Objectives

To outline the important elements of the constitution

List the 6 basic principles of the constitution

The constitution is fairly brief….7000 words.

Sets forth the principles that the government of the US is founded upon.

Preamble

The introduction to the constitution The remainder of the document is

divided into 7 sections called articles The first 3 articles deal w/ the 3

branches Article IV deals w/ states relationship

w/ national govt and each other

Article V explains how amendments may be made to the constitution

Article VI declares the constitution is the supreme law of the land

Article VII provides for ratification of the constitution

The VII Articles of the constitution are followed by 27 amendments, printed in the order in which they were adopted.

The Basic Principles

Popular Sovereignty Limited Government Separation of Powers Checks & Balances Judicial Review Federalism

Popular Sovereignty

All political power is w/ the people…the people are sovereign.

Govt can only govern w/ consent of the people

The Ntl Govt gets its power from the people of the US, and the people have given govt its power through the constitution.

Also, each of the State govt’s gets its authority from the people of that state, through State constitutions.

Limited Govt

No govt is all powerful; it can only do those things that the people has given it power to do.

It is the opposite of popular sovereignty- the people are the source of govt authority, and the govt has only the authority that the people have given it.

This concept can be stated another way…Government must obey the law.

When stated this way, this principle is called constitutionalism.

Constitutionalism means that govt must be conducted according to constitutional principles.

The concept of ltd govt is also described as rule of law, which holds that govt and its officers are always subject to ( and never above) the law.

Separation of Powers

Basic power is distributed (separated) among the 3 branches of govt

This concept is known as Separation of Powers

This idea is written into each state constitution

The separation of powers is set forth in the 1st 3 articles of the Constitution

Checks & Balances

This means that each branch is subject to a # of checks (restraints) by the other branches

Or, each branch has certain powers with which it can check the operation of the other two.

President has the power of veto.

Congress may override a presidential veto by 2/3 majority vote.

It has been very effective in what the framers intended it to do…”prevent an unjust combination of the majority”.

Judicial Review

One aspect of checks & balances JR is the power of the courts to

determine whether the things govt does is constitutional

JR can declare a govt action unconstitutional, or illegal.

This power is held by all federal courts, and most state courts.

The Supreme Court est. this power of JR in Marbury v. Madison, 1803.

Most of the time the courts have upheld govt actions, but not always.

To date, 150 cases have been decided in which all or part of an act of Congress was declared unconstitutional.

It has voided hundreds of state actions and more than 1100 state laws.