6. What is Congress?
Article 1 Section 1
: “All legislative powers herein granted shall
be vested in a Congress of the United States, which
shall consist of a Senate and House of
Representatives.”
7. What is Congress?
SENATE
• Article 1 Section 3
: Represent the states
: Each state gets 2 Senators
: Chosen by state legislatures
House of Representatives
• Article 1 Section 2
: Represents the people
: Elected directly by voters
: Number of representatives
determined by state’s population
8. Making of Law
Article 1 Section 7
: “Every bill which shall have passed the House of
Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a
law…”
* cf. Filibuster : An effort on the part of legislators to delay or
block action on a bill by speaking for hours on end. A
filibuster can be ended by three-fifths majority vote.
9. Making of Law
What kinds of bills can Congress pass?
: Congress has power to legislate on issues that couldn't
be left to the states.
Article 1 Section 8
: “The Congress shall have power...To regulate
Commerce with foreign nations, and among the several
states, and with the Indian tribes...”
10. Making of Law
Article 1 Section 10
: “No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance,
or confederation…”
The United States must speak with one voice in
foreign affairs, the voice of the federal government
11. Making of Law
Article 1 Section 7
: “Every bill which shall have passed the
House of Representatives and the Senate, shall,
before it become a law, be presented to the
President of the United States; if he approve he
shall sign it, but if not he shall return it…”
12. Making of Law
Article 1 Section 7
: “If after such reconsideration two thirds of
that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be
sent, together with the objections, to the other
House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered,
and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall
become a law.”
13. Separation of Powers
• To protect individual liberty, sovereignty of state…
check and balance
• Congress : Must enact the law
Executive : Must enforce the law
Judicial : Must agree that the law is Constitutional
14. Separation of Powers
Has ‘Separation of powers’ worked out well?
• 17th Amendment
– “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators
from each state, elected by the people thereof…”
• Party system
– a system of government where elected officials belong to, and
commonly vote with, a like-minded political bloc.
– Institutional loyalty vs. party loyalty
– Too much/ too little checking and balancing
16. Presidential Roles
• Enforce the Law
• Hire/ fire federal officers
higher level position
• Appoint federal judges
• Conduct foreign affairs
treaties
• Commander in Chief of the armed forces
conduct war (x declare war)
With
agreement of
the Congress
18. Who’s got the Power?
• Congress : separation of its own power
– Divided into two houses
(100 senators, hundreds of representatives)
– Its own rule (ex. filibuster)
• Executive branch : concentrated in one person
many events of presidents expanding their
presidential power
19. Expansion of Presidential Power
Abraham Lincoln
• The blockade of
Confederation Ports
• Suspension of writ of
habeas corpus
• Emancipation of Slaves
(The Emancipation Proclamation)
20. Expansion of Presidential Power
Franklin Roosevelt
• The Great Depression
New Deal policy
• World World II
Harry Truman
• Atomic bomb in Japan
• Sent troops to Korea
Steel Mills Seisure
21. Expansion of Presidential Power
• “If steel production stops, we'll have to stop making the shells and
bombs that are going directly to our soldiers at the front in Korea.”
• The Youngstown case (Truman v. Steel industry)
framework to decide if a president has gone too far
– Congress Approves/ Says nothing/ Declines
–BUT…
: the problem of ‘party system’
: disagreement between President and Congress
23. Supreme Court
• Cases that couldn’t be left to state courts
• Cases about federal law : Need ONE interpretation
• Cases that states courts cannot be impartial about
• Cannot reach out for cases Passive
– Weaker than Congress or the President
• Can strike down the law
– Stronger than Congress or the President
24. Supreme Court
• “Will People Obey ?” : real test of the court's authority
• Earlier – not really respected
: dispute between Cherokees and Georgia … the Trail of Tears
25. Supreme Court
• 1953, Brown v Board of Education
• Court ordered states to desegregate their public schools
→enormous resistance →President’s intervention
26. Importance of Supreme Court
• Courts can actually make some ‘bad’ decisions
• But we obey with belief that they are made without outside
influence.
