AP Gov. Ch.

The Constitution

07/09/2011 12:54:00

I. The problem of liberty A. Colonists were focused on traditional liberties i. The right to bring legal cases before independent judges ii. not have to quarter troops in their homes iii. trade w/o burdensome restrictions iv. pay no taxes which they had not had direct representation in v. Lost confidence in the English constitutionwanted independence B. The colonial mind i. Believed that men seek pwr bc they are ambitious, greedy and corrupted ii. Believed a higher law embodying natural rights: life, liberty, property 1. Jefferson changed property to pursuit of happiness iii. A war of ideology, not economics iv. Declaration of Ind. Cited specific complaints against George III for violating inalienable rights (justified war) C. The real revolution i. The radical change in beliefslegit authority/liberties 1. Govt exists by consent of the governed, not by royal prerogative 2. Political pwr excersized by direct grant of pwr in a written constitution ii. Human liberty exists prior to govt and govt must respect liberty iii. Legislative branch superior to exec bc the legislature directly represents the ppl D. Weakness of the confederation (articles)

i. Could not levy taxes ii. Sovereignty, independence retained by states iii. One vote in congress for each state iv. 9 of 13 congressional votes needed to ratify v. Delegates to Congress picked, paid for by the state vi. Little money coined by Congress vii. Army small and dependent on independent state militias viii. Territorial disputes b/t states led to open hostilities viiii. No natl judicial II. The Constitutional Convention A. The lessons of experience 1. State constitutions a) Pennsylvania: radically democratic, but trampled minority rightsgovt was too strong b) Massachusetts: less democratic: directly elected govenor, but electors and officials had to own property; clear separation of powers B. The Framers 1. 55 attended: men of practical affairs: Continental army veterans and members of the Congress of the Confederation 2. Absent: TJ, J. Adams, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry 3. An entirely new constitution was written, although the gathering was authorized only to revise Articles 4. Primary concern was with defense of liberty as a natural right (Locke)

5. Doubt the popular consent alone could guarantee liberty: fear of tyranny of the majority 6. A delicate problem: how could govt be strong enough to preserve order but not threaten liberty III. The challenge A. The VA Plan 1. Strong natl govt organized into 3 branches 2. Bicameral legislature, based on population 3. Executive and members of the natl judiciary were chosen by legislature 4. Council of revision (exec and some judiciary branch members) w/ veto pwr, legislature could override veto 5. Two features: a) Natl legislature would have supreme powers b) One legislature house directly elected by ppl. B. NJ Plan 1. Submitted as alternative to VA plan 2. Generated from fear of lack of representation from less populated states 3. Sought to amend rather than replace the AC 4. Proposed one house legislature with one vote per state, so Congress would be the pet of the state govts 5. Protected small states interests while enhancing power of natl govt C. The Great Compromise (Connecticut Comp)

1. HR based on population and directly elected by ppl 2. Senate composed of 2 members per state and elected by state legislatures 3. Reconciled interests of large and small statesthe former dominated in the HR, the latter in Senate D. Other Compromises 1. Slave Trade compromise- could not be prohibited for 20 years 2. 3/5 Comp- slaves count 3/5 of a vote (HR elections) IV. The Constitution and democracy A. Founders did not intend to make direct democracy 1. Physical impossibility in a vast country 2. Founders also mistrusted popular passions 3. Intended instead to create a republic, a govt by representation B. Popular rule only one element of new govt 1. State legislators to elect senators 2. Electoral College chose president 3. 2 kinds of majorities: voters ( ex. HR) and states (ex. Senate) 4. Judicial review another limitation 5. Amendment process Proposed by 2/3 of congress or natl convention Ratified by state legislatures or special state C. Key principals

1. Separation of powers: b/t branches of natl govt 2. Federalism: power divided b/t matl and state govts 3. 3 catagories of govtl pwrs Enumerated: given to natl govt exclusively; include: power to print money, declare war, make treaties, conduct foreign affairs Reserved: given to states; include: power to issue licenses and regulate commerce wholly w/I a state Concurrent: shared by both natl and state govts; include collecting taxes, building roads, borrowing money, having courts 4. Checks & balances allow natl branches to check the others pwrs D. Govt and human nature and inevitable -Aristotelian view (Samueal Adams): govt should improve human nature by cultivating virtue -Madisonian view: cultivation of virtue would require a govt too strong, dangerous,; self-interest should be freely persued w/I limits 3. Factionalism could be harnessed to provide a source of unity and guarantee liberty - sep of pwrs enables each branch to check others -fedism enables one level of govt to act as a check on another V. Constitution and liberty A. whether proposed constitution respected personal liberties was a primary debate during ratification 1. required ratification by conventions in at least nine states tech illegal bc AC required all 2. framers knew some would opposeNC and RI B. the Anti-federalist view 1. Founders central belief: ppl seek their own advantage (in out of politics) 2. Govt based on popular consent was possible but not

 tyranny functions

1. Liberty could be secure only in small republics a) otherwise natl govt would use be distant from ppl, b) strong natl govt would use pwrs to annihilate state

