3. INSTRUCTIONS
You have been appointed by President Obama to be on the
2015 Commission to Redraft the United States Constitution.
Write a detailed outline discussing the
general layout of this new document.
What would the new document look like?
What provisions would be added and what would be taken out? Why?
4.
5. What are constitutions?
Charters and laws of states
Codified Constitution
Written document
Specific sections or articles
Uncodified Constitution
Collection of laws, customs,
norms, traditions
Informal nature
6. #1: Absolutist Constitution
Centralized power to produce, change legal docs
No popular participation in govt.
Examples: Communist countries, Post-Coup
#2: Legislative Supremacy Constitution
Provides (1) institutions and (2) elections
Three main characteristics:
▪ (1) Majority vote, (2) No authority, (3) No Bill of Rights
7. #3: Higher Law Constitution
Presence of State institutions
Govt. power / authority given to people
Scope of legislative authority
Gives (1) rights and (2) amendment process
8.
9. #1: Definite
Clearly define what it contains; easily understood and carefully worded
#2: Comprehensive
Cover whole of government; information on organization
#3: Brief
State necessary provisions; detail leads to disputes
#4: Durable and Elastic
Not rigid; flexibility and stability
#5: Fundamental Rights
#6: Suitable
Suit social, political, and economic conditions of citizenry
10.
11.
12. Changes had to be
unanimous
National government
left with no real power
Draft Soldiers
Regulate Commerce
Have Monetary System
13.
14.
15.
16. MADISON’SVIRGINIA PLAN PATERSON’S NEW JERSEY PLAN
Power given
to smaller states
Representation by
equality
Power given to
bigger states
Representation by
population
17. Bicameral legislature
Lower chamber
(House) based on
population
Upper chamber
(Senate) based on
equality
Roger Sherman
25. ENTRENCHED
CONSTITUTION
Support of legislative
majority
Majority ofVoters AND
Majority of States in
Referendum
UNENTRENCHED
CONSTITUTION
No amendment process
No specific legal status
higher than laws
Austria Switzerland
26.
27.
28.
29.
30. Protects AgainstTyranny
Dispersion and Diffusion of Power
Increases Participation
Officeholders and Citizens
Improves Efficiency
Ensures Policy Responsiveness / Innovation
Reduces Conflict
31. Creates Complexity and Confusion;
Reduces Accountability
Increases Conflict
“NIMBY” – Not in My BackYard
Creates Inequality
Economic Inequality, Racial Discrimination
Law enforcement and justice are uneven
Expertise and money
32.
33. Power rests with national government
National government delegates authority to
subnational (state / local) governments
Case Examples:
34.
35. Subnational governments hold power
State/local governments delegate authority
to central government
36.
37. Nigeria and India are two cases
that illustrate the positive and
negative aspects of federalism.
38. NIGERIA
Positive aspect of federalism
Solve ongoing differences
by creating more states
Why would simply adding
more states matter for
stability?
New states favored by people
for two reasons:
(1) Avoid domination by largest
ethnic groups and (2) Share in
country resources
INDIA
Negative aspect of federalism
Some Indian states have
witnessed high performance
Example: State of Kerala
(Southern India)
Example: State of Mumbai
(Western India)
Other states have lagged
behind considerably
Editor's Notes
We will now be moving into discussing constitutions and constitutional design.
These are both fundamental issues for establishing a working government.
I have placed a link on Canvas to the Comparative Constitutions Project. On this site, you can compare two constitutions. I highly encourage you to look at this page and see the differences between different countries’ constitutional structures.
Constitutions are charters and laws of modern states.
The constitution of a given country may take different formats:
A codified constitution is a written document with specific sections or articles detailing the different branches of government, etc.
The United States is a classic example of this constitutional type.
An uncodified constitution is a collection of laws, customs, norms, and traditions that are codified over time.
Only a few countries, including the United Kingdom, still have
uncodified constitutions
#1: Absolutist Constitution
The authority to produce and change legal documents, including constitutions,
is centralized and absolute. These documents reject popular participation in government, separation of powers, etc.
Examples: Communist Party countries (e.g. USSR) and those following military coups in Africa and South America.
#2: Legislative Supremacy Constitution
These constitutions provide for a set of governmental institutions (i.e. three branches of government), as well as legislative elections.
Main Characteristics:
Can be changed by majority vote of legislature
No institution can review constitutional legitimacy of laws
Example: U.S. Court System – Supreme Court is highest court in U.S., no court
above them to take case if lose at federal level.
3) No Bill of Rights to constrain legislative authority
#3: Higher Law Constitution
State institutions (e.g. legislative, executive, judicial branches) come from a written constitution.
Ultimate power given to people through elections / referendums .
Legislative authority must be in line with constitutional law.
Constitution provides for set of rights and justice to defend rights.
Constitution provides specific amendment process
Think about your answer to this question.
There are six major characteristics of constitutions:
#1: Definite
- The constitution must clearly define what it contains.
- Easily understood by people; carefully worded.
#2: Comprehensive
- A good constitution should cover the whole field of government.
- Include information on the general organization and powers of the various
institutions or components of government.
#3: Brief
- Constitution should only state necessary provisions
- If the constitution is too detailed, it may lead to disputes in political system
#4: Durable and Elastic
- Constitution should not be so rigid to prevent change nor so flexible as to
encourage tampering with basic principles
- Flexibility and stability in a constitution should go together
#5: Fundamental Rights
- Constitution should contain list of fundamental rights of citizens
#6: Suitable
- Should suit the social, political, and economic conditions of its citizenry
Our own country provides a good example of constitutional design.
Our nation’s first constitution was the Articles of Confederation .