Powers of government are separated into three main categories. The legislative branch consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Constitution gives Congress the authority to ratify legislation and declare war. (The Legislative Branch) They are also responsible for making laws. Locke would support these obligations of legislation.
What defines a Constitution? Constitutions should set down rules which provide a legal basis for determining how a Country should be governed. They ought not only to define the Institutions of the State in question but also should place restrictions on them and act as a restraint on Governmental power in order to protect the rights of the State’s citizens. S. E. Finer, V. Bogdanor and B. Rudden describe Constitutions as: ‘codes of norms which aspire to regulate the allocation of powers, functions, and duties among the various agencies and officers of government, and to define the relationship between these and the public.’ The aim of this essay is to understand whether or not the ‘codes of norms’ in the UK make up a clear Constitution. Generally, most countries have a Codified Constitution where the rules of government are written down in one key document, although the extent of how much of the Constitution is actually included in this document varies.
To study how we got our constitution and learn more about the government • identify weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation What was the Articles of Confederation? First constitution of the United States of America and specified how the national government was to operate Why did it fail? The national government had no power And the states could do whatever they wanted B. Students will analyze the United States Constitution in order to determine the basic principles of democracy • analyze the Preamble of the Constitution What is the Preamble? The intro to the constitution Identify the goals listed in the Preamble of the Constitution.
How do you think our rights were protected against tyranny by the Constitution? Tyranny is when one person is given all the power to control a country of a government in a dictator like manner. The Constitution guarded against tyranny in several ways, which were federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, big states vs. small states. The first guard against tyranny was Federalism, a system of government in which power is divided between a federal government and state government. The guard of federalism is shown one way in the Constitution when they set up the compound government to make sure that the federal government doesn’t get too much power.
The constitution guarded against tyranny by providing federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and big states vs. small states. The first guard against tyranny was federalism which means a compound government made up of a central or state government. Powers given to the central government were to regulate trade, conduct foreign relations, provide an army and navy, declare war, print and coin money, set up post offices, and to make
Jefferson and the Jeffersonian Republicans believed that the authority of the federal government was based on a strict constitution. The Federalists believed in the opposite. Federalists believed that the constitution should be interpreted in a loose and broader way. The Federalists were able to make decisions that were not written word for word in the constitution. Jefferson states his disagreements with James Madison when he says, “Our country is too large to have all its affairs directed by a single government.” (Document A).
The major principles of the constitution were the idea of popular sovereignty, representative Government, Limited government, Personal and economic freedom, separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism. Unit 1 ends off into explaining the ideas of Federalism. Federalism is defined a power shared between national, state, and local governments. The unit goes into the specifics on federal division on power, the Enumerated Powers are powers listed specifically in the Constitution that are given to the federal government. And the Implied Powers are national powers not listed in the Constitution but that have expanded over time, also known as the Elastic Clause.
The Supreme Court presides on cases that conflict with the Constitutional laws and with treaties of foreign affairs. The framers of the US Constitution were determined to separate the powers of the federal government into three branches: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. The Supreme Court is in the Judicial Branch of government. Once the Supreme Court renders a decision, all other courts in the country follow the precedent set by that decision (Dautrich and Yalof 277). This precedent is also known as Stare
If our founding fathers intened the Constitution to establish a republic government, why are we so quick to respond that our government is a democracy? Does our misunderdstanding of these two terms make citizens believe that we are entitled, by the supreme law of the land, our Constitution, to make decisions and write legislation ourselves instead of allowing our elected representatives to act on our behalf? Should the Constitution be ammended to allow for a national voting referendum such as many states have adopted? In the paragraphs below I will discuss and define some key points that will give a broader persepective on the benefits and limitations of direct democracy. To start, we must clearly define the difference between a republic and a demcoracy.
A good foundation must be well constructed. It must be adaptable to changes in its environment as well as sturdy enough to withstand forces that try to knock it down. It 1787, the great foundation of our country was built: the Constitution of the United States of America. However, as great as it was, a foundation cannot support itself forever, it is the job of the people using it to keep it standing. To do that, it is the duty of a US citizen to understand not only the goals of the Constitution, but the details within the document that achieve those goals.