US CONSTITUION BASICS REVIEW SHEET

ROLE of this Branch? / WHO is this Branch?
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH / Make the laws / Congress (House of Representatives & Senate)
EXECUTIVE BRANCH / Enforces the laws / President & Cabinet
JUDICIAL BRANCH / Judges the law;
interprets the laws (decides if the law is being followed fairly / Supreme Court & lower Federal courts
Term of Office + re-election/term limits / Qualifications of Office / How are they elected/chosen? / WHO ARE THEY (and what party)
PRESIDENT / 4 Years, can be elected twice
(was unlimited- changed by the 22nd Amendment) / -At least 35 years old
-Natural Born Citizen
-Live in US for 14 yrs / Nation-wide election & Electoral College / President? Barack Obama (D)
Vice President? Joe Biden (D)
US SENATE / 6 years, unlimited / -At least 30 years old,
-U.S. citizen for 9+ years
-live in the state you are running in / State-wide election
(changed by 17th amendment- Senators used to be selected by state legislatures / Who are your Senators?
Chuck Schumer (D) Kirsten Gillibrand (D)
How many Senators are there in Congress? 100
How many per state? 2 (=equal representation=)
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESEN-TATIVES / 2 years, unlimited / -At least 25 years old,
-U.S. citizen for 7+ years
-live in the state you are running in / Election within Congressional district / Who is your Congressman? ELIOT ENGEL (D) or NITA LOWEY (D) (depending on where you live)
How many Representatives are there? 435
How many per state? depends on population (proportional representation= bigger state population, more reps. Every
state has at least 1 rep)
How many Congressional districts in NY State? 27
SUPREME COURT/
Federal judges / “during good behavior”
(for life if they “behave”) / None given in the Constitution / Nominated by President, Confirmed by Senate / How many Supreme Court Justices are there? 9
Who is the Chief Justice? John Roberts Jr.

What document set up the U.S. government? U.S. CONSTITUTION

When was it written?1787

What is a LEGISLATURE?a group of representatives who have the power to make laws

Who makes laws for the entire United States? CONGRESS

What are the two houses of Congress? the SENATE & the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Define FEDERALISM division of power between the states and the national government

Preamble

Article 1: Legislative Brach

Article 2:Executive Branch

Article 3: Judicial Branch

Article 4: Relations between states

Article 5: Amending the Constitution

Article 6: National Supremacy

Article 7: Ratifying the Constitution

Amendments 1-27

EXECUTIVE, LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIAL BRANCHES:

WHAT POWERS Does the President have?Examples:

  • Military powers – Commander in chief of the army
  • Judicial Powers—can appoint judges, grant pardons
  • Foreign Policy Powers- can make treaties, appoint ambassadors
  • Legislative Powers – can approve or veto* laws
  • *A VETO can be overridden when 2/3 of each house votes to override it
  • THE ELASTIC CLAUSE also stretches the power of Congress allowing them to makes laws about things not specifically mentioned in the Constitution

WHAT LIMITATIONS does the Constitution place on the President?

  • He can impeached for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors”
  • Impeachment is a two part process- the House of Reps files charges, the Senate holds the trial and votes to convict (in which case the President is removed) or acquits (is found not guilty)
  • The president can only serve two terms (22nd amendment)

EXECUTIVE, LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIAL BRANCHES (continued):

WHAT POWERS does CONGRESS have?

  • Legislative Powers: makes laws.
  • Congress can TAX and regulate trade. Article I section 8 is a long list of powers of Congress.
  • Non-legislative powers: can impeach, declare war, ratify (or reject) treaties, approve (or reject) appointments

WHAT LIMITATIONS does the Constitution place on the CONGRESS?

  • Each house of Congress can expel members from their own house
  • It also forbids Congress from passing of ex-post facto laws, taxing exports, granting titles of nobility, spending money without passing a spending bill and other specific actions in Article I section 9
  • The Bill of Rights limits the power of Congress to violate certain rights (like expression—see the first amendment)

WHAT POWERS does the Supreme Court have?

  • The Supreme Court can Judge whether not a law or action of the President is unconstitutional

WHAT LIMITATIONS does the Constitution place on the SUPREME COURT?

  • Members of Congress can be impeached (see above- process is the same for the President)

CHECKS AND BALANCES

PRESIDENT / Checks on Congress:
Can veto laws / Checks on Supreme Federal Courts:
Can grant pardons, appoints Federal judges & Supreme Court Justices (Senate has to approve them)
CONGRESS / Checks on President:
- can impeach
-reject appointments (Senate)
-reject treaties (Senate)
-can override Veto / Checks on Courts:
-can impeach
-can reject presidential appointments of Federal Judges and Supreme Court Justices
SUPREME COURT / Check on the President :Can declare an action unconstitutional / Check on Congress
Can declare a law unconstitutional

THE STATES

HOW DOES THE CONSTITUTION ADRESS RELATIONS AMONG STATES?

  • You have the freedom to relocate and travel
  • States give “full faith and credit” to each others’ laws and judicial decisions
  • Criminals can be Extradited from one state to another if they flee from state to state

WHAT POWERS/PRIVLEGES DOES THE CONSTITUTION GUARANTEE FOR THE STATES?

  • Any power not specifically given to the National government is reserved for the states (10th Amendment)
  • Every state is guaranteed a “republican” form of government—or in other words, state governments have to be democracies

THE STATES (continued)

HOW DOES THE CONSTITUTION LIMIT THE POWERS OF THE STATES?

  • The SUPREMACY CLAUSE says the Constitution and laws of Congress are the Supreme Law of the Land. State laws cannot disagree with Federal laws
  • Article I section 10 lists certain actions states cannot take—like coining money, declaring war, taxing interstate trade, etc.

AMENDMENTS:

HOW CAN THE CONSTITUTION BE AMENDED?

The Constitution has two methods for proposing amendments. The method that has been used is:

  • 2/3 of both houses of Congress propose the amendment
  • Then, ¾ of the states have to Ratify it

WHAT KIND OF AMENDMENTS HAVE BEEN PASSED?

Amendments have been passed that protect rights (ex: the Bill or Rights), expanded rights (ex: the 13th Amendment which ended slavery), expand voting rights (see below), changed or tweaked a branch of the government (ex: the 22nd amendment limited presidents to two terms, 17th amendment made it so people directly elected senators), or granted new powers to the Federal Government (the power to levy a direct income tax)

How many Amendments are there?27

What are the first 10 amendments of the Constitution called? the BILL OF RIGHTS (1791)

Which Amendment protects freedom of Expression? the 1st Amendment

What other rights are protected in the Bill of Rights? Examples: Right to: bear arms (2nd) an attorney (6th )

speedy trial (6th) public trial (6th) question witnesses (6th)

Protection against: unreasonable search and seizure (4th)

Self incrimination (5th) double jeopardy (5th)

cruel and unusual punishment (8th) (see Bill of Rights for more!)

How have constitutional amendments expanded voting rights?

to African Americans (15th Amendment 1870)

Direct election of Senators (17th Amendment, 1913)

to Women (19th Amendment 1920 )

voting age lowered to 18 (26th Amendment 1971)

RATIFICATION:

According to Article VII of the Constitution, what would have to happen for the Constitution to be adopted by the states as their new form of government?

  • The Constitution would have to be ratified (approved) by 9 of the 13 states. (all 13 did)