Constitution and Government – Flashcards

rough draft of the Constitution; intentionally created bad because we were hesitant for a central government; under this, there was one state=one vote; laws were to be passed by ⅔ majority; Congress could require tax only request; there was no executive branch; each state was essentially sovereign

population was misrepresented (each state=1 vote); laws had to be passed by ⅔ majority (super majority); there was no executive branch which meant no enforcing of laws; Congress did not have any power (no forcing taxes, only request); no control over trade: they were broke; the states each thought they were in charge of themselves which weakened the argument for having our own country

met in 1787 to draft a new superior Constitution which would touch on all the issues; George Washington was the one who is given credit for bringing the states there; they agreed to many things to create a new Constitution

kept the only documentation of the meeting where they discussed a new Constitution and also was the one who narrowed down the huge list to the 10 individual rights which are the first ten amendments to the Constitution

the agreement which combined elements of the two plans that were being presented when drafting a new constitution; led to the two chamber Congress

it allowed slaves to also be represented in Congress

the three branches of government were given different powers and they had a checks and balances system; each branch has different responsibilities

supported the new constitution; Madison and Hamilton

were not in support of the constitution because they did not like a central government; Jefferson

First Ten Amendments; it was what got the ratification of the people against the constitution because it gave the individual their own rights

individual freedoms, the separation of powers, the division of powers, checks and balances, 3/5 compromise, established executive branch, bicameral legislature

popular sovereignty, separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism

the concept that power to rule is given from the people

each branch can check each other with certain overpowering/overlapping powers; example of this would be the president vetoing a bill and Congress can override this with a 2/3 majority in both chambers; the judicial can declare any law by the legislation or an action by the executive branch to be unconstitutional

two layers of government (state and national)

this branch makes laws and is covered by Article 1 in the Constitution

this branch enforces laws and is covered by Article 2 in the Constitution;

this branch interprets laws and is covered by Article 3 in the Constitution

examples of this would be national tax, printing money, war decisions, immigration; also thought of as “delegated powers”

examples of this would be establishing schools, forming the local governments, elections and marriage laws; also though of as “reserved powers”

concurrent powers; tax, establishing law enforcement, borrowing money, health/welfare of people, schools

want government out of social but in some things; believe that change is good; they want rapid change; the left; currently Democrats; the party of the common people;

want government out of business because they want free trade; traditional; want to stay in certain way because it has worked before; the right; currently Republicans; the party of business; want social support in local things

generally believe in lower taxes

generally believe in higher taxes

believe that the death penalty should be kept

believe that the death penalty should be abolished

care much more about the environment

not as much worried about the environment as long as it doesn’t hurt business

want sex ed taught in schools

want social programs protected

don’t believe that social programs are stable at the moment

want business/economy regulations

do not want business/economy regulations

all for the U.S.’s role in the world and especially through the UN

do not want the U.S. in the world’s affairs as much and especially not through the UN

support legal immigration and are generally much more willing to allow freedoms to undocumented citizens too

only support legal immigration and illegal immigration is one of the major problems for the country

the right

the left

this can be done in either of two ways: by a 2/3 majority vote by both the House of Representatives and the Senate OR by the ratification of 3/4 of the states (38)

the reason for this was so that no one part of government would become too strong

a system that involves giving powers to the different the three branches of government and the checks and balances between them

the writers of the constitution thought that this branch should be the most closely linked to the people; it is bicameral with the House of Representatives and the Senate

the limit is 435 reps for the country and this number is divided up between the states of the country; the people in this have a 2 year term and for this reason are held very accountable; Washington State has 10 representatives

the name for the person who is in charge of the House of Representatives; Paul Ryan is the current one

every state gets two representatives in this chamber of congress; they are elected for 6 year terms; they are not so worried about job security or keeping the position because they have 6 year terms in which they can vote in more of a way that they feel like; Washington state’s representatives here are Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray

in reality it is just the vice president of the United States; comes during ties to vote

this person organizes the Senate daily

the bill is introduced in either the house or the senate, it is given a number, the bill gets referred to a committee and put on calendar to discuss/debate, the bill gets voted on by the committee and either dies or passes on to full chamber, bill gets put on calendar for discussion and debate by full chamber, bill gets discussed and debated on by full chamber, either dies or gets passes to other house, Bill gets put on committee, then discussed/debated by other house and passed on to to full chamber, if there are changes the joint committee then it goes back to both houses to be discussed, if it gets passed by both chambers it goes to the president, president can veto, sign or ignore for ten days (which would automatically become a law), in case of veto Congress can override with 2/3 majority rule by both chambers

through the electoral college; each state gets same number of electoral votes as the total number of senators and reps in the house of reps that they have; these electors are supposed to vote for the state and 99.99% of the time vote in the same way that the state as a majority does

