Download Principles of Democracy

Principles of Democracy
TEKS/TAKS
8.16 Government. The student understands
the American beliefs and principles reflected in
the U.S. Constitution and other important
historic documents. The student is expected
to:
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(D) analyze how the U.S. Constitution reflects the
principles of limited government, republicanism,
checks and balances, federalism, separation of
powers, popular sovereignty, and individual rights.
“Supreme Law of the Land”
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In the United States, the US Constitution
is the Supreme Law. No law and no
person can override the Constitution.
The Principles of Democracy
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Are the basic rules that the people of the
United States live by. We made our US
Constitution and all of our laws follow
these principles.
Are 7 basic principles or rules for all of us
to follow in order to peacefully live
together as one nation.
Principles of Democracy
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POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY
Limited Government
FEDERALISM
Republicanism
SEPARATION OF POWERS
Checks and Balances
INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS
Organizer on Principles
Separation of Powers
Popular Sovereignty
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Political power rests with the people who
can create, alter and abolish their
government.
In our country, this principle is found in
the Constitution’s __________
Preamble
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“We the People of
the United States, in
order to form a more
perfect union, …. do
ordain and establish
this Constitution for
the United States of
America.”
We, the People can …
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Amend the Constitution to keep up with
today’s generation
Elect our representatives to go to
Congress to express our wishes
Petition the government to do something
we want
And lots more!!
Remember –
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Popular Sovereignty means We, the People
control our government!
Click here to return to organizer
Limited Government
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Does this mean we can tell our
government what to do or what not to do?
YES!!!

In the Constitution, the people established
the government to serve us. We were
tired of the abusive King and fought for
independence. We did not want to be
abused by another king or government so
we ….
MADE RULES FOR
GOVERNMENT!
Powers granted
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Government can only do certain things like
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Pass new laws or taxes if a majority of our
representatives in Congress agrees Coin
money
Make treaties with foreign nations
Raise an army and navy
Regulate trade between the states [interstate
commerce]
And more.
Powers denied

Government can NOT do certain things
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Why is First Lady Laura Bush not called a
Queen?
No have no titles of nobility in the United
States
Can Congress pass a law today that says
what we did yesterday was wrong?
NO WAY!
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These types of laws are called ex post
facto laws. The Constitution prohibits
Congress and state governments from
passing such unfair laws.
Can a state declare war on another
country?
NO.
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The Constitution only gives the national
government to power to declare war.
Think of the mess we would be in if 50
different states could declare war.
Limited Government
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Congress and the state governments are
restricted by what the Constitution says.
-- Think of the Constitution as the
government’s parents!
Federalism
o
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Is the distribution of power between the
national government, the states’
governments and local governments.
Refers to the different levels within our
government.
Federalism
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Compare to a building
with 3 floors …
National
State
Local
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Each level of government has its own
responsibilities.
Sometimes, these responsibilities are
shared or overlap [known as concurrent
powers] . For example, taxes: national =
income tax, state = sales tax, local =
property tax
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Sometimes, these responsibilities belong
to just one level. For example, national =
can declare war, states = can determine
driver license requirements or high school
diploma requirements
Federalism
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Levels of government --Remember: you are a resident of Harris
County, a resident of the state of Texas
and a citizen of the United States
Federalism
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National,
state and
local …
… governments working under one
Constitution
Republicanism
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A form of government where the people
vote for representatives to make laws and
run the government on their behalf [to
look out for the people]
Republicanism’s tie to Popular
Sovereignty?
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The People control the government by voting for
elected representatives  the representatives
meet with other representatives to make laws
for the public good  if the representatives
abuse the people, the people take back their
“consent” and vote them out of office  then
the people vote for elected representatives
….Hey, are we starting over?
Yes!
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Remember: in a Republic, the
representatives work for the people
Separation of Powers
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Each branch of government is given an
equal, but different, set of powers
The US Constitution is divided into
different Articles (like chapters in your
book)
Each of the first 3 articles deals with a
different branch of government –
 Article
I  Legislature (Congress)
 Article II  Executive (President)
 Article III  Judiciary (Supreme Court and
other courts)
Responsibilities
Each branch has a different responsibility in
our government --o
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Legislative -- makes our laws
Executive – enforces our laws
Judicial – interprets our laws
Separation of Powers
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Think: each branch of government not
only has different powers but also
different buildings!
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Capitol = Legislative
White House = Executive
Supreme Court building = Judiciary
There’s no way you can walk into
all 3 buildings at the same time!
Checks and Balances
The ability of each branch of
government to oversee the other
branches, to prevent abuse and
to keep everything in “balance”
or…
No branch is number one over the
other two.
Example: Congress passes a law
the President thinks is wrong. The
President checks Congress by …
Using the VETO [to refuse to sign
and make into law].
Congress thinks the President is
wrong. Congress checks the
President by …
Re-passing the law with a 2/3 vote
or override.
The Court thinks Congress or the
President is wrong. The Court can
…
Declare the law or action
unconstitutional [using judicial
review to compare the law or
action to what the Constitution
‘says’].
Individual Rights
Each person in the United States has
rights
 The Declaration of Independence spoke of
these as being “unalienable” or not
separate from you

By limiting government and
separating powers the Constitution
provides ….
For your Rights!
More protection is
provided by the …
Bill of Rights!
 The
First 10 amendments to
the Constitution
 Prohibits Congress or the
national government from
taking away your basic rights
 Can
you list some examples of
your rights found in the Bill of
Rights?
st
1
Amendment –
 Freedom
of Speech
 Freedom of the Press
 Freedom of Assembly
 Freedom to Petition
 Free Exercise of Religion
 No Government Established
Religion
 4th
Amendment – no
unreasonable search without a
warrant
 5th Amendment – right to not
incriminate yourself
 6th Amendment – right to attorney
Wow! What a list?!
 Are
these the only rights you
have?
No!
 In
case they forgot to list some
th
rights, the 9 Amendment
covers all other rights not
listed in Amendments 1-8.
Example: right to privacy
Are your rights absolute?
Can you exercise your
rights at any time?
Sorry, the answer is no.
 Your
rights are limited by the
rights of the person standing next
to you.
 Think
of rights as a bubble that
walks around with you. When you
go down the hall, your rights bump
into someone else’s rights!
Let’s review –
 Principles
the
of Democracy are…
rules our society used to
form our government
Principles of Democracy
include …
 Popular
Sovereignty
 Limited Government
 Individual rights
 Federalism
 Separation of Powers
 Checks and Balances
 Republicanism
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINICIPLES OF
DEMOCRACY tutorial was created by Lynda
Collins, Government and U.S. teacher at
Langham Creek.
This tutorial is the property of CypressFairbanks I.S.D.