The ConstitutionChapter 3CHAPTER 3 THE CONSTITUTION.docx

The Constitution
Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3: THE CONSTITUTION
In this chapter you will:
Discover the roots of the Constitution in colonial and
revolutionary America.
See why Americans declared independence from England and
learn about their first constitution, the Articles of
Confederation.
Follow the arguments that shaped the Constitution and get an
overview of the final document.
Read about the great national debate over whether to adopt it.
Learn how Americans have changed the Constitution—and how
the Constitution has changed America.
Colonial Roots of the Constitution
Colonies three thousand miles away from the king and his army,
able to ignore orders:
Salutary neglect
Colonies developed political institutions
Every colony had its own legislature.
Plentiful land created opportunities.

More Colonial Roots
Some colonies began with mutual agreements between the
settlers
Compacts or covenants
New World was somewhere to practice religion in peace
Different religions flourished
Border areas were violent and insecure
Native American wars
French (North and West)
Spanish (South and West)
War Brings Changes
French and Indian War
British army defeated French in 1763
Two changes:
Ten thousand English troops remained in the colonies
England could enforce its policies
Days of neglect over
England ran up debt during war
Colonists required to pay debt
Americans’ reaction explosive
Colonial Complaint
Representation
Americans used to making their own decisions

When England violated the American idea of self-rule it created
an unusual revolution
Americans fought to preserve rights that they had been
exercising while neglected
Colonial Complaint
Mercantilism
British began enforcing trade policies.
American ships had to bypass traditional partners:
Do business only with English colonies
Higher prices, lower profits
The Declaration of Independence
Second Continental Congress wrote and Congress adopted
Two Parts
Statement of Principles
List of Grievances
Declaration of Independence
Principles
All people are equal
Endowed with rights that cannot be taken away
Include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

Governments formed to protect rights
Governments derive power from the consent of the governed
Declaration of Independence
Grievances
Violations of the right of representation
Maintenance of a standing army not under civilian control
Loss of an independent court
10
Articles of Confederation
An Alliance of Independent States
State governments
Reflect popular desires
Annual elections
Extended right to vote
Public legislative deliberations
National government
Continental Congress approved Articles
Weak and dependent on states
No executive or central authority
No central power to tax or muster an army

Success
Power close to the people
Defeated British military
Population grew rapidly
Economy expanded
Stopped squabbling over western land
Some Problems
Congress could not raise taxes and had no money of its own.
Unanimity required to amend made it difficult to amend.
State governments were dominated by their legislatures.
Weak national government had a difficult time standing up to
foreign powers.
Problems Come to the Surface
Shays’ Rebellion
Western Massachusetts
August 1786
Protested high taxes and interest rates
Shut down courthouses to stop foreclosures
Strategy then changed from rebellion to politics
Won seats in the legislature
Changed laws
Constitutional Convention

Balancing Two Political Dangers
Powerful central government could strip people of their rights.
Weak government could fail to protect their rights.
Six themes (which follow) dominated attention to form new
government.
1. How Much Power to the People?
The delegates developed a view of representation that Madison
called filtration, or indirect elections.
The public would vote for men (and later women) who would, in
turn, vote for public officials—Electoral College.
Over time citizens would win more control
over electing presidents
voting directly for senators (with the Seventeenth Amendment
in 1913)
women won the right to vote with the Nineteenth Amendment in
1920
African Americans won the right to vote with the Fifteenth
Amendment, ratified in 1870 and finally guaranteed by the
Voting Rights Act in 1965
18 year olds won the right to vote in 1971

2. National Government
Versus State Government
Delegates compromised on a system that included both national
and state power.
The federal government took over many functions of
government—but far fewer than Madison had originally
proposed.
The states kept many other duties—but far fewer than the state
advocates would have liked.
This mixed system, with a stronger national government that
nevertheless leaves considerable power with the state
governments, is called federalism.
3. Big States Versus Small States
The most intense debate at the Constitutional Convention
revolved around a division we rarely think about today: the
large states (led by Virginia and Pennsylvania) versus the small
states (led by New Jersey and Delaware).
Large states argued that representation in the national
government should be based on population.

Small states wanted each state to have an equal voice.
That debate led to two different plans put forward by Virginia
(a big state) and New Jersey (on behalf of the small states).
4. The President
Committee or individual? Many delegates worried that a single
executive would grow powerful and become, as Governor
Randolph put it, “the foetus of monarchy.”
After much back and forth, they settled on a 4-year term and
permitted reelections.
Electoral College: Each state would select individuals known as
electors—the delegates hoped that the electors would be well-
known individuals with sound judgment; the electors would then
elect the president.
How many electors per state? Another compromise: Each state
would have the same electors as it had members of Congress.
5. Separation of Powers

