REVIEW TOPICS #1 AND #2

1. REVIEW TOPICS #1 AND #2 CONSTITUTIONAL UNDERPINNINGS AND FEDERALISM

2. ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION • Writers trying to avoid strong central government • First constitution, written shortly after Dec. of Indep. • Established a National Congress (no executive, no courts) • Most power given to state legislatures

3. Shays’ Rebellion • Series of attacks on Mass. Courthouses by small band of farmers to block foreclosures • National leaders afraid protestors would take law into their own hands • Demonstrated weakness of national government

4. 1999 QUESTION • The importance of Shays’ Rebellion to the development of the U.S. Constitution was that it A. Revealed the necessity of both adding the Bill of Rights to the Constitution and creating a new system of checks and balances B. Demonstrated the intensity of antiratification sentiment within the 13 states C. Indicated that a strong, constitutionally designed national government was needed to protect property and maintain order D. Convinced the delegates attending the Const. Convention to accept the Conn. Plan E. Reinforced the idea that slavery should be outlawed in the new Constitution

5. Answer: C

6. PROBLEMS/WEAKNESSES OF ARTICLES • No power to tax (money had to be requested from states) • No power to regulate commerce (inhibited trade and made Nat. economy difficult) • No restriction on currency • No judiciary to rule on disputes

7. CONT’D • Weaknesses and problems led to the need for a new constitution

8. ASSUMPTIONS OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS • People are greedy and self-interested (government should play a key role in containing self-interest) • Chief source of political conflict is unequal distribution of wealth-land in those days • Factions arise from conflict (factions have to be checked)

9. CONT’D • Object of Government: preservation of property and property rights • The Founders created a republic—a government run by elected representatives.

10. 1994 QUESTION • The framers of the Constitution all believed that one of the primary functions of government is: • Educating citizens • Protecting individual property rights • Protecting new immigrants from persecution • Expanding the borders of the nation • Ensuring that anyone accused of a crime has the right to legal representation Answer: B

11. POWERS IN THE CONSTITUTION (CONGRESSIONAL, EXECUTIVE, JUDICIAL) • Congressional (Article 1) • 1. Pass legislation • 2. Override vetoes • 3. Appropriate money • 4. Impeachment • 5. Confirmation of Presidential Appointments

12. CONT’D • 6. Ratify treaties • 7. Declare war • 8. Levy taxes • 9. Coin money • 10. Regulate interstate and foreign commerce

13. CONT’D • Executive (Article 2) • 1. Commander-in-chief • 2. Recognize ambassadors(give diplomatic recognition) • 3. Make treaties • 4. Nominate justices, judges, cabinet secretaries, etc.

14. CONT’D • Veto bills • Pardon

15. CONT’D • Judicial • 1. Judicial Review (only implied) • 2. Original jurisdiction on matters between states

16. Inherent Powers • Powers that are derived from simply holding a position, such as Thomas Jefferson’s power as president to purchase the Louisiana Territory

17. Expressed Powers • Powers that are given to an institution of government directly in the Constitution, such as Congress’s power to tax

18. 1999 QUESTION • All of the following powers are granted to the President by the Constitution except: • Commissioning officers in the armed forces • Addressing the Congress on the state of the union • Receiving ambassadors • Granting pardons for federal offenses • Forming new cabinet-level departments Answer: E

19. ECONOMIC PROVISIONS IN THE CONSTITUTION • 1. Congress levies taxes and regulates interstate and foreign commerce • 2. Coin money and forbid states from currency • 3. Congress can borrow money • 4. Congress can build an infrastructure (roads, post offices, weights and measurements)

20. CONT’D • GENERALLY: Protect against intrastate tariffs, competing currencies, and raise money • EFFECT: Increase power of central government in economics

21. 1994 QUESTION • As originally ratified, the U.S. Constitution included provisions designed to • Limit the importation of foreign manufactured goods • Increase the economic importance of the agrarian sector relative to that of the manufacturing sector • Increase the economic powers of the central government • Expand the states’ powers to regulate own commerce with foreign countries • Guarantee the states a greater role in economic policy-making Answer: C

22. INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS IN THE CONSTITUTION • 1. Writ of habeas corpus (cause of detention • 2. No bills of attainder (punishment without trials) • 3. No ex post facto (laws not there when crime was committed) • 4. Strict definition of treason

23. CONT’D • 5. Trial by jury • Notes: Ind. Rights was a major issue in the ratification process. Founding Fathers believed that states were doing sufficient job of protecting rights

