1. Political Cartoon

2. TERMS AND QUESTIONS CHAPTER 3 SECTION 1 The Six Basic Principles
What is the purpose of the Preamble to the Constitution?
What are the six basic principles of the Constitution and explain each?
Constitutionalism
Rule of Law
Separation of powers
Checks and balances
Veto
What Presidents have been impeached?
Constitutional

3. An Outline of the Constitution
The Constitution was written in 1787 and took effect in The Constitution is this nation’s fundamental law. It is in its own terms, “the supreme Law of the Land” – the highest form of law in the United States.
The Constitution sets out the basic principles upon which government in the United States was built.
It a fairly brief document, 7,000 words and can be read in half an hour.
The Constitution’s greatest strength is that its words deal largely with matters of basic principle.

4. An Outline of the Constitution
The Constitution is organized into eight sections: the Preamble -introduction and seven articles – or sections. The original document is followed by 27 amendments.
The first three articles deal with the three branches of the National Government. They outline their organization and powers of each branch and how they are chosen.
Article IV deals with the place of the States in the American Union and their relationship with the National Government and one another.
Article V explains how formal amendments may be added.
Article VI declares the Constitution as the supreme law.
Article VII states the requirements for ratification.

5. Articles of the Constitution
Section
Preamble
Article I
Article II
Article III
Article IV
Article V
Article VI
Article VII
Subject
States the purpose
Legislative branch
Executive branch
Judicial branch
Relations among the States and with the National Government
Amending the Constitution
National debts, supremacy of national law, and oaths of office
Ratifying the Constitution

6. The Six Basic Principles of the Constitution

7. Six Basic Principles

8. POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY
The principle of popular sovereignty asserts that the people are the source of any and all government power, and government can exist only with the consent of the governed.
The people have given their government the power that it has through the Constitution.

9. LIMITED GOVERNMENT
The principle of limited government holds that no government is all-powerful, that a government may do only those things that the people have given it the power to do. The government must obey the law.
Constitutionalism – that government must be conducted according to constitutional principles.
The concept of limited government is also described as the rule of law, which holds that government and its officers are always subject to the law.
This is set out in the First Amendment, which begins with the words: “Congress shall make no law . . .”

10. Article I, II and III finds the powers being divided.
SEPARATION OF POWERS
In a presidential system, separation of powers the basic powers are distributed among three distinct and independent branches of government.
The Constitution distributes the powers of the National Government among the Congress, the President, and the courts.
Article I, II and III finds the powers being divided.

11. Separation of Powers

12. CHECKS AND BALANCES
The national government is organized around three separate branches. The Constitution gives each branch its own field of governmental authority.
Checks and balances – means that each branch is subject to a number of constitutional restraints by the other branches. Each branch has powers to check the operations of the other two.
Congress can make law.
The President may veto or reject, any act of Congress
The judicial branch can rule acts unconstitutional.

13. Checks & Balances

14. Checks & Balances

15. JUDICAL REVIEW
Judicial review is the power of courts to determine whether what government does is in accord with what the Constitution provides.
Unconstitutional – to declare illegal, null and void, of no force and effect – a governmental actions found to violate some provision in the Constitution.
Marbury v. Madison 1803 established the power of judicial review.

16. Judicial Review

17. FEDERALISM
The powers held by government are distributed on a territorial basis. The National Government holds some of those powers, and others belong to the 50 States.
Federalism – the division of power among a central government and several regional governments – came to the Constitution out of both experience and necessity.
The colonist had rebelled against the harsh rule of a powerful and distant central government.

18. Roots of Federalism

19. Section Review

20. Section 1 Assessment
1. Article II of the Constitution establishes the powers of the
(a) executive branch.
(b) legislative branch.
(c) States.
(d) judicial branch.
2. The principle of popular sovereignty asserts that the
(a) government should be divided into three branches.
(b) monarch is the supreme ruler.
(c) means of production should be owned by the proletariat.
(d) people are the source of any and all government power.
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21. Section 1 Assessment
1. Article II of the Constitution establishes the powers of the
(a) executive branch.
(b) legislative branch.
(c) States.
(d) judicial branch.
2. The principle of popular sovereignty asserts that the
(a) government should be divided into three branches.
(b) monarch is the supreme ruler.
(c) means of production should be owned by the proletariat.
(d) people are the source of any and all government power.
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22. TERMS AND QUESTIONS CHAPTER 3 SECTION 2
List two steps involved in the first method of amending the Constitution.
List two steps involved in the second method of amending the Constitution.
List two steps involved in the third method of amending the Constitution.
List two steps involved in the fourth method of amending the constitution.
Bill of Rights
List and explain the Civil War Amendments.
Amendment
Formal amendment process
Explain each Amendment: 11th Amendment
18th Amendment
26th Amendment
27th Amendment

23. THE AMENDMENT PROCESS

24. Amending the Constitution
The Constitution provides for its own amendment—that is, for changes in its written words.
Article V sets out two methods for the proposal and two methods for the ratification of constitutional amendments, creating four possible methods of formal amendment.

25. FIRST METHOD OF AMENDMENT
An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote in each house of Congress and be ratified by three fourths of the State legislatures.
38 State legislatures must approve for it to become a part of the Constitution.
26 of the 27 amendments have been adopted using this method.

26. The Amendment Process

27. SECOND METHOD OF AMENDMENT
An amendment may be proposed by Congress and then ratified by conventions in three fourths of the States.
21st Amendment only adopted this way.

28. THIRD METHOD OF AMENDMENT
An amendment may be proposed by a national convention, called by Congress at the request of two thirds of the State legislatures
34 State legislatures is needed
It must then be ratified by three fourths of the State legislatures.
Congress has not called such a convention.