Checks and balances: Each power the Constitution gives to
Congress is balanced by a power it gives to the president.
President over Congress:
Congress passes legislation but needs the president to sign the
law.
The president can veto (reject) the bill (checking Congress).
Congress over president:
The president is commander in chief, but the Constitution gives
Congress the power to declare war and set the military’s budget.
Congress can override the veto by two-thirds vote of both
chambers (balancing the president).
The president negotiates treaties, but the Senate must ratify
them by two-thirds vote.
The president appoints ministers and Supreme Court justices,
but Congress must approve (or confirm).
Congress has the ultimate power over all federal officers. The
House can impeach (or formally accuse) the president.
5. Separation of Powers
Court over Congress and president:
The authority to strike down acts of Congress or the president
for violating the Constitution
The French political philosopher Montesquieu wrote an
influential treatise, The Spirit of the Laws (published in 1748),

which argued that to avoid tyranny, the executive, legislative,
and judicial functions of government must be separated from
one another.
6. “A Principle of Which
We Were Ashamed”
The men and women in bondage were a source of wealth and
power—especially for Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia.
The Philadelphia convention faced a stark choice—protect
slavery or form a union without these states.
In the end, the delegates wanted a strong union more than they
hated slavery.
An Overview of the Constitution:
Preamble
The Constitution begins with a preamble, the most elegant
sentence in the entire document:
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility,
provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare,
and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our

posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America.
Article 1: Congress
Article 1 is the longest in the Constitution and describes what
Congress may or may not do.
Section 8 is the most important passage in article 1. Its 17 short
paragraphs tell Congress what it may do, including the “power
to lay and collect taxes,” declare war, regulate interstate
commerce, coin money, and raise an army. The final paragraph
is known as the necessary and proper clause.
Section 9 lists the things Congress may not do.
Habeas corpus means that government cannot hold prisoners
without formally charging them with a crime.
Article 2: The President
The president must be a natural-born American at least 35 years
old who is chosen by electors for a 4-year term.
Each state decides who elects the electors—today the people
make the choice in every state.
Section 4 allows for removing a president “on impeachment for,
and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and
misdemeanors.”
Three presidents have faced formal impeachment proceedings,
although only one, Richard Nixon, was forced to resign his
office.

Article 3: The Courts
Article 3 creates the Supreme Court and authorizes Congress to
organize additional courts.
Alexander Hamilton later called the Supreme Court “the least
dangerous” branch of government.
The justices are selected by the president, approved by the
Senate, and have tenure for life.
Chief Justice John Marshall, in deciding a case called Marbury
v. Madison, ruled that the Court could strike down an act of
Congress.
Article 4: Relations between the States
Article 4 defines the relationship between the states and
describes the process for adding new states.
Article 5: Amendments
Two-thirds of both House and Senate must approve any

amendments.
Article 6: The Law of the Land
Article 6 makes the Constitution the supreme law of the land.
Article 7: Ratification
Three-fourths of the states must ratify—either through the state
legislature or through state conventions.
It also specifies that there must be no religious test for holding
any federal office.
Some states, however, had religious tests for holding office and
even voting until the 1830s.
Article 7 announced that the Constitution would go into effect
after nine states had ratified—a controversial move because the
United States was still operating under the Articles of

Confederation, which could be amended only by all thirteen
states.
The Constitution Today
Americans disagree about how to read the Constitution. One
view, called originalism, or strict construction, insists that
Americans are bound to the literal meaning of the Constitution
and its amendments, as the people who wrote and ratified
understood them.
The other view, of an evolving Constitution, is known as
pragmatism. We cannot help but bring our own background,
ideas, and judgments to bear as we think about the meaning of
the document.
Conclusion:
Does the Constitution Still Work?
Does the world’s oldest constitution still work? Almost all
politicians—and most Americans—would surely say yes.
But some disagree; Robert Dahl, a leading political scientist,
argues that the Constitution is not democratic enough.

The checks and balances are sometimes too cumbersome,
making it too difficult to pass needed laws.
Regardless of whether you’re an originalist, a pragmatist, or
someone in between, you should check to see what the
Constitution says every time you study another feature of
American politics.
.Two assignments
Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the results that you
received from your completion of the Golden Personality Sort.
Summarize your MBTI results
And assignment 2 is discussion board post
QUESTIONS BELOW
MBTI Discussion
Discussion Topic
Take this time to reflect on the results of your MBTI.
What was your reported type? Was it different from your
prediction of what you thought your type would be? If yes,
which in your opinion is more accurate?
Using the four letter summary of your type, reflect on the
strengths and weaknesses your type brings to professional
relationships. Give an example of how you might adapt your
type to improve communication in a current professional
relationship.

Cited reference MBTI use 1962
Federalism and Nationalism
Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4: FEDERALISM AND NATIONALISM
In this chapter you will:
Learn what federalism is.
Explore the strengths of federal and state governments.
Examine how federalism works—and how it has evolved.
Review the contemporary conflicts that surround federalism.
Explore American nationalism, the force that binds and shapes
our federalist polity.
Types of Government
Unitary government
The national government—the king and Parliament in England,
for example—made policy for the nation. Local governments
simply carried out their decrees. To this day, almost all nations
are organized this way.
Confederation
All power flows from the local to the national level. Examples
are Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.