24. CHECKS AND BALANCES • Features of Constitution which limit power and require power to be balanced among branches • Three branches remain relatively independent from one another

25. EXECUTIVE • Veto legislation (Congress) • Nominate justices/judges (Judicial)

26. LEGISLATIVE • Impeachment (Executive and Judicial) • Confirm Pres. Nominations-Senate-and override vetoes (Executive) • Confirm Judicial Nominees (Judicial)

27. JUDICIAL • Declare laws unconstitutional (Legislative) • Declare presidential acts unconstitutional (Executive)

28. 1999 QUESTION • Which of the following is an example of checks and balances, as established by the Constitution? A. A requirement that states lower their legal drinking age to eighteen as a condition of receiving funds through federal highway grant programs B. Media criticism of public officials during an election campaign period C. The Supreme Court’s ability to overturn a lower court decision D. The requirement that presidential appointments to the Supreme Court be approved by the Senate E. The election of the President by the electoral college rather than by direct election

29. CONT’D Answer: D

30. AMENDMENT PROCESS • Proposal: 2/3s of Congress or 2/3s of states at National Convention • Ratification: 3/4s of state legislatures or 3/4s of states at state conventions • All amendments except 21st have been through Congress and state legislatures

31. FEDERALIST PAPERS/FEDERALIST 10 • 85 articles by Hamilton, Jay, and Madison that defended the Constitution in detail • Main argument is setting faction against faction • Fed 10 is considered best defense of checks and balances

32. CONT’D • Madison argues that political factions are undesirable but inevitable and must be controlled

33. 1994 QUESTION • In the Federalist papers, James Madison expressed the view that political factions: • Should be nurtured by a free nation • Should play a minor role in any free nation • Are central to the creation of a free nation • Are undesirable but inevitable in a free nation • Are necessary to control the masses in a free nation Answer: D

34. 2002 QUESTION • In Federalist No. 10, James Madison argued that factions in a republic are • A more serious threat if the republic is large • Natural but controllable by institutions • Not likely to occur if people are honest • Prevented by majority rule • Prevented by free elections Answer: B

35. BILL OF RIGHTS • Result of ratification fight; first 10 amendments added in 1791 • First 8 deal with individual rights • Last 2 deal with state powers

36. INFORMAL CHANGES • Ways Constitution has evolved without formal changes • 2 party system • Winner-take-all in Electoral College • Judicial Interpretation (Plessy and Brown) • Technology (role of media, atomic bombs)

37. CONT’D • Growth/Expectations of government (Great Depression, Cold War)

38. DEFINING FEDERALISM • Sharing power at 2 or more levels of govt • At least some powers must be independent

39. FEDERALISM AND THE CONSTITUTION

40. RESERVED POWERS • Not specifically given to Fed. Govt and not denied to states • Powers of the states (reserved through Constitution) • 1. Conduct elections • 2. Establish local govts.

41. 1999 QUESTION The reserved powers of the state governments can best be described as those powers • Not specifically granted to the national govt. or denied to the states • Implied in the 5th amendment • Listed specifically in the 10th amend. • Exercised by both nat. and state govt. • Granted to states as part of the implied powers doctrine Answer: A

42. 10TH AMENDMENT • Powers not delegated to Fed govt or prohibited to states are reserved for the states

43. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) and elastic clause • Issue was Nat. bank • States can’t interfere or tax Congressional activities of Fed govt • Supremacy over states through implied powers of elastic clause (“necessary and proper”) • Has allowed Fed govt to extend powers past explicit ones.

44. 1999 QUESTION • In McCulloch v. Maryland, the Supreme Court established which of the following principles: A. States cannot interfere with or tax the legitimate activities of the fed. Govt. B. The judicial branch cannot intervene in political disputes between the Pres. And Congress C. The fed. Bill of Rights places no limitations on the states D. The federal govt. has the power to regulate commerce E. It is within the judiciary’s authority to interpret the constitution

45. CONT’D Answer: A

46. Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) and commerce clause • Congress can regulate all interstate commerce, including every form of commercial activity

47. 2002 QUESTION • Of the following, which has been used most to expand the power of the national government? • The commerce clause of the Const • The habeas corpus clause of the Const • The bill of attainder clause of the Const • The 1st amendment • The 5th amendment Answer: A

48. INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS TODAY

49. DUAL FEDERALISM • States and Fed govt. stay supreme within their own sphere (layer cake metaphor) • Not applicable after 1930s

50. COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM • Powers and policy shared between state and Fed. Govt (marble cake metaphor) • Since 1930s