Chapter 1

The Study of American Democracy

Power• Power is the ability of one person to

get a second person to act in accordance with the first person’s intentions. To get you to do what I want.

Naked Power

• Is authority that we can’t resist. This is power that is wielded by those who we believe have no right to that power.

Authority

• The right to use power. We usually accept decisions made by people who have the authority to use power. (The constitution gives authority)

Legitimacy

• Those who have an actual right to wield the power they are using. Our Constitution gives our government legitimacy to do what they do. If a government exceeds the Constitution then their powers are not legitimate.

Chapter 2

The Constitution

We have had two constitutions

• 1. Articles of Confederation (1781-1787)

• 2. Constitution (1787-present)

Articles of Confederation (1781-1787)

• Why would we make such a weak government?

• What advantages are there in a weak national government?

• What disadvantages are there in a weak national government?

• What weaknesses did the Articles have?

Weaknesses of Articles of Confederation

• No executive branch

• No national court system (Judicial branch)

• Each state had one vote

• No power to tax or raise money

• Couldn’t enforce trade agreements

• Couldn’t regulate trade between the states

• No power to enforce laws or protect the rights of citizens (supremacy) States held most of the power

Problems

What problems arose?• Trade disputes between the states.

• Money problems (Debt)

• Shaye’s Rebellion – January 1787– Former Revolutionary soldiers forcibly

prevented courts in Western Massachusetts from sitting. Mad about taxes and debt

– No military to put down this revolution– A wake up call that something must be

changed.

Constitutional Convention

• May- September of 1787

• 55 delegates

The challenge

• How to devise a government strong enough to preserve order but not so strong that it would threaten liberty.

• What was the major difference between the Virginia plan and the New Jersey Plan?

• What was the “Great Compromise”?

Democracy

• government by the people;

• a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

What is the difference between a direct democracy and a representative

democracy?• Direct Democracy• People vote on all

laws and policy

• Representative Democracy (Republic)

• People choose someone to vote for them on laws and policy

What are the advantages of a republic?

• The government would not be dominated by the temporary passions of the people

• Minority rights would be more secure

• Protection against “tyranny of the majority”

Republic created by the Constitution

• House of Representatives: elected by the people

• Senate: Chosen by the state legislatures (until 1913)

• President: Chosen by the electoral college

The American version of representative democracy is

based on two major principles

1. Federalism

• Power is divided between the national government and the states.

• State legislatures, governors and courts• Criminal laws• Taxes• State constitutions• Voting regulations (some of them)• Education

Enumerated Powers

• Powers given exclusively to the national government

• Print money, declare war, make treaties, regulate commerce BETWEEN the states

Reserved Powers

• Powers given exclusively to the state governments

• Issue licenses (marriage, drivers)

• Regulate commerce wholly within the state.

Concurrent Powers

• Powers shared by the national and state governments

• Criminal laws, tax, build roads, borrow money, court system

2. Separation of Powers

• What is “Separation of powers”?

• How does separation of powers protect the (inalienable) rights of citizens?

• Divided among branches

• Federalism

Checks and Balances

• What are checks and balances?– War powers– Judges

• Why are they important?

• Check out the chart on page 31.

• Federalist

– Supported strong national government

– Hamilton and Madison

– Federalist papers

• Anti-Federalists

– Supported states rights

– Jefferson

– Wanted bill of rights

Why wasn’t there a Bill of Rights?

• There were some rights listed (page 36)

• Most states already had them

• Thought they were creating a government with limited powers.

• A promise to add a Bill of Rights helped get the Constitution ratified.

What about slavery?

• The words “slave” or “slavery” were never used in Constitution, but slavery was referred to

• 3/5th compromise• Fugitive “workers”• Can prohibit importation of “persons” before 1808• Constitution would never have passed if it

outlawed slavery

Chapter 3

Federalism

• A political system in which the national government shares power with local governments

• How is federal system different from a unitary system?

• Why was the Civil War fought?

• The sovereignty of the United States was derived from the people, not the states; thus the states could not secede.

• Federalism was a way to protect personal liberties. Power is split between federal and state governments so it is not concentrated.