• Independent Judiciary - Article 3
: “The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall
hold their offices during good behaviour, and shall, at stated times,
receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be
diminished during their continuance in office.”
29. The Federalism
Overview of Federalism
federalism in the constitutional basis
the states and federalism in practice
evolution of the federal government
Pro, cons and characteristic
31. necessity
• a complex and ever-changing network of relations
between national, state, and local governments
• THE separation of the power between federal
government and the states.
Federal
government
states
32. Background
— The Articles of Confederation
original binding document supreme law
a series of
colonies
Confederation in US
execution of
the Revolution
confederation
33. Confederation in US
①Regulation of continental congress and states
② Drawbacks —no power over trade/ tax/ enforce laws….
③calls of some federalist—Alexander Hamilton, James Madison
and John Jay
④The concerns of anti-federalist
United States
CONSTITUTION
34. Federalism in US
1. Federal government powers
• Article VI of the Constitution
“supreme Law of the Land”
the supremacy clause.
• the national government has authority over
the state governments.
• four major types of power:
expressed, implied, inherent, and prohibited.
35. Federalism in US
THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT’S POWERS
Type Key Clause Explanation Examples
Enumerated
(Expressed)
Article I,
Section 8
Powers explicitly granted to
Congress
Declare war, coin money, levy
taxes, regulate interstate
commerce
Implied Necessary
and proper
(Article I,
Section 8)
Powers that Congress has
assumed in order to better do
its job
Regulate telecommunications,
build interstate highways
McCulloch v. Maryland
Inherent Preamble Powers inherent to a sovereign
nation
Defend itself from foreign and
domestic enemies
Prohibited Article I,
Section 9
Powers prohibited to the
national government
Suspend the writ of habeas
corpus, tax exports
36. Federalism in US
2. State power
a) overview
—choose delegates to the Electoral College
—write their own constitutions and pass their own laws
three branches
— current situation
b) Reserved Powers
37. Federalism in US
• b) Reserved Powers
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited
by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people” (Tenth
Amendment in the Bill of Rights)
reservation clause — police powers
• c ) Concurrent Powers
1 • The power to levy taxes
2 • The power to borrow money
3 • The power to charter corporations
38. Federalism in US
d )The Full Faith and Credit Clause
— state governments must respect the laws and decisions of
other state governments(Art. 4, § 1 ).
— A state’s decision is binding on other states
e) Local Governments
—Constitution does not mention local governments at all.
—a multitude of types of local government. approximately 84,000
local governments
—granted some degree of autonomy to local governments.
home rule: a promise by the state government to refrain from
interfering in local issues.
39.
40. Federalism in practice
• Federal government ＄ States
• Practice: certain mandates/ preemption
Federal Aid to the States —fiscal federalism
grants-in-aid
grants-in-aid
Categorical
grants
Project
grants
Formula
grants
Block grants
a fairly broad
purpose
41. Evolution of Federalism
• dual federalism "layer cake federalism"
• 1790 to 1930
• Cooperative federalism
• "marble cake federalism"
• 1930 and 1960
• "picket fence federalism"
Creative federalism • 1960 to 1980
• “on your own federalism"
new federalism • 1981—now
42. Strengths and drawbacks
Advantages
① Fosters state loyalties： close ties to their home state
② Creates laboratories of democracy eg：California
③ Leads to political stability：removing the national government
from some contentious issue areas
④ Encourages pluralism： expand government on national, state,
and local levels, giving people more access to leaders and
opportunities to get involved in their government.
⑤ Ensures the separation of powers and prevents tyranny
43. Strengths and drawbacks
•Critics argue that federalism falls short in two ways:
Prevents the creation of a national policy: The United States does
not have a single policy on issues; instead, it has fifty-one policies,
which often leads to confusion.
Leads to a lack of accountability: The overlap of the boundaries
among national and state governments makes it tricky to assign
blame for failed policies.
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