U.S. Constitution
Enumerated powers
(aka Expressed powers) powers granted to the national government that come directly from the Constitution Examples: declare war & negotiate treaties, collect taxes, regulate interstate & foreign commerce
(ARTICLE 5: THE AMENDING PROCESS) Describe in detail methods by which the Constitution can be amended. How do these illustrate the principle of federalism?
*2/3rds vote of both houses in Congress must agree in proposing amendments *2/3 of state legislatures can call a national constitutional convention to propose amendments *3/4th of state legislatures have to ratify the amendments in order for them to be passed *3/4th of state legislatures must agree on the conventions *This illustrates the principle of federalism since both Congress and State government approval is required before the Constitution can be amended. It does not give too much power to one area. This helps the Constitution stay stable.
(ARTICLE 7: RATIFICATION PROCESS) How is the Constitution ratified?
*9 states must vote for the Constitution to be ratified
(ARTICLE 1: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH) What is a revenue bill? What is different about this bill?
*A Revenue bill focuses on methods of raising money by allowing for taxation and tariffs. *This bill is different because it has to originate in the House of Representatives and the Senate is allowed to amend the revenue bill.
(ARTICLE 1: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH) Describe the skeletal outline of passing a bill into law?
*A bill can come from the House or Senate but must be approved by the majority of both legislative branches *After it gets approved, it goes to the President for approval *he can either send it back to Congress with his objections or approve it *if Congress still wants bill to be put into effect, bill must be passed again, 2/3 majority vote from both House & Senate, President's objection becomes overruled
(ARTICLE 2: THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH) How can a President be removed from office. List the reasons.
*A president can be removed from office on impeachment/conviction for/of treason, bribery, and other extreme crimes and misdemeanors.
(ARTICLE 2: THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH) Know the term of office for President and the qualifications for the office.
*A president may only serve 2 terms in office, 4 years each. *In order to qualify for president the individual must be a natural born citizen, at least 35 years old, and have resided in the United States for at least 14 years.
(ARTICLE 1: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH) What is a quorum? What are the Rules of Proceedings? The Journal of Proceedings? What is a Caucus?
*A quorum is the least number of people present that are necessary in order to conduct business (usually a majority). *Rules of Proceedings determine how business is going to be conducted. *The Journal of Proceedings says what the businesses are allowed to do and this includes voting record on bills.
(ARTICLE 4: STATES) How are new states to be admitted?
*Congress admits new states and has the right to make rules in regards to the territory that requests statehood *Cannot be formed within jurisdiction of any other state without consent of legislatures of states concerned as well as Congress *Cannot be formed with junction of existing states
(ARTICLE 6: NATIONAL SUPREMACY) Do you see cause for state-central government conflict in this article? How?
*Constitution is the law so if a state makes a law that's contradictory to the Constitution then the state's law is void. *Disagreement over powers of federal and state governments
(ARTICLE 6: NATIONAL SUPREMACY) What is the supreme law of the land?
*If the national government makes a law that contradicts the state law then the national law overrides the state law and wins *State judges have to uphold federal law over the state law, making it the supreme law of the land *Supreme Court interprets and upholds constitutional law
(ARTICLE 1: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH) What are the two kinds of vetoes?
*Pocket veto: president does nothing and bill becomes a law after 10 days only if Congress is in session; if Congress is not in session then the bill doesn't become a law *Disapproving bill thus sending it back with president's reasons for disapproving
(ARTICLE 3: THE JUDICIAL BRANCH) How is the judicial power distributed?
*The Constitution created the Supreme Court. *There is a Supreme Court followed by lower courts, which Congress deems necessary. *Some lower courts Congress made include district courts and circuit courts. *The Supreme Court decides what's constitutional or unconstitutional.
(ARTICLE 1: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH) Who is the chief officer of the House of Representatives? Of the Senate?
*The chief officer of the House of Representatives is the speaker of the house, who gets elected by the whole of the House of Representatives on the first day of every new Congress. *The chief officer of the Senate is the Vice President (or the president pro tempore in absence of the Vice President).
(ARTICLE 1: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH) Name the two branches of the legislature. What are they jointly called? What qualifications to be a member of each?
*The legislative branch consists of the House of Representatives and Senate. *Together they are called Congress. *In order to be a member of the Senate the individual elected to the Senate must at least be a United States citizen for 9 years, at least 30 years old, and a resident of the state that the individual represents. *In order to be a member of the House of Representatives the individual must be a United States citizen for 7 years, at least 25 years old, and a resident of the state that he or she represents.
(ARTICLE 2: THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH) How is the President elected?
*The people indirectly elect the president through the Electoral College. State electors go to the candidate who wins the popular vote for that state. In order to win, it's required to have plurality of electors.
(ARTICLE 3: THE JUDICIAL BRANCH) What are the appellate powers of the Supreme Court?
Appellate powers of the Supreme Court are the ones that are not included in their exclusive powers. The Supreme Court may review decisions and change outcomes of decisions from the lower courts.
3/5th Compromise
Compromise that said a slave counts as 3/5th of a person towards the total population for taxation and representation to settle arguments over regional powers between Northern and Southern states. Created by James Wilson and Roger Sherman
(ARTICLE 1: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH) How often must Congress meet? Why?
Congress must meet at least once a year and when they meet new members are elected and must be seated.
(ARTICLE 1: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH) How do the election procedures differ for the House and the Senate?
