The Constitution

Basic Facts Declaration of Independence 1776

Declared independence from Britain—not legally binding today

Constitution 1787 Blueprint for the government How the government works What the government can and can’t do Contract between people and the government

Bill of Rights 1791 List of rights, that individuals have that the

GOVERNMENT can’t infringe upon

Structure of the Government Federal Structure

Power split among several levels Local (city)StateNational (federal)

Constitution makes the federal government supreme

Powers of each government Enumerated Powers—things only the federal govt can

do Reserved Powers—things only the state govts can do Concurrent Powers—things both the state and federal

govt can do What if there is a conflict?

Structure of Government: The three branches

Legislative—Congress House of Rep Senate

Executive—President President, all his/her staff, his/her advisors, the cabinet Most people who work for the federal govt: military, FBI,

ATF, DEA, etc

Judicial—Supreme Court Supreme Court Justices Also lower federal court judges

Checks and Balances

Legislative Branch What does it do? Makes the Laws

Passes federal laws Approves taxes Approves the spending of tax money (appropriation)

Other things Congress does Senate approves Presidential appointments (courts, cabinet

positions, etc.) Senate has to approve all treaties by a 2/3rds vote Can impeach and remove the President and other federal

officials

Who is in it? House of Representatives: need to be at least 25 years old, 2

year term in office, elected by the people Senate: need to be at least 30 years old, 6 year term in

office, elected by the people

Executive Branch What does it do? Enforces the Laws

Enforces federal laws passed by Congress Spends money approved (appropriated) by Congress

Other Jobs of the President Represents the US to foreign countries Manages the US military (Commander in Chief) Negotiates treaties with foreign countries Appoints judges and other officials in the federal govt.

Who is in it? President: need to be at least 35, natural born citizen, 4 year

term in office, elected by electoral college Vice President: Same as President Most federal govt. employees (hired or appointed by the

President not elected)

Judicial Branch What does it do? Interprets the Laws

Puts people on trial who have been accused of breaking federal laws

Serves as the final interpreter of the Federal and State Constitutions, federal laws, and treaties

Resolves conflicts between the states Resolves conflicts between state laws and federal laws,

or between state and federal laws and the Constitution

Who is in it? Supreme Court: 8 Justices + 1 Chief Justice, all

appointed by the President, approved by the Senate, serve for life

Lower Court Judges: Appointed by the President approved by the Senate, serve for life

Checks and Balances Problem: When the framers created the new Constitution

they took a lot of power away from the people and the states and gave it to the federal government. Besides having elections, how do you make sure the federal government doesn’t abuse its power?

Solution: Checks and Balances All people are power hungry and ambitious Federal government is designed so that the three branches of

government will always be fighting with one another In order to gain power for itself one branch needs to take it

from another No one branch of the federal government will be able to get

too powerful, the other two will check (limit) its power and balance it out

Pros and Cons?

Checks and Balances

Making Laws Simple Version

CongressPresidentLaw

More Complicated Version Idea(House or Senate) CommitteeHouse or Senate

(House or Senate) Committee (in the opposite house)House or SenateConference committeeHouse and SenatePresidentLaw OR

If President vetoes the bill it goes back to Congress and must pass both houses by a 2/3 supermajority

If President refuses to sign the bill it becomes a law after 10 days

Sidenote Pocket veto—president refuses to sign the bill but

Congress goes away on vacation before 10 days is up

Making Amendments Congress 2/3 super-majority

OR

State Constitutional Conventions 2/3 must approve

THEN

¾ of the State Legislatures

OR

¾ of the State Constitutional Conventions (voters)

Impeachment and Removal

If a federal official (President, VP, Judge) breaks the law (high crime or a misdemeanor) that official can be removed from office, a two step process

Step 1: Impeachment—House of Representatives majority vote—accused of wrongdoing

Step 2: Removal—Senate 2/3 supermajority—the Senate conducts the trial and determines whether that person is guilty or not, if guilty they are removed from office

Electing the President: The Electoral College

In order to be elected President a candidate needs a majority of the electoral votes—not the popular vote

Electoral votes Every state gets a certain number of electoral votes # of Senators (2)+# of Representatives (1 to 53)=electoral votes

Electors are party officials, workers, etc—very hardcore members of the Democratic or Republican party who “promise” to vote for a Democratic or Republican candidate if they are elected

So, when you vote for President technically you are voting for an elector who has “promised” to vote for a certain presidential candidate

In some states the law requires the electors to vote according to the popular vote results for that state, but some states don’t require that—an elector in those states could vote for anybody, although that is extremely unlikely

Electoral Votes 2012

Problems with the Electoral College

The electoral college gives more voting power per person to people in smaller states than to people in bigger states Example: California 37.5 million people 55 electoral votes=1.46

electoral votes per million people Rhode Island 1 million people 4 electoral votes=4 electoral votes

per million people Wyoming 500,000 people 3 electoral votes=6 electoral votes per

million people

A person can win the electoral vote while still losing the popular vote Wins a few big states by a large margin, but loses every other

state by a narrow margin

A person can get 49% of the vote in a state and lose the election in that state 51% to 49% and yet the winner gets 100% of the electoral votes (winner take all system) not 51% of the votes

If a candidate doesn’t feel like he or she has a chance of winning an election they will avoid that state—why waste your time??

