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The Constitution
Chapter 4
Principles
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Popular sovereignty
Separation of powers
Checks and balances
Limited government
Federalism
Structure of the Constitution:
 Preamble: introduction
 Articles
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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
legislative branch
executive branch
judicial branch
states
amendment process
supreme law of the land
ratification process
Amendments
 1 - 10 Amendments: Bill of Rights 1791
 11 - 27 Amendments 1798 - 1993
Formal Amendment Process
 Two ways to
propose
amendments
 2/3 vote of each
house of Congress
 National
constitutional
convention
requested by 2/3 of
state legislatures
 Two ways to Ratify
Amendments
 Ratified by 3/4 of
state legislatures
 Ratified by specially
called convention in
at least 3/4 of the
states
27 Amendments
 26 proposed by 2/3 of each house of
Congress; approved by 3/4 of the state
legislatures
 21st Amendment: different
 Proposed by Congress (2/3 each house)
 Ratified by 3/4 state conventions (not
legislatures)
 No constitutional convention held
Informal Amendment Process
 Legislative Action
 Laws expand powers in constitution; elastic clause
 Executive action
 War powers; impoundment of funds; interim
appointments
 Judicial interpretation
 Judicial review
 Changing customs
 Cabinet
 Two terms practice before amendment 22
Bill of Rights
 Amendments 1 - 10
 Basic Rights to protect citizens from the
power of the federal government
Two Early Amendments
 Eleven: protect states from lawsuits by
citizens of other states or foreign
countries
 Twelve: separate voting in the electoral
college for president and vice president
Civil War Amendments
 13, 14, 15th Amendment
 13th: emancipation of slaves law of the
land
 14th: overturned Dred Scott decision granted citizenship to all people born in the
USA
 15th: protect voting rights of freedmen
Progressive Era Amendments
 Deal with social and political reforms
 16th: Congress establish income tax
 17th: direct election of senators
 18th: prohibition; 21st: repealed
prohibition
 19th: women’s suffrage
Amendments deal with
Governance (20th Century)
 20th: changed start date for President
and Congress; shorten lame duck
period
 22nd: limited President to two terms or
10 years
 25th: succession to the President
 27th: pay raises; proposed with Bill of
Rights; passed 203 years later
Civil Rights - Era Amendments
 23rd: residents of Washington D.C. to
vote in Presidential elections; 3
Electoral College votes
 24th: banned poll taxes
 26th: lowered voting age from 21 to 18
Principles of the Constitution
 Limited government
 Government had power to provide for
peace and order but not unlimited power
Limited Government: 6
Guiding Principles
 Popular sovereignty
 Rule of law
 Separation of Powers -- Checks and
Balances
 Federalism: delegated powers; reserved
powers; concurrent powers
 Independent Judiciary
 Individual Rights
Interpreting the Constitution
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Text of the constitution
Original intent of Founding Fathers
Court Precedent
Practical consequences for society
Moral and ethical values
Types of Interpretations
 Is the constitution living or dead?
 Strict construction or originalism or
textualist, narrow construction
 Antonin Scalia
 Loose construction or interpretivism or
broad construction
 William J Brennan
Marbury v. Madison
 Chief Justice John Marshall
 Established judicial review
 1800 John Adams, Federalist party lost
to Thomas Jefferson
 Judges; ‘midnight appointments’
McCulloch v. Maryland
 Marshall Court
 State of Maryland taxed First Bank of
the United States
 Elastic clause or ‘necessary and proper
clause’
United States v. Nixon
 Reaffirm the rule of law
 Watergate scandal (1970)
 Tapes denied Senate based on
“executive privilege”
 Presidents do have the right to
executive privilege but must be
considered in the light of our historic
commitment to rule of law.
Goss v.Lopez
 Due process
 Suspending students without a hearing
 Remove reference from records
 Ohio law - suspend up to 10 days without
hearing
 Letter to parents
 Decision: before being suspended or
expelled students must know the charges;
prompt disciplinary hearing with evidence