US Constitution

Question 1

Two key compromises in drafting constitution

Answer 1

The Connecticut Compromise - agrees on bicameral compromise - senate has equal representation per state and the House of Representatives has reputation based on population.

The Three-Fifths Compromise - disagreement over whether slaves should be counted as people. This settled on them being counted as 3/5s of a person.

Question 2

7 articles of the US constitution

Answer 2

1 - legislation branch
Sets out that legislative powers are held by Congress, which consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Sets out composition of both chambers, the process of law-making and the key powers of Congress.

2 - executive branch
Executive power is held by the President, who is elected every 4 years and can be removed through impeachment.

3 - judicial branch
Judicial power is held by the Supreme Court and lower courts.

4 - relationship between the states
Relationship between the states and between the states and federal gov. Sets out power of the states.

5 - amending the constitution

6 - prior debts, national supremacy clause, and oaths of office
Includes supremacy clause

7 - ratification procedure

Question 3

Bill of Rights

Answer 3

1 - freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition

2 - right to bear arms

3 - rights reserved to the states

13 - abolition of slavery

19 - women’s suffrage rights

22 - presidential term limits

Question 4

The US constitution is……

Answer 4

Codified and entrenched

Question 5

Supremacy clause

Answer 5

Contained in article VI sets out the constitution is ‘higher law’ than any other legislation passed in the US.

Question 6

How the amendment process works

Answer 6

Stage one - proposal
Either through a 2/3rd vote in both houses of Congress or through a 2/3 vote in national convention called by 2/3 of state legislatures.

Stage 2 - ratification
Either through a majorities vote in 3/4 of state legislatures (used 26 times) or through a majority vote in 3/4 of special state conventions (only used once to repeal the 18th amendment).

Question 7

How many amendments have been made to the constitution in the over 200 years since the Bill of Rights?

Answer 7

17

Question 8

Interpretative amendments through judicial review

Answer 8

When the Supreme Court changes their interpretation of the constitutions they essentially amend it.

Question 9

Interpretative amendments through judicial review

Answer 9

When the Supreme Court changes their interpretation of the constitutions they essentially amend it.

Question 10

Originalism vs living constitutionalism

Answer 10

Originalism - intentions of the founding fathers should be followed

Living constitutionalism - the interpretation of the constitution should evolve with changing circumstances and values in society.

Question 11

Advantages of codification, entrenchment and the amendment process

Answer 11

• protected by a difficult amendment process ensures its key principles are well protected and ill-thought-out reactionary amendments fail to be passed.
• the rules of government and division of power between different parts of the political system are clear. Easy to follow and the US population is well informed about their political system and rights.
• the constitution protects against abuses of the power within the political system. Makes clear rules of government so gov can be held to account if it abuses its power. This protects federalism and the powers of states from the federal government.
• judicial review allows the constitution to be flexible and evolve with a changing society and in response to political circumstances, even if the formal amendment process allows for little change.

Question 12

Disadvantages of codification, entrenchment and the amendment process

Answer 12

• the constitution is rigid, outdated and fails to evolve as society does. The amendment process being extremely difficult leads to it being outdated. The constitution fails to change and evolve as society does, particularly in the current highly partisan environment in which agreement on anything is near impossible, let alone supermajorities.
• it can be argued that the codified and rigid nature of the constitution in fact facilitates rather than prevents abuses of the political system. E.g. Citizens United v FEC. It can also be argued the constitution doesn’t adequately protect lives - the second amendment has facilitated mass loss of life in school shootings.
• the amendment process is undemocratic as it can be argued that the very difficult amendment process makes the constitution highly undemocratic. The requirement for supermajorities allows a small majority in either Congress or in the states to block amendment proposals that have majority support in Congress and across the population.
• the codified and entrenched constitution gives the unelected Supreme Court judges are given far too much power. It is their job to implement the constitution and therefore interpret it as they wish, allowing them time make huge changes to the constitution through interpretation. This is especially problematic as the Supreme Court is politicised.

Question 13

Enumerated powers

Answer 13

Key parts of the constitution explicitly and specifically set out the powers of different branches, known as ‘enumerated powers’.

E.g. article 1 section 8 sets out a number of specific powers held by Congress, including the power to coin money.

The tenth amendment also sets out that any powers not delegated by the constitution are reserved to the states.

Question 14

Vagueness of the constitution -

Implied powers and the necessary and proper/elastic clause

Answer 14

• many of the powers exercised by the federal government and Congress aren’t explicitly mentioned in the constitution, instead they have been implied from the enumerated powers that are mentioned.
• the majority of the implied powers come from the necessary and proper/ ‘elastic clause’; the final clause of Article 1, section 8 of the constitution. This clause states that Congress can make all laws ‘necessary and proper’ to carry out the execution of the enumerated powers of Congress or the federal government.

Question 15

The vagueness of the construction -

The commerce clause

Answer 15

Gives Congress the power to “regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States”.

The 1964 Civil Rights Act used the commerce clause to end racial segregation in hotels and other accommodation.

In the United States v. Lopez case in 1995, however, the Supreme Court set limits of Congress’ use of the Commerce Clause by ruling that the 1990 Gun-Free Zones Act that limited the possession of a firearm within 1000 feet of school was unconstitutional as the measure had nothing to do with interstate commerce.

