Good Morning 9/16/14

Please take a handout, grab your notebook

and a textbook and have a seat.

Prepare to take notes on the Constitution

We will complete the handout after taking
notes

Anyone who wishes to retake the test (if you
have your study guide initialed) can do so at
any time
THE CONSTITUTION
ARTICLES OF THE
CONSTITUTION
Article Subject
Preamb
le
Article I
Article II
Article
III
Article
IV
Article
V
Article
VI
Article
VII
states the purpose of the Constitution
Legislative Branch
Executive Branch
Judicial Branch
Relations among the states
Amending the Constitution
National debts, supremacy of national law,
and oaths of office
Ratifying the constitution
SIX BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE
CONSTITUTION
1. Popular Sovereignty: political power belongs to the
people
We the People
National government is given power from the people via
the Constitution
State governments are given power from the people via
state constitutions
National Law supersedes state law in most cases
SIX BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE
CONSTITUTION
2. Limited Government
No government should be all-powerful.
The other side of popular sovereignty
People give the power to govern and the
government cannot do anything other than the things
the people have given them power to do.
Constitutionalism government must be conducted
according to constitutional principles
Rule of Law government and its officers are always
subject to never above the law.
SIX BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE
CONSTITUTION
3. Separation of Powers
Power is distributed to the branches of government.
Each branch has specific power/responsibility
Article I Section 1: All legislative powers herein granted shall be
vested in the Congress of the United States.
Congress has lawmaking power
Article II Section 1: The executive power shall be vested in a
President of the United States of America.
The President has the power to execute, enforce, and administer
the law.
Article III Section 1: The judicial power of the United States will be
vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the
Congress may from time to time ordain and establish
The Supreme Court and the Federal Courts interpret and apply
the law.
SIX BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE
CONSTITUTION
4. Checks & Balances
The branches of government are not entirely separate from
one another.
Each branch is subject to a number of constitutional
restraints by the other branches.
i.e. The Presidents power to veto a bill
See the chart on p.68
SIX BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE
CONSTITUTION
5. Judicial Review
The power of the courts to determine whether what
government does is in accord with what the Constitution
provides.
The power of the court to determine the Constitutionality of
governmental action.
Though the Constitution does not explicitly provide for the
power of judicial review, it is an implied power.
Hamilton wrote in The Federalist No. 78 independent judges are an
essential safeguard against the effects of occasional ill humors in
society.
The Supreme Court established the power of judicial
review in the Madison v. Marbury case.

SIX BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE
CONSTITUTION
6. Federalism
The division of power among a central government and
several regional (state) governments
This concept arose as a solution to the failures of the Articles of
Confederation
Federalism was an alternative to the system of nearly
independent states and a safeguard against a powerful
central government.