Other Interesting Foibles Electoral College: you need a majority of the

electoral votes to be president

Majority = what percentage

If there are two candidates this usually isn’t a problem

What if there’s a tie or no one has a majority?

House of Representatives votes in the event of a tie

1800—a tie for President

1824—no one had a majority

Electing the President: The Primary System

Before the general election for president in November each party needs to determine who its 1 candidate for president will be What if each party had more than one candidate, why would that be

bad?

In the old days party insiders would just choose the candidate—not very democratic

Beginning in the early 1900s parties began to have votes in each state to decide who the candidate would be—primary elections or primaries Caucuses=similar to primaries but small meetings where people

vote afterward instead of just voting right away

Primaries happen at different times in different states, the ones at the beginning are very important—Iowa Caucuses, New Hampshire Primary

General Election is different than the Primary Election

Bill of Rights The original Constitution did not contain a Bill of Rights

What is a bill of rights? List of freedoms that individuals have that the

government cannot violate

Why no bill of rights in the original Constitution? States had their own bills of rights A lot of rights were already protected in the Constitution

Habeas Corpus, no ex post facto laws, freedom of speech for members of Congress, no religious tests, trial by jury

In the British governmental tradition (including the US) many rights were protected by tradition—bill of rights seemed unnecessary

Bill of Rights could be dangerous—how? Saying that the government can’t do something limits

whom?

Bill of Rights (Cont.) 1st ten amendments to the Constitution

1-speech, press, religion, assembly, petition 2-right to bear arms 3-no quartering of troops 4-no search or seizures without a search warrant 5-right to life liberty and property, no double jeopardy 6-speedy trial, trial by jury, trial in the place where the

crime occurred 7-trial by jury for common law offenses 8-no cruel or unusual punishment 9-there are more rights that people have than the ones

listed in the Bill of Rights 10-powers not given to the federal govt, and not prohibited

by the Const to the states are reserved by the states, or the people

Bill of Rights (Cont.) Who does the Bill of Rights apply to/limit?

“Congress shall make no law concerning the establishment of religion. . . . . “

14th Amendment : “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without the due process of laws. . . “

What happens if someone passes a law which violates the rights contained in the Bill of Rights? Judicial Review Will of the people vs. Rights of the People

Where can you go if someone infringes your rights?

Case Study: Griswold v. Connecticut 1964

Facts of the Case 

Griswold was the Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut. Both she and the Medical Director for the League gave information, instruction, and other medical advice to married couples concerning birth control. Griswold and her colleague were convicted under a Connecticut law which criminalized the provision of counseling, and other medical treatment, to married persons for purposes of preventing conception.

Question 

Does the Constitution protect the right of marital privacy against state restrictions on a couple's ability to be counseled in the use of contraceptives?

Griswold: VerdictConclusion 

Decision: 7 votes for Griswold, 2 vote(s) againstLegal provision: Due Process

Though the Constitution does not explicitly protect a general right to privacy, the various guarantees within the Bill of Rights create penumbras, or zones, that establish a right to privacy. Together, the First, Third, Fourth, and Ninth Amendments, create a new constitutional right, the right to privacy in marital relations. The Connecticut statute conflicts with the exercise of this right and is therefore null and void.

Problems With the Government? Who Do You Call?

Things to ask yourself 1-is my problem caused by the GOVERNMENT or by a private

citizen/privately owned company (Example: towed car) 2-if your problem is with the government, which LEVEL of the

government is your problem with? (Federal, State, Local?)

Things typically controlled by the Federal Government Post Office, Social Security, Food Stamps, Airport Security,

US Military, national parks, federal taxes

Things typically controlled by the State Government State police, highway patrol, state parks, most major

roads/highways, state run colleges/universities, DMV, state taxes

Things typically controlled by the Local Government Town/city police, city parks, city roads, street lights, schools,

garbage pickup, city/local taxes

Who Do You Call? Constituent Services

What is a constituent?

Problem with the federal government Representative Senators President*

Problem with state government State Representative State Senator Governor

Problem with local government City Councilman Mayor

Don’t feel comfortable complaining to the govt.? -- ACLU

Hypothetical Problems There are potholes in the street in front of your house

Nobody plows the snow in front of Lincoln, making it hard for you to get to school in the winter

A state policeman pulled you over on the highway and was really rude to you

The bathrooms at Goddard State Park are falling apart and you want them fixed

The local library doesn’t have very good hours, you want them to stay open later

The DMV takes forever to do anything

You think your federal income taxes are too high

You’re having trouble collecting your social security check

The post office by your house keeps losing your mail