1. Unit 6: The Constitution
Lesson 6: The Constitution in Use

2. One of the Constitution’s best features is its flexibility (ability to be changed)
The U.S. & its 320 million people are in a very different place than they were in the late 1700s (when there were only 4 million people here)

3. Just as society has changed through the last couple centuries,
we’ve had to change the Constitution along with it

4. A Living Document
The Constitution has been called a “living document” because of its flexibility and
the way we’ve been able to adapt it to changes in society
Cell phone now…
-Cell phone then…
(brace yourself)

5. How has the Constitution changed/how can it be changed?
1 way: Amendments
Another way: The Elastic Clause

6. -The Framers of the Constitution gave Congress the power to make “all laws which shall be necessary & proper” for carrying out the tasks of gov’t (This is the Elastic Clause)
-The Framers purposely used vague words like necessary and proper because they knew that they couldn’t…
plan for every issue that could possibly come up.

7. Thanks to the Elastic Clause, if future generations of gov’t felt the need to make a change, and they could justify that that change was necessary and proper,
they could do it.

8. The Elastic Clause
As a result, through the passage of new laws, the federal gov’t has
greatly expanded its power since 1787

9. How else has the Constitution changed?
With the addition of judicial review:
The Supreme Court’s power to review gov’t acts & possibly declare them unconstitutional
The Constitution never directly gave the courts this power

10. Then where did judicial review come from?
In 1803, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall, said that a certain act of Congress was unconstitutional
By doing this, he set a precedent, or an example for future courts to follow

11. Since a Constitution explains how a gov’t works,
our Constitution has to explain how our 3 branches of gov’t work (the roles of each branch)
First we’ll look at the Executive Branch

12. As we know, the Executive Branch includes:
1. _______________
2. _______________
3. _______________
The building usually associated with the Executive Branch is the…
White House.
The President
The Vice President
The Cabinet

13. This is where the President lives, and where his office is.
His office is called The Oval Office
The White House

14. The Role of the President
He has 4 main duties: he is the
Chief Legislator
Chief of State
Commander in Chief
Chief Executive
What does he have to do in each of these positions?

15. Chief Legislator
The President doesn’t have lawmaking powers, but he influences the passage of laws in 2 ways:
1. he suggests laws to Congress & tries to get them passed
2. he can veto bills that Congress brings to him
Veto: to formally reject a bill by refusing to sign into law

16. Chief of State In this role, the President directs national diplomacy:
the management of relationships between nations without violence

17. He directs national diplomacy by:
appointing ambassadors who represent the U.S. in other countries,
making treaties with foreign countries,
and issuing executive agreements (agreements the President makes directly with
the head of state from another country)

18. The UN’s main purposes To keep peace throughout the world;
To develop friendly relations among nations;
To help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms

19. Commander in Chief
The President is the highest ranking officer in the armed services
Although only Congress can declare war, the President can commit troops to serious situations at home or abroad
without Congress’ approval

20. Chief Executive An executive is a manager
The President’s job as Chief Executive is to manage the gov’t by deciding how its laws will be enforced

21. The President needs help managing the country because…
So he relies on a huge Federal Bureaucracy,
(an organization of gov’t workers)
to give him advice,
attend meetings for him,
and help him enforce laws
There are so many laws,
he can’t be everywhere at once,
and he can’t be an expert on everything

22. The Federal Bureaucracy includes:
Not this kind of cabinet
1. the President’s Cabinet:
the President’s group of advisers, made up of the heads of 15 executive departments

23. Except for the Department of Justice, where the department head is called the “Attorney General”, the head of each department is called
“the Secretary of Agriculture/Defense/Education/Labor, etc.”

24. In addition to the Cabinet, the Federal Bureaucracy also includes:
2. the members of hundreds of executive agencies

25. Each Cabinet department and executive agency specializes in/is in charge of
a specific subject or program

27. Where did the idea of The Cabinet come from?
President George Washington started the practice of having this panel of advisers by relying on a group of trusted assistants

28. The Cabinet is also important in the presidential line of succession
The what?
The ranking order of our leaders if something happens to the President

29. The Presidential Line of Succession
If the President dies, the VP becomes President
Next in line is the Speaker of the House of Representatives
(Paul Ryan)
Then the President pro tempore of the Senate
(Orrin Hatch)

30. After him come the Cabinet members, in this order:

31. Kind of Interesting: Ever hear of the “designated survivor”?
It is common practice not to have the entire Cabinet in one location when the “Top 4” guys are there as well

32. They choose 1 Cabinet member to go to a secure, undisclosed location
This way, if something happens in the place where all the other leaders are & everyone is killed, you have this one high-ranking official ready to take over the gov’t

33. The Roles of Congress
Congress meets, and our senators’ and representatives’ offices are in, the
 Capitol Building

34. The Role of Congress 100 senators, 2 from each state
Congress, as we know has 2 houses: the Senate & the House of Representatives
The Senate has
100 senators, 2 from each state
Senators serve
6-year terms, but their terms are staggered
About 1/3 of them come up for reelection every 2 years

35. The House of Representatives has
435 voting members & 5 nonvoting delegates from territories
The number of representatives from each state depends on
population

36. All representatives in the House serve 2-year terms which begin & end at the same time
This means that every 2 years the whole House comes up for reelection
Elections usually occur on even-numbered years

37. How does Congress function?
Thousands of bills (proposed laws) come before Congress each year, & each must go through several steps to become a law
To examine these thousands of bills, Congress has
committees in each house specializing in things like agriculture, trade, energy, etc.

38. Both houses must vote for the bill, then the President must sign it into a law
Name the president (on the right) 

39. What else can Congress do?
One of Congress’ many other roles is to investigate wrongdoing
The House of Representatives has the power to impeach (formally charge with a crime against the country) members of the other 2 branches of gov’t
Officials found guilty might be removed from office

40. There are 2 things wrong with that thought:
When people hear “impeachment”, they often think only of removing the President from office
There are 2 things wrong with that thought:
Impeachment can apply to any high gov’t official, not just the President
Impeachment does not mean removal from office
It can lead to removal from office, but it doesn’t have to

41. Impeachment of the President (since that’s what people have always been more interested in)
If the President abuses his power, or fails to uphold his responsibilities to the country,
the House of Representatives can bring formal charges against the President if the majority of them want to

42. The issue then goes to the Senate, which acts like a court.
If 2/3 of the senators vote to convict the President, he can be
removed from office and never allowed to hold a gov’t position again.

43. Who has been impeached? Or come close to it?
No U.S. president has ever made it through both steps (being impeached and removed from office)
The only 2 presidents who have been impeached are
Andrew Johnson in 1868
and Bill Clinton in 1997.

44. Richard Nixon most likely would have been impeached in 1974, but he resigned from office (the only president to ever do so) before impeachment proceedings could begin.

45. We’ve talked about the roles of the executive & legislative branches…
What about the judicial branch? (the courts)
The Supreme Court is the highest federal court of the U.S.

46. The U.S. federal court system’s job is to interpret laws & to
preserve & protect the rights the Constitution guarantees

47. The federal courts consider only cases involving national laws
The judicial branch is made up of the Supreme Court & a system of lower courts
The federal courts consider only cases involving national laws
Each state has its own separate court system for cases related to state & local laws

48. What if someone isn’t satisfied with the decision of a local-court judge or jury?
He can appeal the decision
Appeal: a request made to a higher court to review a case

49. The court of last appeal is the Supreme Court
It has 9 justices (judges)
Decisions are made by a simple majority vote among the justices
Once a Supreme Court decision is made, it cannot be appealed again