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Chapter 4: The Constitution as the Foundation of the Legal Environment

Chapter 4: The Constitution as the Foundation of the Legal Environment. The U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution created the structure of our national government and gave it certain powers. It also placed limitations on those powers.

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Chapter 4: The Constitution as the Foundation of the Legal Environment

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  1. Chapter 4: The Constitution as the Foundation of the Legal Environment

  2. The U.S. Constitution • The U.S. Constitution created the structure of our national government and gave it certain powers. • It also placed limitations on those powers. • It created a federal system with a tripartite (3-part) division of government and a bicameral (2-house) national legislature.

  3. LEGISLATIVE BRANCH Bicameral Congress Senate House of Representatives ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES (Created by the executive or legislative branches to carry out a specific function.) Federal Government JUDICIAL BRANCH Courts EXECUTIVE BRANCH President

  4. Delegation of Powers • Some governmental powers are possessed exclusively by the national government, while other powers are shared by both the states and the federal government. • In areas of conflict federal law is supreme.

  5. We, the People give power to… The states, who ratified the… Federal Government State Government Delegation of Powers U.S. Constitution, which reserves some powers for the States, delegates some powers to the Federal government, and allows some powers to be shared, or exercised by both.

  6. Powers that Affect Business • The powers of the federal government that most affect business are the power to: • regulate commerce • tax • borrow, spend, and coin money • own and operate businesses • Among the limitations on government that are most important to business are the requirements of: • due process • equal protection of the law

  7. Interpreting the Constitution • The U.S. Constitution is not a detailed document. It takes its meaning from the way it is interpreted. • In the bedrock view, the purpose of a constitution is to state certain set principles. • In the living-document view, a constitution states goals and is intended to change with time. • In recent years the use of the living-document interpretation has expanded the powers of the federal government.

  8. Amending the U.S. Constitution The Constitution has been amended, or changed in three ways: *Formal Amendment - Only 27 formal amendments to the Constitution have been completed, though thousands have been proposed. Judicial Interpretation– The U.S. Supreme Court has been called upon to apply the Constitution to many new situations, unforeseen to the document’s original writers. Practice – In a few cases, the actions of government have established accepted practices which depart from the requirements of the Constitution. *Article V of the U.S. Constitution specifies the procedure for adopting amendments.

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