insurrection, such as Shay’s Rebellion, and guarantees that each state is governed by representative institutions.

Question 18

Once a constitutional amendment has been proposed, what two procedures under Article V allow for its ratification?

Answer 18

Under Article V, either 3/4 of the state legislature, or 3/4 of state conventions called for the purpose, must approve the amendment for it to become part of the Constitution.

The state ratifying convention method has only been used once – for the Nineteenth Amendment.

Congress can, if it so desires, establish a time limit by which ratification must take place.

Question 19

n the context of the federal government, what is meant by the term “separation of powers”?

Answer 19

Separation of powers is part of the Constitution’s division of power among the three branches of government. Each branch has particular rights and responsibilities. The Constitution uses checks and balances to diffuse power between the branches and make sure no branch becomes too powerful.

Question 20

According to Article VII, how many state ratification were necessary before the Constitution became legally binding?

Answer 20

Article VII required 9 of the 13 states to adopt the Constitution; Delaware was the first to do s