3. • What are the six main principles on which the
Constitution is based?
– Popular Sovereignty
– Limited Government
– Separation of Powers
– Checks and Balances
– Judicial Review
– Federalism
– The Constitution embodies these key principles along with
describing the basic structure of our government.
4. • The Constitution is organized in
a simple fashion and is fairly
brief.
– In many areas it focuses more
on principles than specific
details. This helps it guide the
nation through changing times.
– The seven articles are followed
by the 27 amendments.
5. • The principle that the
people are the only source
for all governmental
power.
– The government rules
through leaders elected by
the people to represent the
people.
– The Preamble notes that
the Constitution is created
by “We the People.”
6. • Government may only do
those things the people
have given it the power
to do.
– Government must obey
the law.
– Much of the
Constitution spells out
limits on the power of
the government.
7. • The Constitution divides power among the
legislative, executive and judicial branches.
– Congress makes the laws, the President executes and
administers the laws, and the Supreme Court
interprets the laws.
• Separation of powers keeps a strong central
government from being too powerful.
– Too much power concentrated in any one branch
could lead to abuses of that power.
8. • Each branch of the federal government can check the
power of the other two.
– The President can veto bills passed by Congress, but
Congress can override a veto.
– The Senate can reject presidential appointees or refuse to
ratify a treaty.
– Congress can vote to impeach a federal official.
– The federal courts can rule that executive and legislative
acts are unconstitutional.
9. • The use of checks is fairly
rare.
– Compromise is more
common
– Conflicts more likely when
Congress and the
presidency are controlled
by different parties.
10.
11. • The Courts can decide if a government action is
constitutional.
– The power of judicial review is held by all federal courts and
most state courts.
– Judicial review was established as a necessary power of the
courts by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshal in the case
Marbury v. Madison in 1803.
– Most acts are found to be constitutional, but the Supreme Court
has struck down many presidential, congressional, and state
measures over the years.
12. • Federalism is a compromise between an all-powerful
central government and an independent state
government.
– It corrected the weaknesses of the Articles of
Confederation without replacing them with a British-style
monarchy.
– The Framers felt that too much governmental power
threatened liberty.
– Federalism helps prevent that power from being
abused, by dividing governmental power.
13. • The Constitution divides power among the State and
Federal Governments.
– Why might the Constitution give the power to regulate
trade among the States to the Federal Government?
15. • How has the Constitution been amended
through the formal amendment process?
– The majority of amendments have been proposed
by a two-thirds vote of Congress and ratified by
three-fourths of the state legislatures.
– An amendment can also be ratified by state
conventions held in three fourths of the states.
This has only happened once.
16. • The amendment process allows the
Constitution to adapt to the changing needs of
our nation and society.
– The United States has gone from a farming nation of
less than 4 million people to a high-tech country with
a population of more than 300 million.
– Portions of the Constitution have been
added, deleted, or altered as a result of amendments.
17. • Article V of the Constitution describes the
amendment process.
– Amendments may be proposed:
• By a two-thirds vote of each house of Congress. [Done
for 26 of 27 amendments.]
• By a national convention called by Congress at the
request of two-thirds of the state legislatures. [Done
for the 21st amendment.]
18. • Amendments can be ratified:
– By three-fourths of
the state legislatures.
– By conventions in
three-fourths of the
states. [A method
not yet used.]
19. • Amendments are proposed at the national
level and ratified at the state level by
legislatures or conventions.
• A state can reject an amendment and later
decide to ratify it.
– But a state cannot change its mind after it votes to
ratify an amendment.
• The President cannot veto proposed
amendments.
20. • The amendment process is based on popular
sovereignty.
– The people elect the representatives who vote to propose or
ratify amendments.
– Some critics argue that conventions are a better way to ratify
amendments than state legislatures, because state legislators
are rarely elected based upon their views on an amendment.
– The Supreme Court has ruled that states cannot require a
proposed amendment to be approved by popular vote before
the state legislature can ratify it.
21. – They spell out many basic rights and liberties.
– Many people would not support the Constitution
until a Bill of Rights was promised.
22. • Most suggested amendments are never proposed by
Congress.
– Congress has sent only 33 of some 15,000 suggested
amendments to the states.
• Six proposed amendments were not ratified by the
states.
– Congress can set a “reasonable” time limit for
ratification, usually around seven years.
• Failed amendments include one declaring the equal rights of
women (ERA) and one banning amendments dealing with slavery.
23. • Many of the 27 current amendments were
proposed in response to legal disputes, social
conflicts, or perceived constitutional
problems.
– The 12th Amendment resolved a problem with the
presidential election process.
– The 13th Amendment abolished slavery.
