Government Unit 1 : Review

1. Government Unit 1 : Review

2. Government Warm-up Recall and list some of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. Pg 49-50

3. Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation • Weak national government • Congress had no power to levy tax • Could only raise money by borrowing or requesting it from the states • Congress had no power to regulate trade • Disputes between states resulted • Congress could not force anyone to obey the laws or abide by the Articles • Laws needed the approval of 9/13 states • Each state had one vote • Amending the Articles required the consent of all states • No executive branch • No national court system

4. Achievements of the Articles • Pg. 50 • Creation of land ordiinances • Peace treaty with GB • Dept. of foreign affairs , war, marine, and treasury • State recognition of other state laws and equal treatment of each other

5. Six Basic Principles

6. The Constitution did not give the American people many details about their government. Instead, the Framers wrote it around six broad ideas, or principles.

7. Popular Sovereignty • Popular sovereignty means that all government power belongs to the people. The people give the government the power it holds. Through the Constitution, the American people set up their government and told it what it could do.

8. Limited Government • Limited government means that the government has only the powers that the people give it. The government must obey the Constitution. And the people who work in government, its officials, must always obey the law.

9. Separation of Powers • Separation of powers means that three separate parts, or branches, share the government's power. These branches are the executive (president), the legislative (congress), and the judicial (courts). Each branch has specific jobs.

10. Checks And Balances • The Constitution made sure none of the branches could become too powerful. Each branch has ways to limit the power of the other two. This principle is called checks and balances. The president can say no, or veto, one of the congress's laws. Or Congress can refuse to approve an official the president wants to appoint, such as a justice of the Supreme Court. Or the court can strike down an action of the executive branch. At times, the branches have disagreed. Because of our democratic system and its checks and balances, the branches try to compromise.

11. Judicial Review • Judicial review is a part of the checks-and -balances system. This power lets courts decide what the words in the Constitution mean. The courts can also say if something the government does is unconstitutional, or against the Constitution.

12. Marbury vs. Madison • 1803 Court case that set a precedent of Judicial Review. • Courts could interpret law. • Courts could declare a law unconstitutional.

13. The Federalist Papers • 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton (wrote over 60 % of essays), James Madison (wrote about a third), and John Jay composing the rest. • The Federalist had two purposes: • succeeded by helping to persuade doubtful New Yorkers and others to ratify the Constitution • Today, The Federalist helps us to more clearly understand what the writers of the Constitution had in mind when they drafted that amazing document over 200 years ago.

14. Anti Federalist • Gave too much power to the national Government • There was no Bill of Rights • The National Government could maintain an army during peacetime • The Executive Branch held too much power

15. The Federalist # 23Alexander Hamilton • The principle purposes to be answered by Union are these -- The common defense of the members -- the preservation of the public peace as well against internal convulsions as external attacks -- the regulation of commerce with other nations and between the States -- The superintendence of our intercourse, political and commercial, with foreign countries. • For Discussion: • 1. According to Hamilton, what are the main purposes of forming a Union under the Constitution? Make a list in your own words. • 2. Do the majority of Hamilton’s purposes relate to domestic or to foreign affairs?

16. Federalism • The Framers used the principle of federalism to divide the government's power between a central government and smaller regional governments. In the United States, this division is between the national government in Washington, D.C., and the 50 States.

17. Federalism Part II

18. Who should control public policy? • How could Congress and the President pass the “No Child Left Behind” legislation when it sets new federal guidelines for teacher and school accountability and low-performing schools (what about the 10th Amendment-states control education) • Should the federal government have been allowed to withhold federal highway funds (money) to states that did not move their drinking age to 21? • Who should make laws regarding the legalization of marijuana? • What about marijuana for medicinal use? • Should South Carolina be allowed to fly the Confederate flag over their statehouse? • Should states play a greater role in deciding who receives donor organs • Should the federal government give incentives (federal highway funds) to states who lower their blood alcohol levels defining drunk driving • Should states be pressed to recognize Vermont civil unions (for gays) under the full faith and credit clause of the U.S. Constitution

20. Article VI Supremacy Clause • Clause 2- This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof, all all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the land; and the Judges in every States shall be bound thereby, any Things in the Constitution or Laws of any States to the Contrary notwithstanding. • This is typically called the “supremacy clause,” it declares that federal law takes precedence over all forms of state law. No government at the local or state level, may make or enforce any law that conflicts with any provision of the Constitution, acts of Congress, treaties, or other rules and regulations issued by the president and his or her subordinates in the executive branch of the government

21. 0 McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819 • First major S.C. case of Marshall Court to define relationship between state and national governments • Court answered two important questions-

22. Did Congress have the authority to charter a bank or other kind of corporation since the Constitution does not give specifically give them that job? (it is not on the list of enumerated powers) Yes, even though the word “bank” can not be found in the Constitution, the Constitution DOES enumerate powers that give Congress the authority to levy and collect taxes, issue a currency and borrow funds-Marshall said it was reasonable to imply that Congress had the power to charter a bank, which could be considered “necessary and proper” to the exercise of its enumerated powers

23. If the Congress did have the authority to charter a bank, could the state tax it? To Marshall, this was a no-brainer…no, of course not. National Government was dependent on the people, not the states for its powers. The Constitution specifically calls for the national law to be supreme (Supremacy Clause in Article VI of U.S. Constitution). The power to tax involves the power to destroy. Thus, the state tax violated the supremacy clause, because individual states cannot interfere with the operas of the national government, whose laws are supreme

24. Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824 • Shortly after McCulloch, Marshall Court had another opportunity to rule in favor of a broad interpretation of the scope of national power

25. This case involved a dispute that arose after the N.Y. State Legislature granted to Robert Fulton the exclusive right to operate steamboats on the Hudson River • Simultaneously, Congress licensed a ship to sail on the same waters • Although by the time this case reached the S.C., it was complicated, suffice it to say that both NY and NJ wanted to control shipping on the lower Hudson River

26. (1) What was the scope of Congress’s authority under the commerce clause? The states argued that “commerce” as mentioned in Article I, should be interpreted narrowly to include only direct dealings in products. Marshall defined commerce as including all business dealing, including steamboat travel…Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce included the power to regulate commercial activity as well, and that the commerce power had no limits except those superficially found in the Constitution…

27. Federalism Offers Advantages

28. Federalism checks the growth of tyranny (cruel and unjust use of power) How? As James Madison wrote in Federalist 10…If “factious leaders…kindle a flame within their particular states,” national leaders can check the spread of the “conflagration” (a big destructive fire), through the other states

29. What does this mean? • If one political party loses control of the national government, it is still likely to hold office in a number of states. It can then regroup, develop new policies and new leaders, and continue to challenger the party in power at the national level

30. Federalists feared that a single interest group might capture the national government and attempt to suppress the interests of others • If such a majority were to occur, having to work thru a federal system (through many levels of government) would check its power

31. (2) Federalism allows unity without conformity • Allows states to make decisions that are “best” for their own citizens • national parties do not have to iron out every difference on every issue that divides us whether it be abortion, same-sex marriage, gun control, capital punishment, welfare financing, etc. • Instead, State Legislatures like the Maryland General Assembly do this instead

32. Big countries such as the U.S., Canada and India, federalism allows many functions to be “farmed out” by the central government to the states or provinces • Lower levels of government accepting these responsibilities, thereby can become the focus of political dissatisfaction rather than the national authorities

33. (3) Allows the states to act as “laboratories for public policy experimentation • When a state adopts a program that fails, any negative effects are relatively limited • A program that succeeds can be copied by other states • For example, California was a pioneer in air-pollution programs which were later adopted by the federal government

34. (4) Allows more people to participate in government • Federalism brings people closer to government • It allows more direct access to and influence on representatives and on government agencies • More governments mean more places for people to have an influence (at the federal, state and local levels)

35. But federalism can create problems • It makes it difficult for a national majority to carry out a program of action and it permits those who control state governments to frustrate the policies enacted by Congress and administered by the Federal Government. • But to the Framers, this was actually an advantage

36. Drawbacks to Federalism • Not everyone thinks that federalism is a good idea • President Ronald Reagan said “The Founding Fathers saw the federalist system as constructed something like a masonry wall. The States are the bricks, the national government is the mortar…Unfortunately, over the year, many people have increasingly come to believe that Washington is the whole wall.”

37. Drawbacks of Federalism (1) Incredibly expensive

38. (2) Duplicates services (states and federal government provide) (3) Unfair (some states receive more than others) (4) Allows lobbyists, as well as citizens, multiple access points and influence in the policymaking system

39. Relations Among States

40. 0 Article IV Relations Among the States

41. 0 • Constitution was designed to make America more UNITED and to improve relations among the states & encourage unity • Framers wanted a single country, not 13 squabbling semi-countries

42. 0 Section 1 of Article IV “Full faith and credit shall be given to each State to the public acts, Records and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.”

43. 0 • In other words, each state must recognize the laws and legal proceedings of other states • Without this law, each state could treat all other states like foreign countries • Coverage of “full faith and credit” is quite broad • Public acts refer to civil laws passed by state legislatures

44. 0 • Examples: mortgages, deeds, leases, car registration, wills, marriage licenses, birth certificates • And judicial proceedings refer to various court actions such as judgments to pay a debt

45. Examples of what is considered under “full faith and credit”

46. 0 Gay Marriage • For the most part, the full faith and credit provision in the Constitution has posed very little controversy • An exception occurred when in 1996 Hawaii recognized same-gender marriages • What would happen in the other states that did not recognize Hawaiian marriages between same-gender partners? • Congress answered with the “Defense of Marriage Act” which permits states to disregard gay marriages, even if they are legal in another state

47. In 1996, Congress adopted the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Pub. L. 104-199, 100 Stat. 2419 (Sept. 21, 1996). Congress passed DOMA because of a decades-long assault on marriage, and particularly in response to a Hawaii court decision that suggested there is a right to same-sex “marriage” in the Hawaii Constitution. The legislative history reflects a congressional concern about the effect that legalizing same-sex “marriage” in Hawaii would have on other states, federal laws, the institution of marriage, traditional notions of morality, and state sovereignty. H.R. Rep. No. 104-664 at 1-18 (1996), reprinted in 1996 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2905-23.

48. 0 • Hawaii has since overturned recognition of gay marriages but in 2000, Vermont accorded legal status to gay civil unions • Supreme Court has yet to rule on this issue

49. 0 And there have been problems with divorce… • Rhode Island has a one year residency requirement for a couple trying to get a divorce; Nevada has a 6 week requirement • Over the years, states like NC, MA and NY have challenged these “quickie” divorces

50. 0 Article IV; Section 2; Clause 1 Privileges and Immunities • Founders knew that citizens traveling from state to state might be discriminated against • A citizen of Delaware might be treated as an alien in Maryland or Virginia • Therefore, the Constitution provides that states may not discriminate unreasonably against citizens of another state