Week 2 - The Constitution

Question 1

What are the faults of the US Constitution?

Answer 1

1) The Electoral College - the system makes it possible for the loser of a national vote to be elected President; was created at a time when it didn’t seem possible to have national campaigns
2) Senate Distribution - each state has only two Senators despite varying levels in population; gives the idea that in different states, a single vote can ‘mean more’ . Example: Wyoming has a population of 450,000 and California has a population of more than 32 million - but they both have 2 Senators
3) Amendment Process - need 2/3’s in the House and Senate and then 3/4’s of State Legislatures; it allows the minority to block a reform that the majority want. This makes democratic change almost impossible - cannot change with the times
4) Judicial Power: there was a failure to limit the powers of the Judiciary to declare laws as unconstitutional
5) Suffrage: The Constitution failed to guarantee suffrage and left in place the exclusion of half the population - it took a century and a half before women were guaranteed the right to vote, and nearly two centuries before a President and Congress could overcome the effective veto of minority states in order to pass legislation intended to guarantee the voting rights of African Americans
6) Slavery: The Constitution neither forbade slavery nor empowered Congress to do so. In fact, the compromise on slavery not only denied Congress the effective power to prohibit the importation of slaves before 1808 but it gave constitutional sanction to one of the most morally objectionable byproducts of a morally repulsive institution: the Fugitive Slave Laws, according to which a slave who managed to escape to a free state had to be returned to the slaveholder, whose property the slave remained.

Question 2

Outline the Articles of Confederation

Answer 2

This was the first Constitution and it included external factors such as diplomacy, external security and judicial resolution of inter - state grievances.

Question 3

Why did the Articles of Confederation fail?

Answer 3

It only lasted 8 years.

I) The Americans were experiencing a fiscal crisis at the national level; and these included a lack of direct revenue raising powers and at the state level, states issued paper money to pay public creditors.

The Article had to rely on states to pay a contribution to the Government because they could not tax - this resulted in problems because the states did not have money either.

II) The Articles gave Congress the power to pass laws but no power to enforce those laws. If a state did not support a federal law, that state could simply ignore it. Congress had no power to levy taxes or regulate trade. Without a federal court system or executive leader, there would be no way to enforce these laws, either.

III) Congress needed 9 out of 13 states to approve legislation - this supermajority means that consensus was difficult

IIII) States had their own money systems: During the confederation era that was not a common currency and this meant that trade between the states was particularly difficult

V) Amendments to the Constitution needed support from all 13 states

Question 4

What did the Federalist’s propose?

Answer 4

The Federalist’s were the defenders of the new Constitution and they created what would be known as the Federalist Papers.

Question 5

What were the Federalist Papers?

Answer 5

It is a collection of 85 articles and essays that were written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay

Question 6

Gives 4 examples of the Federalist Papers?

Answer 6

I) Federalist 10 - anti - majority rule

II) Federalist 51 - checks and balances

III) Federalist 70 - case for a stronger President

IIII) Federalist 78 - judicial review

Question 7

When was the Bill of Rights passed?

Answer 7

1791

Question 8

Outline the Bill of Rights

Answer 8

1 - Speech, religion, assembly, press, petition

2 - Right to bear arms

3 - Anti - quartering

4- Secure in person, paper and effects

5, 6, 7, 8 - Trial, due process and punishment

9 - Natural Rights

10 - State sovereignty in other matters that are not concerned with the Federal Government

Question 9

What 2 amendments failed to receive ratification?

Answer 9

Equal Rights Amendment 1972 and the District of Columbia Statehood in 1978

Question 10

When was the last structural amendment?

Answer 10

1967

Question 11

Why are there so few amendments?

Answer 11

The main reason is because small minorities can block the passing of an amendment e.g. Senators from the 17 smallest states - which are 7% of the population, can block an amendment.

Question 12

How do Federal and State Constitutions differ?

Answer 12

The State Constitutions are amended more regularly - with 120 amendments on average and furthermore, these amendments are changed through popular referendums.

Another one of the key differences is that state constitutions reflect narrow and local concerns with particularistic interests. Therefore, this shows that state constitutions in a large part can be explained by the work of nationwide interest groups such as labour unions and women’s groups which promote their agendas through individual states

Question 13

Why are State Constitutions longer?

Answer 13

Because they include social rights, particularly around social rights e.g. education, labour regulation, worker’s rights, rights of the poor and disability rights

Question 14

What are some elements of Convergence between the States?

Answer 14

The State’s institutions are remarkably similar e.g. 49 states are bicameral, 49 states elect federal legislators through FPTP, 48 states use winner - takes all in electoral vote allocation and all states follow a Presidential system

Question 15

Explain the North Carolina Anti - Free Speech Law 1830 - 1866

Answer 15

This criminalised public dissent of slavery or criticism of racial inequality - this was punishable by death

Question 16

What is a VETO player?

Answer 16

A veto player is someone who has an influence on policy.

There is an argument that states that the more veto players there are in the political system, the more difficult it is to construct a win set to alter the political status quo

Question 17

Give an example of VETO players in the US

Answer 17

The Senate and the House of Representatives are veto players because without their consent, no bill can become law

Question 18

Through myths, how has inequality been normalised - and how does this make it more difficult for inequality - reducing politics to be organised?

Answer 18

1) US Federalism as 50 Laboratories of Experimentalism: It is the extreme localism and number of prerogatives of American States, and the result of their coming together type of Federalism is what facilitates inequality - producing state policies, such as the famous ‘race to the bottom’ competitive tax policies among the states.
2) Inequality is the price we pay for our diversity: this is not necessarily true - six other countries in the comparison set (Germany, Sweden, Austria, the Netherlands, France and Belgium) have similar or higher levels of foreign born residents but substantially better Gini index scores than the United States
3) The American Dream - Most Americans still believe in the American Dream and in unlimited opportunity. Therefore in comparative terms, if beliefs in the American Dream were still warranted, the United States should manifest levels of great upward mobility and comparatively little intergenerational persistence of disadvantage
4) Americans Like and Have Limited Government’s Public Spending on Health Care: this is not true and can be highlighted by the statistic that the combined total of private and public expenditure on health care shows that the US spends more than twice as much on health care than the comparison set average

Question 19

Explain how a superiority of Republicanism has constrained the US Constitution

Answer 19

The Constitution was written by elites and therefore it was believed that it would reflect the values of the economically prosperous. Links to the idea that constraints originated from their own belief in the superiority of the Republican Government over all others, but also by their conviction that the high value they placed on Republicanism was overwhelmingly shared by American citizens in the State

Question 20

When writing the Constitution, how did Slavery present a problem?

Answer 20

Most of the delegates from the five southern states were opposed to any constitutional provision that might endanger the institution. Therefore, even for the delegates that did not agree with slavery, it was obvious to them that the only condition on which coexistence would be acceptable would be the persistence of slavery.