24. • The 15th, 19th, and 26th Amendments each extended
voting rights to a new segment of society:
– African Americans
– Women
– 18-year olds
25. • 1791 - Amendments 1-10
– Bill of Rights
• 1795 - Amendment 11
– States immune from certain lawsuits
• 1804 - Amendment 12
– Changes in electoral college
procedures
• 1865 - Amendment 13
– Abolition of Slavery
• 1868 - Amendment 14
– Citizenship, equal protection, and due process
• 1870 - Amendment 15
– No denial of vote because of race, color or previous
enslavement
26. • 1913 - Amendment 16
– Congress given the power to tax
incomes
• 1913 - Amendment 17
– Popular election of U.S.
– Senators
• 1919 - Amendment 18
– Prohibition of alcohol
• 1920 - Amendment 19
– Women’s suffrage
• 1933 - Amendment 20
– Change of dates for presidential and congressional terms
• 1933 - Amendment 21
– Repeal of prohibition (Amendment 18)
27. • 1951 - Amendment 22
– Limit on presidential terms
• 1961 - Amendment 23
– District of Columbia allowed to vote in presidential elections
• 1964 - Amendment 24
– Ban of tax payment as voter qualification
• 1967 - Amendment 25
– Presidential succession, vice presidential
vacancy, and presidential disability
• 1971 - Amendment 26
– Voting age changed to 18
• 1992 - Amendment 27
– Congressional pay
29. • How have the day-to-day workings of the
government affected how we interpret the
Constitution?
– Congress passes new laws.
– Presidents push to expand executive power.
– The Supreme Court makes key rulings on
constitutional issues.
– Political parties influence the governing process.
– Customs develop over time.
30. • Congress has expanded upon basic constitutional
provisions.
– Congress created much of the specific structure of the federal
government.
– Congress established the federal court system—the Constitution
created only the Supreme Court.
– Congress created the many departments and agencies in the
executive branch.
– Congress has clarified issues such as the succession of the Vice
President.
31. • Congress passes laws that clarify its own
constitutional powers.
– The Constitution describes some congressional powers in
vague terms.
• For example, Congress has the power to regulate foreign
trade and interstate commerce.
– Over the years, Congress has passed thousands of
laws that detail just what is meant by words like
“regulate,” “trade,” “interstate” and “commerce.” In
the process, it has interpreted the meaning of the
Constitution.
32. • Presidents have increased their constitutional
powers by taking a broad interpretation of such
powers.
– Often this involves avoiding the need to gain congressional
approval.
• For example, only Congress can declare war. But while acting
as commander-in-chief, many Presidents have sent military
forces into combat without a formal act
of war.
• The Senate must approve formal treaties. But Presidents can
and do enter into legally binding executive agreements with
foreign leaders without asking for Senate approval.
33. • The Constitution grants the President
“executive power.”
– Most Presidents argue that this power includes
the authority to do things not specifically
mentioned in the Constitution.
• For example, Thomas Jefferson used it as a justification
for acquiring new territory for the United States when
he purchased the Louisiana Territory in 1803.
34. • While an address to
Congress is required by the
Constitution, the method of
address is left to each
President.
– Harry Truman’s State of the
Union was the first televised
address.
– Today, the State of the Union
is an annual televised address
to Congress and all
Americans.
35. • The nation’s courts, particularly the Supreme
Court, interpret the Constitution on a regular basis.
– The power of judicial review gives the Court the power to
declare laws unconstitutional.
– Declaring that a law is constitutional also involves
interpreting the Constitution.
– Each type of ruling sets a precedent for interpreting future
laws.
36. • The Constitution does not mention political
parties.
– Most of the Framers actually opposed
parties, fearing they would divide the
government.
37. • Yet parties are very
influential in our
political process.
– The daily business and
the committee system
of Congress are
organized around party
membership.
38. • The Constitution says nothing about the
nomination process.
• Political parties use state primaries and
national conventions to choose candidates.
• Parties also influence the selection of electors
to the electoral college.
• Party membership also influences the
President’s decision-making process when
choosing political appointees.
39. • Unwritten customs can be as influential
as written laws.
–The President’s Cabinet exists solely as a
result of custom rather than any laws.
–The custom of senatorial courtesy guides
the appointment of public officials.
40. • Ever since George
Washington, Presidents had limited
themselves to two terms in office.
• After Franklin Roosevelt was elected to
four consecutive terms from 1932 to
1944, the two-term limit was made into
law by passage of the 22nd Amendment
in 1951.
41. • For years, the Vice President assumed
the office of the presidency when the
President died.
• But this was not a formal law until
ratification of the 25th amendment in
1967.