• Less likely to lead to tyranny

• Both state and federal would have powers but neither would be supreme over the other. – (Duel federalism) state is supreme in it’s sphere

and federal government is supreme in it’s sphere

10th Amendment

• The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

States have police powers

• Laws and regulations that promote health, safety and morals.– Criminal codes– Education rules and guidelines– Public lands and water supplies– Can force vaccinations.– etc

Other examples of federalism

• Same sex marriage

• Minimum wage

• Death penalty

• Gambling

• Speed limits

• Age someone can drop out of school

• The list goes on.

Enumerated or Delegated Powers

• Specifically granted to the US government in the Constitution. (tax, borrow money, fund the military, coin money, regulate interstate trade, declare war, make treaties, etc)

Excerpt from Federalist #45

• “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State Governments are numerous and indefinite” James Madison

Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic Clause)

• Congress shall have the power to “make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution their foregoing powers”

McCulloh v. Maryland (1819)pg 55-56

• 1816 Congress created the 2nd Bank of the US and set up branches throughout the country.

• Many states didn’t like this, they felt that the banks would complete with their own bank and that the federal government was exerting too much power

• Maryland passed an annual tax of $15,000 on the US bank.

• A clerk at the federal bank (McCulloch) refused to pay the tax

• He was fined and convicted in a Maryland court

• He appealed to the US Supreme Court

SC settled two questions

• 1. Does the federal government have the right to establish a bank if it is not an enumerated power

• Answer: Yes– Since the federal government had some money powers it was then implied they could make a bank (necessary and proper)

• Could a federal bank be lawfully taxed by the state?

• Answer: NO—since the federal government is supreme over the states and had the right to make the bank, then they must be immune from the states.

• “The Power to tax is the power to destroy”

Dual Federalism• Sometimes known as layer cake federalism.• The national government is supreme in its

sphere and the state governments are supreme in their sphere.

• These two spheres of action should be kept separate.

• Over time, the Supreme Court has given the federal government more power but the concept of Duel Federalism isn’t completely dead

Commerce Clause• The federal government has the power to

regulate interstate commerce.

• State can regulate intrastate commerce.

• By the 1940’s almost all commerce was considered to be interstate.

• So the commerce clause, along with the necessary and proper clause, gave the government more power.

Federal-State relations

• What are Grants in Aid and why are they attractive to the states?

1. Money was there

2. Federal income tax

3. Federal government could print money

4. Politics (free money)

Four Purposes of Federal Grants1. To supply state and local governments

with revenue2. To establish minimum national standards

for such things as highways and clean air.3. To equalize resources among the states.

Federal tax money can be distributed to poorer areas who don’t pay as much in the way of taxes.

4. The attack national problems yet minimize the growth of federal agencies. (No Child Left Behind)

• By 2006 federal aid accounts for 30% of a state’s revenue

• The states have become very dependent on federal money

What are categorical grants?• Had a specific purpose defined by

government (airport, college dorm, etc.)

• Usually required to state to match part of the money – Highway

• 90% Federal

• 10 % state

What are block grants?

• Block grants combine categorical grants and give the money in a large block

• It allows the state more say in how they spend the money.

What is revenue sharing?

• Started in 1972

• A law that allowed for the distribution of a fixed amount of federal tax money to the states for almost any government purpose.

• Ended in 1986

Condition of Aid

• Voluntary but…

• I you don’t accept the condition then you don’t get the money

• Because the states are so dependent on federal money it is hard to turn down these grants

• Drinking age to 21

Mandates• Rules imposed or requirements that the state pay

the costs of certain nationally defined programs.• They apply to all states whether or not they accept

grants.• Many times the mandates are underfunded or

unfunded• Many deal with civil rights and environmental

protections.• Sometimes they are unclear “American

Disabilities Act uses the term “equal access” but it is unclear what that exactly means

Supreme Court Cases on Federalism

• McCulloch v Maryland

• Gibbons v Ogden

• US v Darby Lumber Co.

• US v Lopez

• Printz v United States

• US v Morrison

• South Dakota v Dole

Democracy within the republic

• Initiative- allows voters to put state laws on the ballot for the people to vote on. (usually signatures 5-15% of people who voted in last election)

• Referendum- allows voters to reject measures enacted by their state legislature. (1/2 states allow)

• Recall- allows voters to remove an elected official from office (20 states allow)