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Virtue & Structure in the Constitution - II 1

VIRTUE AND STRUCTURE IN

THE CONSTITUTION – II


“This Constitution is the keystone of our national life. It is

my faith and conviction that it came not alone of the “brain

and purpose of man,” but of the inspiration of the

Almighty. In this Constitution, with its Bill of Rights, are

the great concepts which have made this a mighty nation,

the greatest the world has ever known.”

Gordon B. Hinckley, Aug. 4, 1996


Outline (2 lectures)

• Roles of markets and self government

• Two parables

• Four key structural devices • Separation of powers

• Checks and balances

• Extended republic

• Enumeration

• Preamble of the Constitution

• Articles I – VII

• The inspired Constitution


Judicial

Power

Executive

Power

Legislative

Power Judicial and Legislative

Powers


Executive

Power

Judicial and Legislative

Powers

Executive, Judicial

and Legislative

Powers

Tyranny


Judicial

Power

Executive Power

Legislative Power

Total Separation of Powers

Deadlock

Judicial Power

Can Lead to Anarchy or Tyranny


Checks and Balances • Checks and balances: A system that bridges separate powers by placing part of each power within separate branches.

• Examples:

• Presidential veto with override.

• President nominates judges, who must be confirmed by the Senate.

• Judicial review.

• This system simultaneously prevents one branch from acquiring too much power and promotes cooperation among the branches.


Simple Structure:

Separation of

Powers Only

• Creates deadlock and confrontation. Promotes distrust.

• Tends to self-destruct. Powers fail to remain separate.

• Fails to mobilize virtue. Plays to self-interest.


Complex Structure:

Veto Power with

Override

Encourages negotiation and compromise. Promotes cooperation.

Each power can protect itself from the other. Keeps powers separate.

Makes it easier to mobilize virtue.

Extended Republic


• Along with Hume, Madison concluded that larger republics, not smaller ones, would best prevent factions from destroying liberty.

• Why? Because large republics increase competition among factions, making it much harder for factions to take over the governments.

Example: Factions and Structure

• I need 10 volunteers.


Madison: Federalist #10

• “Among the numerous advantages promised by a well-constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction.”

• “By faction, I understand a number of citizens…who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.”


Madison: Federalist #10

• “Extend the sphere, and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens; or if such a common motive exists, it will be more difficult for all who feel it…to act in unison with each other.”


Extended Republic


Enumeration

• The national government’s power includes only what is enumerated in the Constitution.

• This would be a limited government, one based on the rule of law, not the will of men.


Preamble


Article I: The Congress

• The House of Representatives

• Two year terms

• Elected by the people

• Representatives apportioned by state population

• Minimum age: 25 years

• Power to impeach the president



• The Senate

• Two senators from each state

• Chosen by the state legislature

• Six year terms

• Minimum age: 30 years

• Led by Vice President without a vote (except in the case

of a tie)

• Power to try an impeached president



• Congress has the power to • Declare war

• Raise and support armies

• Lay and collect taxes and tariffs

• Ratify treaties

• Borrow money

• Regulate commerce among the states

• Establish post offices

• Issue patents and copyrights



• States have no powers to

• Wage war unless attacked

• Levy tariffs

• Make treaties

• Coin money



• Additionally, Congress has a general power to

“make all Laws which shall be necessary and

proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing

Powers”


Article II: The Presidency

• Presidential powers

• Make treaties

• Appoint judges and executive officers

• Commander in chief

• Veto legislation

• Execute laws

• Pardon criminals


Article II: The Presidency

• Congressional checks on president

• 2/3 of the Senate must ratify treaties

• Senate must confirm certain appointments

• Congress declares war (even though the president

administers the war)

• 2/3 of the House and 2/3 of the Senate can override a

presidential veto

• Congress enacts all laws

• No check on the pardon power


Article II: The Presidency • The Electoral College

• Two stages: • Voters in each state choose as many Electors as they have

Representatives and Senators. The president is selected by a majority of Electors. If no candidate has a majority, the five top vote candidates proceed to the second stage.

• Members of the House of Representatives vote by state delegation (where each state has one vote).

• Stage one gives the advantages to the large states, while the second stage gives an advantage to the small states.


Article III: The Judiciary

• The “forgotten branch”

• The Founders largely left formation of the judiciary to

the future.


Article IV: The States

• Limitations on states

• The states must honor the actions of other states

(including extradition).

• New states will be admitted as full equal partners in the

union.

• “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this

Union a Republican Form of Government[.]”


Article V: Amendments


Amendment Process:

Article VI: Supreme Law

“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United

States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof;

and all Treaties made, or which shall be made,

under the Authority of the United States, shall be

the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in

every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in

the Constitution or Laws of any State to the

Contrary notwithstanding.”


Article VII: Ratification

“The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States,

shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this

Constitution between the States so ratifying the

Same.”


Summary

• The Constitution focuses on process rather than

outcomes

• The basic structure has changed little in over 200

years


iClicker Which of the following reflects your views on the Constitution?

A. All of it, including all 27 amendments, is inspired.

B. The original document plus the first 10 amendments are inspired.

C. The original document is inspired.

D. Many ideas in the constitution are inspired, such as freedom of religion, but not all of the ideas.


Elder Dallin H. Oaks: The Divinely Inspired Constitution

• First written constitution ever. • Since that time, almost every nation has adopted a

written constitution. • Each has used the US Constitution as a model.

• Convention and ratification both miracles.


• Popular sovereignty. • Most important words in Constitution: “We the people of the United States…do ordain and establish this Constitution.”

• This promotes maximum freedom and opportunity, which creates the best conditions for exercising moral agency.

• In this condition, men are accountable for their own sins.

• Rule of law. • The basis of liberty. • All constitutional blessings depend on it. • The self-control by which people subject themselves to law strengthens freedom.



• Constitution ingeniously preserves stability, protects minority rights, and allows for needed change.

• Virtue (again)

• Adams: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

• Personal righteousness strengthens a nation more than the force of its arms.



Open 9am-4pm Monday thru Friday Reviews 30 minutes … Documents Dave Spenc… · •Open 9am-4pm...

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Transcript of Open 9am-4pm Monday thru Friday Reviews 30 minutes … Documents Dave Spenc… · •Open 9am-4pm...