6/5/17

APTHEGOV
CONSTITUTION
REVIEWED!
Government in America(Pearson) Chapter 2
American Government: (Wilson) Chapter 2
Institutions & Policies

CONSTITUTION
• The Cons)tu)on is a na)on’s
basic law.
• Fun facts about the U.S.
Cons)tu)on
– Supreme law of the end
– Created our poli)cal
ins)tu)ons and established
the powers they have
– Protects rights of ci)zens
– Limits the power of the
government

• Colonial period
(1607-1763)
• End of salutary neglect
after the French &
Indian War
à taxes & enforcement
of mercantile policies
àcolonists mad
• Colonists did not have
direct representation in
Parliament
– “No taxation without
representation”

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• Influenced by ideas of the

Enlightenment:
• John Locke is the dude that
influenced colonial leaders
(“The Second Treatise of Civil
Government”)
– Consent of the governed:
people agree on who their
elected officials will be
– Natural Rights: people
have inherent rights that
are not dependent on
governments (Locke said
“life liberty, and property”)
– Limited government:
restriction on the power of
government
– Purpose of government is
to protect the natural
rights of people
• If it fails to do this, you
can change the
government

Thomas Paine’s Common Sense

• Thomas Paine’s pamphlet
“Common Sense” (Jan 1776)
argued for independence
– Strongly influenced by the
Enlightenment
– Called for the creation of a
republic (representative
govt.) based on natural
rights of the people
– Radical idea at the time

Declaration of Independence
• Thomas Jefferson drafted
the formal Declaration of
Independence
• Goals: Justify independence
by listing grievances against
King George III
– “light and transient causes”
– Took out the one Jefferson
wrote against slavery
• To rally support amongst
the colonists
• To get the assistance from
foreign nations
• Broad appeal by declaring
“unalienable rights” (natural
rights) and the power of
government rest with the
people (popular sovereignty)

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• American Revolution was

built on a belief of:
– Natural rights
– Consent of the governed
– Limited government
– Responsibility of government
to protect private property
– Equality of citizens (please Water

don’t laugh)

• The Constitution will include many of these ideas.

• American Revolution as a conservative revolution?

– It was not a radical transformation of society!

THE COLONISTS
WIN THE
AMERICAN
REVOLUTION
U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION • 1st national government of the

United States
• Created a central government with
limited power
• Key weaknesses:
– Unicameral congress, no
executive branch or court
– Lack of centralized military
power
– No power to tax
– Could not regulate interstate
commerce
– All 13 states (unanimity) must
agree to amend the Articles

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STATE GOVERNMENTS
• Each state setup its own written
plan of government (constitution)
• Separation of powers: power was
typically split between 3 branches
of government
• Many states included bill of rights
that outlined basic freedoms
(religion, trial by jury, etc.)
• Government was set up based
upon republicanism (power
comes from the people)
– Debate over what
republicanism would look like

Shay’s Rebellion
• Following the American
Revolution the economy
suffered a postwar
depression
• Shay’s Rebellion (1786-87)
Daniel Shay veteran of the
revolution and farmer in
Mass. led a rebellion of poor
farmers
– Neither state or national
gov. could put down the
rebellion
• Government was TOO WEAK
to put the rebellion down
– Increased calls for a
stronger central
government
• Contributes to the
Constitutional Convention

CREATING A NEW GOVERNMENT

• Growing demand to address the
problems facing the nation (intl
trade, finances, interstate commerce,
foreign relations, & internal unrest)
• Annapolis Convention (1786): 5
states attend to discuss trade
and commerce
– Plan to meet up in Philly in 1
year Articles
• Constitutional Convention
(1787) meets for the purpose of
revising the Articles
– 55 delegates sent “for the
sole and express purpose of
revising the Articles of
Confederation”
– Very quickly they decided to
create an entirely new
stronger central government

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PHILOSOPHIES OF GOVERNMENT
• “Founding Fathers” generally
agreed about these basic
ideas about government:
• Human nature: people are
driven by self interest
• Political conflict: conflict was
caused by the distribution of
wealth
– Factions develop from
sources of conflict
• Purpose of government:
government should protect
the right to achieve wealth
and to check the power of
factions
• Nature of government:
government must be balanced
with a separation of powers

THE CONSTITUTION
WOULD BE BUILT
ON COMPROMISES

Compromises of the Convention:

• Big issue at the convention was
about representation in Congress
• Edmund Randolph introduced the
Virginia Plan (Large State Plan)
– Bicameral (2 house) legislature
– Representation would be based on
population size
• William Patterson introduced the
New Jersey Plan (Small states)
– Unicameral (1 house) legislature
– Each state would have equal
representation
• Roger Sherman: Connecticut
Compromise (Great Compromise)
– Bicameral legislature
– Upper house (Senate) 2
representatives per state
– Lower house (House of Reps)
based on population