electoral process for the president; they are supposed to vote in the same way as the state; same number of electoral votes as the total number of senators and reps in the house of reps that they have

head of the executive branch

bills dealing with _____ have to start in the House of Representatives

these nine people are appointed by the president on lifelong terms as the head of the judicial branch

the case must start at a local level and move up in the courts to reach the ultimate court; the ultimate court only accepts a very limited amount of cases for when they are in session; each side gets four hours but only 30 mins to make case

done by the president but approved by the Senate

first black Supreme Court judge; also was a lawyer who had won 19/22 Supreme Court cases and most amazing lawyers barely get 1 chance at the Supreme Court

first woman Supreme Court judge

known to be the Supreme Court judge swing vote

approve/vetoes bills (power over legislative)

can grant pardons (power over judicial)

appoints judges

can override presidential veto

the part of the Legislative that can refuse to approve/approve Supreme Court nominations (power over executive)

can declare the laws or a president’s actions to be unconstitutional (power over two branches)

the part of the budget that regulates the budget

the part of the Legislative that can refuse presidential nominees

both chambers can impeach the president;

although it makes/passes laws, both chambers must be able to agree on it to do this

the branch of government that is considered the final decider in cases relating to the Constitution

speech, religion, press, assembly, petition

In 1965, students wanted to wear black armbands to school; this was a sign of symbolic speech; the SC ruling was that the freedoms should not be harming the learning environment; this case was called

this freedom in the first amendment can be limited when advocating a government rebellion or libel/slander; for libel (written) and slander (spoken) it needs to be proven to be false and written/spoken with the intent to harm

this freedom in the first amendment has two parts: Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause

part of the first amendment’s freedom of religion; says government cannot establish official religion/church or give preference

part of the first amendment’s freedom of religion; says government cannot intervene with your right to practice your beliefs; but the government can intervene when public health is violated

this freedom in the first amendment came about because the British were formerly not allowing colonists to publish freely what they wanted; the limits to this is it has to be peaceful and cannot cause unreasonable inconvenience to the public

the second amendment; the individual right to have guns must be balanced by the greater social needs of society and citizens’ right to safety; the right of arms plus the right of society to be safe from those arms

Search and Seizure; the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and affects, against unreasonable searches and seizures; but there can be probable cause for a warrant to be issued;

evidence seized in improper search can”t be used to prove guilt

the thing that cops would need for a warrant and is a higher burden of proof

much lower standard of needed proof for a warrant (mostly for schools)

no person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to twice be put in jeopardy of life; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself nor be deprived of life, liberty, property without due process, nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation; no double jeopardy; “plead the fifth”

speedy, public trial; jury of state/district where crime committed; accused must be told of charges against them; right to cross examine a witness; accused must be provided with counsel (Miranda Rights)

excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed nor cruel or unusual punishment; this has brought debate to what is cruel/unusual punishment? death penalty vs life in prison? being charged as a minor vs an adult?

an amendment; just because certain rights are written in Constitution doesn’t mean that those are your only rights’ there are rights beyond the constitution

federal government cannot invent new rights for themselves that were not written in the Constitution; if it isn’t written, it belongs to the states or the people

equal protection clause;no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the U.S.; comes up in civil rights issues and in marriage laws;

the only branch that we truly vote for

this branch we only vote for the president

Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida

this presidential election was one recent example of the presidential candidate with the more individual votes ended up with less electoral votes and therefore lost; it was 271-266 (one elector abstained from voting)

this was a Supreme Course case in which a movie was made about Hillary less than 30 days to the general election and this violated an act passed by the government many years earlier; it went up to the Supreme Court; Obama talked about it in 2010 in his State of the union address

A family didn’t want to keep their kid in school after 14 because of religion; the SC allowed this but said for the parents to continue educating at home at least

Native American tribe needed drug Peyote for religious practice and were fired because of that and not allowed unemployment; SC ruled that you cannot break given laws for religion but Congress passed a law for Native Americans specifically to use certain drugs for their practices

Protesters burned draft cards in protest of not wanting to go to war; SC: this was not freedom of speech or symbolic speech as they had better means to speak up;

cult ritual animal sacrifice; Voodoo religion in Florida was not allowed in the area; SC: the religious group won to freely exercise killing animals for their reasons

Fraser’s speech was inappropriate for school; the school district warned him not to do it; SC: not allowed to speak like that in school sponsored events

Nazis in America wanted to display the symbol in a city of many Jews; Illinois Supreme Court: allowed it; SC: didn’t hear it

Man getting drafted applied to avoid draft but not for religious reasons and sent to jail for not showing up; the man won because his moral convictions were enough for a replacement for religion in this case