Federalism
Power is divided and shared between national and state
governments. Examples are the United States and India.
Some states grant local governments broad powers, known as
home rule.
Federalism in the United States
Power divided and shared between national and state
governments
Constitution reserves some decisions for the national
government and some for the state
National: Declare war or coining money
State: Schools
Some decisions are made at both levels
Taxing and spending
Advantages of State-Level Policy
States are more responsive to citizens
States offer more protection for individual rights
Political innovation can occur when different states can
experiment with different programs
People have more choices
People who do not like a particular state can move

Advantages of National Policy
Policies often more fair
Policies can equalize resources across the nation
Policies can standardize best practices across the nation
National government can more easily coordinate among
agencies
The Constitution Sets
the Ground Rules
Granted powers—Article 1, section 8, lists 19 powers of the
federal government: Congress has the power to pay debts, raise
an army, punish pirates, establish a post office, handle US
foreign policy.
express or enumerated powers
The Constitution authorizes Congress to make all laws
necessary and proper for carrying out the enumerated powers—
or any other power the Constitution vests in the national
government. This necessary and proper clause is also known as
the elastic clause.
The elastic clause has expanded national authority to include
what are called inherent powers—powers that are implied by,
but not specifically named in, the Constitution’s text.
The supremacy clause declares that the national government’s
laws and treaties are the “supreme law of the land” and are
superior to state laws whenever the two clash.

Reserved Powers
States retain government authority not explicitly granted to the
national government
Education
Public health
In-state commerce
State elections
Concurrent Powers
Many powers and duties are shared jointly by state and national
governments.
Both national and state governments have the power to raise
taxes, build roads, construct bridges, build railways, update
telecommunications networks, borrow money, and regulate
business.
The Constitution directs each state to give full faith and credit
to the actions of other states.
Full Faith and Credit
Each state is required by the Constitution to recognize and
uphold laws passed by other states.
Can be difficult when laws of neighboring states vary
considerably
Example: gun laws—okay to openly carry in one state but in
bordering state guns heavily restricted. Which law is supreme?

Dual Federalism
Dual federalism gave state and national governments relatively
clearly demarcated responsibilities.
American historians with an eye for metaphor describe this
arrangement as “layer cake.”
This left the national government in charge of three major
areas:
international relations
internal improvements
relations and commerce between the states
Cooperative Federalism
Cooperative federalism: The period after the Great Depression
was characterized by blurred lines of authority and a much more
active national government.
A new bakery metaphor emerged: a marble cake with its various
ingredients—the different government functions—all swirled
together.
Officials in Washington provided federal funds through grants-
in-aid—national funds accompanied by specific instructions to
state and local officials about how the money could be spent.

New Federalism
Ronald Reagan’s presidency (1981–1989) ushered in another
significant change in American federalism, enthusiastically
termed New Federalism.
The Reagan administration relied more heavily on block grants.
Block grants still channel federal dollars to a specific policy
area.
Federal, state, and local authorities all compete for influence
over programs—a multiflavored marble cake.
One pillar of the New Federalism movement was devolution, or
transferring responsibility for government programs to state and
local authorities.
Federalism Today
One pillar of the New Federalism movement is devolution.
States’ rights advocates sometimes find that devolving policies
to the local level does not guarantee a less active government
response.
When responsibility is passed to state or local officials, there
must be national resources to match, or else Washington will
saddle the state or locality with an
unfunded mandate: a law or regulation that imposes a duty that
must be paid for primarily by state or local officials.
Federalism and the Parties
Dual, cooperative, and new: these successive descriptions of
federalism point to ongoing negotiations about government

power and accountability.
Republicans continue to urge state and local control on most
issues, while Democrats are more likely to seek Washington-
based solutions.
The political art of credit claiming also influences federalism.
Federalism in the Courts
In a series of landmark decisions, the Supreme Court—led by
Chief Justice John Marshall—protected national government
powers from state incursions.
The first such case was McCulloch v. Maryland, decided in
1819.
In recent years—beginning under Chief Justice Rehnquist in the
mid-1990s, and gaining strength with a consistently
conservative majority under Chief Justice Roberts since 2005—
the Supreme Court has emphasized local and state power.
Nationalism, American Style
Constitution
Elastic Clause
Tenth Amendment

Institution evolution
Federalism
Cooperative Federalism
Layer Cake vs. Marble Cake
National vs. State
Seek equity
“Drown in the bathtub”
Nationalism
Kept federal experiment together despite
Civil War
Economic strains in every era
Partisan conflict
Different cultures and attitudes
New England towns
Southern Bible Belt
Midwestern Plains
Liberal “Left Coast”
National Identity
Maintain federal balance
Instill loyalty to nation, state, and locality

Nationalism
“Nationalism is membership in an ‘imagined community,’ a
sense of connectedness across millions of people who will, for
the most part, never see or meet one another.
“A nation exists because people believe that it does.”
Benedict Anderson
Conclusion:
Who Are We?
Federalism reflects an intense philosophical debate, carved into
institutional stone.
The debate—about power and democracy, fairness and liberty—
runs through American history.
Successive eras allocated power differently.
Federalism is the mark of a weak national government.
However, the paradox of American politics is that weak
government is balanced by a powerful nation with a robust,
patriotic sense of national identity.

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