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COMPROMISES OVER SLAVERY

• Although the word “slave”
or “slavery” was not used
in the Constitution, the
institution of slavery was
very much protected by the
original document
• Debate over whether
slaves should be counted
in state population?
• 3/5th Compromise: slaves
would be counted 3/5 of a
person when deciding
representation in the
House of Reps.
• Slave trade allowed to
continue until 1808

Constitutional Stuff
• Politics:
• Voting requirements were to be determined by the states
– Some states abolished property requirements
• Economics:
• Congress was given tremendous economic power
– Levy taxes
– Regulate interstate commerce
• Individual Rights:
• The original Constitution said very little about personal freedoms
– Reasons: created a limited government with checks and
balances & state constitutions protected individual rights
• But it did offer these specific protections…..
– Writ of habeas corpus cant be suspended except during war (right of a
prisoner to know why they are being detained)
– Bills of attainder are prohibited (punish people without a judicial trial)
– Ex post facto laws banned (punish after the fact)
– No religious qualifications for political office
– Criminal defendants entitled to a jury trial
– Treason was narrowly defined and strict rules for conviction

THE MADISONIAN MODEL:

• Framers were suspicious and fearful of power of the
majority
• Severely restricted the control of the majority
– NOT elected directly by the people
• The President (Electoral college)
• Senators
• Judges
– ONLY branch elected directly by the people
• House of Representatives
• The Constitution did not create a direct democracy
– Citizens directly voting on issues
– Democratic theories: participatory, pluralist, elite
• The Constitutional Convention created a republic
– Citizens elect representatives to govern (based
upon “consent of the governed”)

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THE MADISONIAN MODEL

Separation of Checks & Federal
powers Balances System
• Power is • Each branch of • The Constitution
government act as set up a division
separated a check upon one of power
between 3 another
between the
branches of • Examples:
national and
government • President checks
state
Congress with veto
– Executive power government
– Legislative • Congress controls (Federalism)
“purse strings” &
– Judicial Senate approves
presidential
nominations
• Court- not explicitly
listed in
Constitution,
judicial review

• Separation of powers allows

allows various interest groups
access to the political system.
– Civil Rights movement had
more success in the judicial
branch than the executive or
legislative branches
• Separation of powers and checks
and balances promote (in theory)
the politics of bargaining and
compromise
• Separation of powers can
contribute to stalemate/gridlock in
policymaking
– Requires tremendous
agreement, coordination, and
compromise.

DEBATE OVER •

•
Reflects various views on democracy and
power of the central government
Anti-Federalists: critics of the Constitution
RATIFICATION and favored a weak central government
– Favored state rights
– No protections for individual liberties
– Anti-Federalist Brutus #1 adhered to
popular democratic theory
• Decentralized republic
• Large centralized government would
be a danger to personal liberty
• Federalists: supporters of the Constitution
and a strong central government
• The Federalist Papers (85 essays) written by
James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, & John
Jay to persuade people to support ratification
of the Constitution
• Federalist No. 10 (by J.M.) focused on the
superiority of a large republic in controlling
the “mischiefs of faction”
– Delegating authority to elected
representatives
– Dispersing power between the states and
national government

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DEBATE OVER RATIFICATION

• Guarantee of a Bill of Rights
helped achieve ratification
– Enumerated individual rights
and explicitly restricted
powers of the fed govt.
– 1st amendment: speech,
religion, press, assembly
– 4th: no unreasonable
searches and seizures
without probably cause
• Challenge of government:
– Interpretation of these
rights
• In 1789 George Washington
takes office as the nations 1st
President

THE CONSTITUTION
“A LIVING DOCUMENT”
ü Oldest
functioning
Constitution
ü 27 amendments

ü “a balance between government power and individual

rights has been a hallmark of American political
development”

Ways to amend the Constitution

1. The Formal Amending process
• Two ways:
• Method 1: Congress
• Proposal: Amendment can be proposed
by 2/3 of Congress
• Ratification: ¾ state legislatures
• Examples: All of the Amendments
except the 21st amendment
• Reconstruction Amendments (13-15)
• Increasing democracy: 19th Amendment
• Method 2: Special State Convention
• Proposal: Amendment can be proposed
by a National Convention of 2/3 state
legislatures
• Ratification: ¾ of state conventions

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Ways to amend the Constitution

2. Informal Process of Constitutional
Change
• Judicial interpretation is when
the court decides the
constitutionality of government
actions
• Judicial review established by
Marbury v. Madison
• Supreme Court example
• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
declared “separate but
equal” did not violate the
“equal protection clause” of
the 14th Amendment
• Brown v. Board (1954)
overturned the courts
decision

• The Constitution has become more democratic

– 15th Amendment: black male suffrage
– 17th Amendment: direct election of Senators
– 19th Amendment: women’s suffrage
– 24th Amendment: abolished poll taxes
– 26th Amendment: voting age to 18
• U.S. now has a 2 party system
– 1st party system develops in the 1790s

• Dramatic increase in the powers of the

Presidency
– U.S. is a super power
– Government surveillance post 9/11
– Expansion of government programs (role in public
education)

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