Question 16

Advantages of the constitutions vagueness

Answer 16

• the vagueness of the constitution and use of implied powers has allowed the constitution to modernise in the 20th century without the needs for the formal amendment process which is very difficult to use.
• implied powers allow the core principles of the constitution to be maintained and not threatened, whilst allowing the document to be practically applied in politics.
• the Supreme Court ensures that implied powers can be used whilst not being stretched too far, therefore protecting the authority of the states. This can be seen in United States v. Lopez.

Question 17

Disadvantages of the constitutions vagueness

Answer 17

• the use of implied powers allows the constitution to develop and change significantly without the consent of the population, which the formal amendment process would guarantee.
• the vagueness of the constitution has allowed the federal government to extend its power far too much, limiting the power of the states.
• the vagueness of the constitution and use of implied powers gives the unelected Supreme Court far too much power to interpret the constitution and decide on the distribution of power in the US political system.

Question 18

Separation of powers

Answer 18

Ensures power is spread out between Congress, the Presidency and the Judiciary. The key intention is to prevent tyranny and any branch having too much power.

Question 19

Checks and balances

Answer 19

Prevents any one institution becoming too powerful, the founding fathers gave each institution a number of ways to check (limit) the power of the other two branches.

Question 20

The presidency’s checks on congress

Answer 20

• in the annual State of the Union Address, the president formally recommends legislation to a joint session of Congress.
• the presidents power to veto legislation

Question 21

The President’s Checks on the Supreme Court

Answer 21

The president nominated all federal judges, including those on the Supreme Court when there is a vacancy.

Presidential Pardons allow the President to pardon and forgive individuals for a federal crime. It is a very controversial check, due to how it is sometimes used to pardon political allies/ friends.

Question 22

Congress’s checks on the president

Answer 22

• congress can amend or reject legislation recommended by the president, therefore thwarting their legislative agenda.
• Congress can override a President’s veto with a 2/3 majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
• Congress has the power of the purse, which means that all money spent by the President and executive has to be agreed by Congress.
• the president needs Congressional approval to declare war.
• the Senate has the power to ratify treaties negotiated by the President, requiring a 2/3 majority.
• the senate has the power to confirm/reject Presidential appointments including the Supreme Court and the government.
• the power to investigate the actions of the President and government.
• Congress can impeach the president. Congress can also impeach other members of the executive, including members of the cabinet.

Question 23

Congress’ Checks on the Judiciary

Answer 23

• Congress has the power to confirm/reject nominations to the Judiciary.
• Congress can impeach federal judges.
• Congress can propose amendments to the constitution if it doesn’t like the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the constitution.

Question 24

The Supreme Court checks on the president

Answer 24

• the power of judicial review; declare an action of any member of the executive unconstitutional.

Question 25

The Supreme Court checks on congress

Answer 25

The power of judicial review; to declare laws passed by Congress unconstitutional.

Question 26

Arguments that the separation of powers and checks and balances are effective

Answer 26

• one key intention of checks and balances and the separation of powers is to ensure that no branch gains too much power, therefore protecting democracy against tyranny.
• one consequence of checks and balances is that if forces the different branches to work together in order to get anything done. This can be seen as promoting bipartisanship and policy forged by compromise and widespread support.

Question 27

Arguments that the separation of powers and checks and balances are ineffective

Answer 27

• the failure of the insurrection against the US state in January 6 2021 following the 2020 election was arguably dependent on only a few individuals, particularly Mike Pence, who stood up to Trump.
• the separation of powers and checks and balances result in the need for bipartisanship. Especially when there is divided government, this often leafs to gridlock and a failure to pass much needed policies such as on immigration reform or climate change.
• it can be argued that the highly partisan nature of US politics threatens the effectiveness of checks and balances. Almost all members of Congress vote with the party line the vast majority of the time.

Question 28

Bipartisanship

Answer 28

Separation of powers makes it inevitable that compromise is necessary in order to get anything done.

If there is divided government; when the President is from a different party to Congress, or even one half of Congress, bipartisanship is necessary for laws to get passed and the system to work effectively.

Question 29

Divided vs Unified government

Answer 29

When there is a unified government, it is much easier to get significant legislative achievements passed, particularly those form the President’s agenda.

between 1975 and 2025 there has been just 16 years with unified government compared to 34 years with divided government.

Obama, Trump and Biden have only had unified government for the first 2 years of their presidency, with divided government thereafter.

This has resulted in the majority of their legislative achievements coming in the first 2 years.
Obama - Affordable Care Act passed in March 2010

Question 30

Arguments that bipartisanship and divided government are effective

Answer 30

• it can be argued that divided government and the need for bipartisanship is effective, as it leads to Congress better scrutinising the actions of the President, including their treaties, budgets and nominations which require congressional approval.
• while there is unified government, it arguably results in much less effective scrutiny.
• Furthermore, bipartisanship arguable forces the Democrats and Republicans to compromise and pass legislation. There have been a number of recent legislative achievements under divided government.
  CARES Act in response to COVID-19 was passed under divided government in March 2020.

Question 31

Arguments that bipartisanship and divided government and ineffective

Answer 31

• it can be argued that divided government doesn’t result in effective scrutiny of the president. Instead it results in highly partisan, political attacks aimed at harming the president at the next election.
• it can be argued that bipartisanship and divided government isn’t effective in forcing parties to work together and compromise. Instead, it leads to gridlock and the failure to pass key pieces of legislation.
• the failure of bipartisanship has also resulted in two major government shutdowns in recent years when Congress has rejected the President’s budget.