1. Aim: How did the Constitution even out the powers of the federal government?
Do Now:
Hand in your One Act Play on Federalism – Quiz Grade
Answer the three Do Now Questions on your sheet.
Homework
Watch “Crash Course in Government and Politics: Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances” and complete the Google Form on our class website.

3. Separation of Powers Legislative Executive Judicial
Legislative
Executive
Judicial
Members of the Branch
Most Significant Role
Why? (2 Sentences)

4. Separation of Powers
Separation of Powers is a government principle in which the powers of the government is divided among different branches, each with their own roles and responsibilities .
What would cause the framers of the Constitution to establish a system of separation of powers?

5. Federal Office Holders
Number
Term
Selection
Requirements
House
of Representatives
At least one per state based on population.
Larger states = more representation
435 Total Members
Two years
Elected by voters of congressional districts
Age 25 or over
Citizen for 7 years
Resident of the state in which elected
Senate
Two per state
(equal number)
100 Senators
(2 per State)
Six Years
Original Constitution – elected by states
17th Amendment – elected by voters
Age 30 or over
Citizen for 9 years
President
Vice President
One President
One Vice President
Four Years
Elected by the electoral college.
Age 35 or over
Natural-born citizen
Resident of U.S. for 14 years
Supreme Court Justice
Nine Justices
(One Chief Justice)
Lifetime
Appointed by the President
No constitutional requirements

7. Electoral College
Why does the U.S. have the Electoral College system?
The framers of the Constitution created the system as a compromise after considering election of the president by Congress, election by the state legislatures, and election by the people (popular vote). Some historians believe that the framers were concerned about having the president elected directly by the people.
Who are the electors? How are they chosen in your state?
Electors are often loyal party activists and may be state officials, party leaders, or those affiliated in some way with the Presidential candidate. They are generally nominated by the parties in each state (the process varies from state to state – answers will vary) and then chosen by the voters in each state on Election Day.

8. Electoral College
What do the electors actually do? Can they vote any way they wish?
The electors gather in their state capitals on the Monday following the second Wednesday in December. They cast one vote for president and one for vice president. No federal law binds electors although some states do have such laws that have never been enforced. So, electors can vote any way they wish, although they have rarely gone against the popular vote.

9. Electoral College
How many electoral votes are there? How are they divided among the states? How many does your state have? How does your state determine how many electoral votes each candidate will get?
There are 538 electoral votes total. Each state receives the number of electors equal to the total number of Senators and Representatives in Congress it has. The District of Columbia also receives 3 electoral votes. Most states use a winner-take-all system: the candidate that wins the popular vote gets all of that state’s electoral votes. (This is how the electoral and popular votes can differ.) Maine and Nebraska allocate their electoral votes proportionally (by popular vote in each congressional district).

10. Electoral College
How many electoral votes are needed to win? What if no candidate receives a majority? Has this ever happened?
270 votes are needed to win. If no candidate receives a majority, the House of Representatives selects the president from the top three candidates and the Senate selects the Vice President. Each state gets one vote. This happened in 1800 and 1824.
How often have the results of the Electoral College differed from the popular vote?
Four times – 1824, 1876, 1888, and 2000

11. Checks and Balances
Checks and Balances is the system in which each branch of the government has the ability to limit the powers of the other branches to prevent any from becoming too powerful.

12. Checks and Balances

14. Closing Question:
How did the Constitution even out the powers of the federal government?