Election procedures differ for the House and Senate because new members are elected in the House every 2 years and each member only serves 2 years, while for the Senate there are about 6 year terms.
(ARTICLE 3: THE JUDICIAL BRANCH) How long do federal judges serve? Why?
Federal judges serve for life or until they misbehave or die because it is specified in the Constitution. Also, it ensures that they will not be affected by political influences.
Northern Plan
Northern states planned to not allow slaves to be counted in a state's population and argued they should be treated as property since slaves don't have any power or voting rights.
pocket veto
President not doing anything with a bill within 10 days and it gets made into a law if Congress is in session, if Congress is not in session the bill does not become a law
(ARTICLE 1: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH) What were some of the powers exclusively held by Congress?
Some powers exclusively held by Congress include: -Borrowing money on behalf of the United States -Regulating commerce amongst states and with foreign nations -Collecting taxes -Providing and maintaining a navy or calling a militia -Declaring war
Southern Plan
Southern states wanted to have the slaves accounted for in state population, one slave=one person, so that they would have more representation in Congress (which would strengthen their political power)
(ARTICLE 4: STATES) What are the guarantees to citizens of every state?
The Constitution guarantees citizens of every state the rights of a state that they're visiting. They are entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states.
(ARTICLE 2: THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH) What are the Constitutional duties of the President?
The Constitutional duties of the President are: -commander in chief of military -make treaties (only w/ 2/3 agreement of Senate) -give State of the Union to Congress -nominate ambassadors and judges of Supreme Court -grant reprieves and pardons for offenses -fill vacancies in Senate if Senate is in recess
(ARTICLE 1: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH) Describe the impeachment process.
The House brings the charges and majority of House must vote for charges in order for president to be impeached, then the Senate conducts the trial, the Chief Justice or Supreme Court presides over the trial, and 2/3 majority of senators need to convict president of such crimes.
(ARTICLE 3: THE JUDICIAL BRANCH) What are the exclusive powers (original jurisdiction) of the Supreme Court?
The Supreme Court has the right to hear a case. The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over cases that involve ambassadors, public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a Party.
(ARTICLE 1: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH) Section 9 includes some of the basic civil liberty protections in the Constitution. What are they?
The basic civil liberty protections are: -can't suspend habeas corpus unless public safety depends on it -can't have ex post facto laws -can't direct tax -can't have taxes on exports from States -State's can't charge each other fees for travelling from state to state -money can't be taken from treasury unless specified by appropriations law -can't grant titles of nobility
(ARTICLE 1: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH) Pay special attention to the last clause of Section 8 (clause 18)—the elastic clause. How does this function?
The elastic clause (implied powers) allows the government to do things that are not specified in the Constitution but are still allowed to the government in order to properly carry out their enumerated powers and allows for national power growth.
(ARTICLE 2: THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH) What power does the President share with the Senate?
The president shares the power with the Senate to make foreign treaties.
(ARTICLE 4: STATES) What is a republican form of government?
The republican form of government is a government that's ruled by law that's limited by the Constitution and a representative democracy. The people hold the power of the government and give power to leaders they elect to represent them and serve their interests. The citizens have an active role in government affairs, which prevents the government from turning into a monarchy.
(ARTICLE 1: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH) Why are titles of nobility prohibited?
Titles of Nobility are prohibited because it defeats the purpose of the idea that every man is equal in America since it makes a person look more important than everyone else.
(ARTICLE 3: THE JUDICIAL BRANCH) What is treason?
Treason is the crime of betraying the country (a violation of allegiance to one's sovereign/state by aiding the country's enemies) or planning to overthrow the country. A person who commits treason is called a traitor.
implied powers
aka Elastic clause) powers assumed to the government that allow federal government to extend its powers beyond the specified ones in the Constitution; derives from Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18 Examples: creating a national bank, creating a military draft, having minimum wage, right to buy land
Virginia Plan
drafted by James Madison and presented by Edmund Randolph Called for representatives based on states population and also to count slaves too (proposed bicameral legislature). Creates bicameral legislature by having both houses be based on proportionate representation.
(PREAMBLE) What are the purposes of the new government?
form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, and promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity (future).
natrualization
grants citizenship
ex post facto
latin for "after the fact"; if a person did something bad that is not against the law and then 10 years later a law's created for the bad thing that the person did, the person cannot go to jail for it; retroactive law
bill of attainder
law that allows a person to be punished without trial, CONGRESS CANNNOT PASS A BILL OF ATTAINDER ; by not allowing a bill of attainder, people protect themselves from the government
New Jersey Plan
presented by William Paterson Created in response to Virginia Plan and called for equal representation among the states since the small states opposed giving most of the control of the National government to the large states (also known as Paterson Plan or Small State Plan ; unicameral legislature that reflects belief that states are independent entities)
writ of habeas corpus
protects people from unlawful imprisonment, court order that requires sufficient evidence for a prisoner to be held for trial and put in jail, right of being informed of why a person's being detained, not suspending the habeas corpus is1 way in which the people protect themselves from the government
delegated powers
same thing as enumerated powers
Great Compromise
state: Connecticut Combination of Virginia Plan and New Jersey plan to form the Connecticut plan, which is now called The Great Compromise. Serves as a model for state representation in the 2 houses of Congress by having both equal representation in the Senate and proportionately representation in the House.
advice and consent
the role of the Senate in confirming presidential appointments and ratifying treaties