2. nation needed a loose confederation of the states with most of the pwr in the state legislatures 3. Madisons response (fed 10 and 51): persons liberty safest in large (extended) republics a) coalitions-group of people with same political viewwere then more likely to be moderate bc b) govt should be somewhat distant from the ppl to be insulated from their passions 4. reasons for the absence of a bill of rights a) several guarantees in Constitution already 1. habeas corpus- right to appear before a judge 2. no bill of attainder- no punishment w/o fair trial 3. no ex post facto- no punishment for crime not against law when committed 4. trial by jury in criminal cases 5. citizens of each state guaranteed the privileges and immunities of citizens of every other state 6. no religious tests for federal office 7. no state could pass a law negating other contracts b) Most states had a bill of rights c) intent in writing the Const was to limit fed govt to specific pwr C. Need for bill of rights 1. ratification impossible w/o one 2. promise by key leaders to obtain one

3. bitter ratification, narrowly successful 4. 12 amendments approved by Congress, 10 ratified by the sates and went into effect in 1791 D. The Constitution and slavery 1. Slavery was addressed in 3 provisions of the Constitution a) HR apportionment3/5 comp b) congress could not prohibit slave trade before 1808 c) fugitive slave clause- send slaves back if run away 2. necessity of compromise: the Constitution would not have been ratified and slavery would have continued under the AC w/ no prospective challenge possible 3. Legacy: civil war, social political catastrophe VI. the motives of the Framers A. Economic interests at the convention 1. Economic interests of Framers varied widely 2. Charles Beard: thos who supported the Const expected to benefit financially 3. No clear division along class lines found by historians in the 1950s 4. More recent research (80s) suggests economic concerns out weighed personal considerations 5. Exception: slaveholders voted to minimize natl govt influence over slave holding B. Economic interests and ratification 1. Economic fators played larger role in state-ratifying conventions 2. More likely to vote in favor of ratification: farmers, held no govt IOUs, owned slaves C. The Const and equality 1. Contemp citics: govt today is too weak

a) Bows to special interests that foster economic inequality b) Changing views of liberty and equality are reflected in this criticism 2. Framers were more concerned w/ political inequalitythey wanted to guard against political advantage VII. Constitutional reformmodern views A. Reducing the sep of pwrs to enhance natl leadership 1. Urgent problems cannot be solvedgridlock 2. govt agencies are exposed to undue interference from legislatures and special interest groups 3. proposed remedy: president should be more powerful and held accountable to voters 4. Propsed remedies to allow govt to be more decisive: a) allow congress member to serve concurrently in Cabinet b) allow president to dissolve congress and call for special election c) Empower Congress to call for a special presidential election before the end of a presidents term, when he lost nations confidence d) require presidential and congressional candidates to run as a team in each congressional district e) est. single six yr term for president f) make terms in HR to 4 years so elections go w/ president B. Making the system less democratic 1. govt does too much, not too little 2. attention being gven to special-interest claims rather than longterm values 3. Proposals to cut back on govt activism a) limit amt of taxes collected b) require balanced budget

c) president gained enhanced rescission authority (a delimited line-item veto- approve some parts of a bill) in 1996; this was overturned in 1998 d) limit authority of federal courts C. Who is right? 1. how well has it worked throughout history? 2. How well has it worked in comparison with the constitutions of other democratic nations? III. the debate on the meaning of federalism A. the supreme court speaks 1. Hamililtonian position espoused by Chief Justice John Marshall 2. McCulloch vs MD 1819 settled 2 questions a) Could Congress charter a natl bank? Yes even tho pwr not directly stated in constitution b/c n and p clause (elastic) b) Could states tax such a federal bank? No bc natl pwrs were supreme and therefore immune to state challenge B. Nullification: states had the right to declare unconstl, null, and void a federal law that they believed violated Const 1. Authors of VA and KY Resolutions, JM and TJ ; John Calhountariff/slavery 2. Question settled by Civil War: the fedl law; position was later confirmed by the Supreme Court C. Dual Federalism: both natl and state govt are suprememe in their own spheres, which should be kept separate 1. Ex. Interstate vs intrastate commerce 2. doctrine of dual federalism still is argued, howeverand sometimes successfully D. State sovereignty 1. Supremem Court- strengthened states rights a) Us vs Lopez 1995 guns in schools commerce clause

b) US vs Morrison 2000 over turned Violence Against women Act of 1994 stating that attacks against women do not substantially affect interstate commerce c) Prints vs US (1997) IV. Federal-state relations A. Grants-in-aid 1. Began before Constitution with land and cash grants to states 2. Dramatically increased in scope in 2oth century 3. Prevailing constitutional interpretation until late 1930s was that the fed govt could not spend money for purposes not authorized by the Constitutiongrants were a way around this 4. Grants were attractive to state officials for various reasons a) Federal budget surpluses (19th and early 20th centuries) b) Federal income tax increased revenues c) Federal control of money supply d) PoliticsAppeared as free money for state officials 5. Every state had an incentive to seek grant money (ex: post 9/11 fair share security funding formulas B. Meeting natl needs 1. 1960s shift in grants-in-aid a) From what states demanded b) To what federal officials considered important as natl needs; states become dependent c) Grants to state and local govts have reached new highs since 2000 C. The intergovtl lobby 1. Hundreds of state and local officials lobby in WA; Big 7 2. purpose: to get more federal money with fewer strings