29. FOURTH METHOD OF AMENDMENT
An amendment may be proposed by a national convention and ratified by conventions in three fourths of the States.
The Constitution was adopted in much the same way.
Need 38 State conventions.

30. Formal Amendment Process
The four different ways by which amendments may be added to the Constitution are shown here:

31. FEDERALISM AND POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY
The formal amendment process emphasizes the federal character of the governmental system. Proposal takes place at the national level and ratification is a State-by-State matter.
When the Constitution is amended, the action represents the expression of the people’s sovereign will. The people have spoken.

32. PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
The Constitution places only one restriction on the subjects with which a proposed amendment may deal. Article V declares that “no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.”
Once a State has approved an amendment, that action is final and unchangeable.
More than 10,000 joint resolutions calling for amendments to the Constitution have been proposed in Congress since Only 27 have been finally ratified.

33. Amendments to the Constitution
Collectively, the first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights. They set out many of our basic freedoms.

34. The first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights.
The first ten amendments were added to the Constitution less than three years after it became effective. They were proposed by the first session of the First Congress in 1789 and were ratified by the States in late 1791.
The first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights.

35. THE BILL OF RIGHTS

36. THE LATER AMENDMENTS
Each of the other amendments that has been added to the Constitution over the past 200 years also grew about because of some particular set of circumstances.
11th Amendment declares that no State may be sued in the federal courts by a citizen of another State or by citizen of any foreign state.
12th Amendment in 1894, was added to the Constitution in 1804 after the electoral college had failed to produce a winner in the presidential election of The election went to the House of Representatives.
13th Amendment, 1865, abolished slavery in the United States.

37. Amendments to the Constitution After the Bill of Rights

38. THE LATER AMENDMENTS
14th Amendment 1868, gave the freedmen citizenship
15th Amendment 1870, gave them the right to vote.
18th Amendment 1919, established a nationwide prohibition of alcohol.
21st Amendment 1933, repealed the 18th Amendment.
22nd Amendment 1951, limited the number of terms a president could serve.
26th Amendment added in 1971, lowered the voting age to 18 in all elections in the United States.
27th Amendment 1992, forbids members of Congress from raising their own pay during that term.

39. Section 2 Assessment 1. A formal amendment
(a) changes the Constitution by passing laws.
(b) changes the written language of the Constitution itself.
(c) allows States to secede from the United States.
(d) none of the above.
2. Many of the basic rights of citizens are constitutionally guaranteed in
(a) English common law.
(b) the Declaration of Independence.
(c) the Magna Carta.
(d) the Bill of Rights.
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40. Section 2 Assessment 1. A formal amendment
(a) changes the Constitution by passing laws.
(b) changes the written language of the Constitution itself.
(c) allows States to secede from the United States.
(d) none of the above.
2. Many of the basic rights of citizens are constitutionally guaranteed in
(a) English common law.
(b) the Declaration of Independence.
(c) the Magna Carta.
(d) the Bill of Rights.
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41. TERMS AND QUESTIONS CHAPTER 3 SECTION 3
What are the 5 basic ways that Constitutional interpretation takes place?
How do informal procedures for interpreting the Constitution differ from formal amendment?
Judiciary Act of 1789
25th Amendment
What is an executive agreement?
Treaty
Electoral college
Cabinet
Senatorial courtesy

42. Informal Amendment Processes
Informal amendment is the process by which over time many changes have been made in the Constitution which have not involved any changes in its written word.
The informal amendment process can take place by:
1.) the passage of basic legislation by Congress;
2.) actions taken by the President;
3.) key decisions of the Supreme Court;
4.) the activities of political parties;
5.) custom.

43. Executive Action and Court Decisions
Presidential actions have produced a number of important informal amendments, such as the use of the military under the power of commander in chief.
An executive agreement is a pact made by the President directly with the head of a foreign state.
Treaty – formal agreement between two or more sovereign states.
Court Decisions
The nation’s courts, most importantly the United States Supreme Court, interpret and apply the Constitution in many cases they hear.

44. The Power to Make Treaties

45. PARTY PRACTICES
Political parties have also been a source of Constitutional interpretation. The Constitution makes no mention of political parties.
Neither the Constitution nor any law provides for the nomination of candidates for the presidency.
Electoral college - a group that makes the formal selection of the nation’s President.

46. The Electoral College

47. CUSTOM Unwritten customs may be as strong as written laws.
Cabinet – an advisory body to the President traditionally made up of the heads of the executive departments and other officers.
Each time when a President died in office, the Vice President succeeded to that office.
25th Amendment – 1967 finally made it a law that the VP would become President.
Senatorial courtesy – a long-established custom that the Senate will only approve those presidential appointees that are acceptable to the senator or senators of the President’s party from the State involved.
For nearly 150 years, “no third term tradition” was a followed rule in presidential politics. FDR broke the no third term custom
22nd Amendment – 1951, was passed to assure of only 2 terms.

48. 22ND AMENDMENT

49. Section 3 Assessment 1. An informal amendment can be established by
(a) actions taken by the President.
(b) custom.
(c) key decisions of the Supreme Court.
(d) all of the above.
2. An executive agreement is
(a) a promise from the President to the legislature.
(b) a pact made by the President directly with the head of a foreign state.
(c) a decision made by the President and his cabinet members.
(d) the contract the President signs when he accepts the office.
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50. Section 3 Assessment 1. An informal amendment can be established by
(a) actions taken by the President.
(b) custom.
(c) key decisions of the Supreme Court.
(d) all of the above.
2. An executive agreement is
(a) a promise from the President to the legislature.
(b) a pact made by the President directly with the head of a foreign state.
(c) a decision made by the President and his cabinet members.
(d) the contract the President signs when he accepts the office.
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