Agenda: Tues 9/13 & Wed 9/14 Constitution Outline & Discussion Questions (Assignment #9) Journal Entry #10 Constitution Quiz Review Crash Course: Separation of Powers/Checks and Balances BrainPop Principles of Constitution HW: Unit I Exam Outline

Journal Entry #10 1. Based on this cartoon, identify two problems with the Articles of Confederation. 2.Based on this cartoon, what phrase is used to summarize all the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?

Separation of Powers Crash Course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bf3CwYCxXw BrainPop: https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/ushist ory/usconstitution/

Six Basic Principles Popular Sovereignty Limited Government Separation of Powers Checks and Balances Judicial Review Federalism 4

Popular Sovereignty We the people The people are sovereign The people are the ONLY SOURCE for any and ALL governmental power. In a representative democracy, the people vote to elect leaders to represent their interests. 5

Limited Government The gov’t may do ONLY those things that the people have given it the power to do. AKA Rule of Law- NO ONE (including the President) is above the law AKA Constitutionalism- the government must be conducted according to the Constitutional principles. 6

Separation of Powers The Framers intended to have a stronger national gov’t but also feared one that was too strong. The Constitution distributed the powers of the national gov’t among the Congress (the legislative branch), the President (the executive branch), and the courts (the judicial branch). A system of checks and balances allows each branch to monitor and check the power to prevent the abuse of power. 7

Checks and Balances The 3 Branches are not entirely separated nor completely independent of one another. Each branch is subject to a number of constitutional checks (restraints) by the other branches. 8

Judicial Review One aspect of the checks and balances is the power of judicial review. Judicial review is the power of the courts to determine whether what government does is in accord with what the Constitution provides. It is the power of the court to determine the constitutionality of a governmental action. Determined through the landmark Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison. 10

Federalism Federalism is the division of power among a central government and several regional governments. 11

HW: Begin Unit I Exam Outline

References McClenaghan, W. (2006). Magruder’s American Government. Boston, MA: Prentice Hall. http://www.library.unt.edu/govinfo/law/tutori al/images/ChksBalnces.gif