3. Since 1980, success varied (Reagan policies) D. Catagorical grants vs revenue spending 1. Catagorical grants- for specific purpose defined by fedl law; often require local matching funds (Airport/Hwy/School)local officials dont like the strings 2. Block grants (special revenue sharing or broad based aid)general puposes with few restrictionspreferred to categorical 3. Revenuve sharing (general rev sharing)- requires no matching funds and could be spent on almost any govtl purpose a) distributed by statistical formula b) ended in 986 after 14 yrs VI. A devolution revolution?104th Congress (1995-6) A. Devolution initiatives returned program management to the states, with some federal guidelines, but no guarantee of federal support B. Block grants for entitlements 1. AFDC and Medicaid. operated as entitlementsfederal funds a fixed proportion of state spending on these programs 2. Republicans in 104th Congress proposed making these and other programs block grantsbroad guidelines 3. AFDC did actually become a block grant; Devolution became part of the natl political agenda 4. Some evidence that dev in welfare programs continued from states to localities to non-profit and private orgs C. Whats driving devolution? 1. Mistrust of fed govt and belief that state govts were more responsive to the ppl 2. Deficit politics encouraged devolution a) Major cuts sought in entitlement spending b) In return, governors were given more pwr and flexibility to implement program 3. Devolution supported by public opinionthough strength of support uncertain VII. Congress and Federalismpolitics remain local (state and county) A. Congress members represent conflicting constituencieswont always agree w/ governors and mayors B. parties once linked legislature to local groupstheir erosion increases political competition

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explain the system of checks and balances four examples of this system and list which branch is checking the other.

The system keeps one branch from becoming more powerful than the others by regulating the actions of the counterparts. An executive check is a presidential veto of a law or bill passed by congress. A judicial check is when the court rules a law is unconstitutional. A legislative check is when congress overrides a presidential veto with a 2/3 vote. The president nominates judges in supreme court but the senate approves it, checking the executive branch. The system of c an b keeps the branches from becoming more powerful than the others. Ex-veto leg- override/confirm judges. Judlaw unconst explain federalism and powers within it there are two types of government: national and state. Reserved powers are held by the states which include things issuing licenses and regulating commerce wholly within the state. Enumerated powers are held by only the national government which include printing money, declaring war, making treaties and conducting foreign affairs. Concurrent powers are held by both institutions which include making laws, levying taxes, borrowing money, having courts, and building roads. Natl and state. Enum- natl- print $, war, treaties, foreign. Res- state: licenses, commerce. Concu- both- roads, taxes, laws, borrowing $ courts. what did brutus argue in the anti-fed papers He argued that the legislative branch would become too powerful with checks and balances because the 3 branches would get competitive and since the legislature already has the most power, it would end up taking over because of the necessary and proper clause-make any, supremacy cl.cost s supreme law above states. States must conform. The text leaves open the question of whether the U.S. Constitution created a democratic system of government that truly respects liberty. What evidence exists that the U.S. Constitution cut back on democracy and curtailed the power of the people to influence decisions? So,argue that the U.S. Constitution was designed to limit democracy and individual liberty. I. Judicial review minimizes the majority opinion of the people. II. The president and senators are not elected by the people directly

III. There was no bill of rights originally so some freedoms and rights were unclear and could be decided upon unfairly by the government IV. The strong central government took some power away from the state governments.

Montesquie sep pwrs. Need it to

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http://apgovt.wikispaces.com/Ch.+2+The+Constitution++Study+Questions+%28with+Answers%29 explain madisons interpretation of the separation of powers as he explained them in the fed papers

the three branches have unequal amount of powers and since they check each other, they are not completely separate. He was scared to lose liberty because one branch could get too powerful and tyrannical. Each branch should not have a significant amount of control over another.
http://www.gradesaver.com/the-federalist-papers/studyguide/section14/ I. The text leaves open the question of whether the U.S. Constitution created a democratic system of government that truly respects liberty. What evidence exists that the U.S. Constitution cut back on democracy and curtailed the power of the people to influence decisions? In other words, argue that the U.S. Constitution was designed to limit democracy and individual liberty. Answer a0. People could not vote directly for the president or for senators. b0. Judicial review limits popular majorities. c0. A strong central government was created that stripped state governments of some power. d0. The U.S. Constitution had no bill of rights.