United States Constitution History 8

Organization *Preamble (Intro) Sets out goals of our nation: “We the people”, “establish justice”, “provide for the common defense” *Articles (like chapters) Outlines our gov’t structure and its function *Amendments (“p.s.”) add changes. A living & flexible document!

Basic Principle *”Separation Of Powers” = “Checks and Balances” (Check = Stop) (Balance = Result)

Three Branches of Gov’t Legislative: Makes Laws *Congress Executive: Carries Out Laws *President Judicial: Interprets The Laws *Supreme Court

Legislative Branch (the Senate and the House of Representatives) *Divided into two houses (the Senate and the House of Representatives) *Called “Bicameral” Legislature *Can also raise army/navy, declare war, handles tax money, grants citizenship, & can impeach the president (w/ a vote in the House & a trial in the Senate)

The House of Representatives *”Lower House” *Based on population *Larger states get a proportionally larger amount of seats (1 seat = 1 vote). *CA has 53 Representatives *Wyoming has 1

The Senate *“Upper House” *Each state gets two votes *Not democratic at all!

Requirements House: *Must be 25+ yrs old to run *2 yr term (always thinking about re-election, so close to the people!) *No term limits *A citizen for 7 yrs Senate: *Must be 30+ yrs old to run (represents the aristocrats, old=wise) *6 yr term (removed from people) *No term limits *A citizen for 9 yrs

Executive Branch Presidential Roles: *Chief Executive *Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces *Can make treaties, etc with other nations *Nominates/appoints ambassadors & Supreme Court justices (judges) *Can grant pardons

Bureaucracy *Laws are carried out through departments: State Dpt, Dpt of Agriculture, Dpt of Education, Dpt of Energy, etc. *The heads of these are called the President’s Cabinet. *They act as advisors. *The Vice President is also included.

Presidency Requirements *Must be 35+ yrs to run (youngest so far is JFK at the age of 43) *4 yr term *2 term limit (official after WWII) *A citizen born here (“natural born”)

The Judicial Branch *9 Supreme Court justices (judges) *Not elected- appointed by the President & approved by Congress. *No need for age limit as based on the merit of the individual *Term for life/ “good behavior”

Checks & Balances Legislative ~Can override President’s veto (Veto = “I forbid”) ~Approves appointments of Supreme Court justices Executive ~Can veto bills ~Nominates justices Judicial ~Can declare laws/treaties unconstitutional

Checks & Balances In Action Example: 1. Congress passes a law (over 50% majority) 2. President vetos it 3. But, both the House and the Senate vote again. A 2/3 vote in both houses overrides the veto. 4. A law! (Unless the Supreme Court declares it unconstitutional)

Amendments *Framers left this document flexible enough to be adapted/updated (“living document”) *27 so far! *The 1st 10 are the Bill of Rights *Path of an Amendment (about 5 yrs): ~2/3 approval in each house to propose a new amendment ~¾ of all state legislatures must ratify (approve) it =38/50 states.

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