The Preamble
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, to ordain and established this constitution for the United States of America”
The preamble serves as the introduction to the constitution. The main idea that the preamble states is to create a better, stable society. “We the people” means the United States is a government of the people, by the people, for the people. Many people believed that the impact of too much democracy wouldn’t help the society because what “we the people” wanted, might not always be what was best or what others wanted.
Three Branches of government
*Legislative Branch- (Article one in the Constitution. This is the U.S congress, which consists of senate and house of representatives. It is the branch closest to the people)
*The roles and powers of this branch
- pass laws
-declare war
-regulate trade,
-regulate money
-impeach federal officers
-override presidential vetoes (2/3 vote in each house)
* Responsibilities (Senate)
-Approve presidential nominations to the federal courts
-Approve presidential appointments to federal positions
-Approve treaties (by 2/3 vote)
- Serve as jury in impeachment trials
- Select a Vice-President if the electoral college cannot
Senators serve 6 years, and they are elected by popular vote. In The original Constitution it stated that Senators had to be elected by the state legislatures, but the 17TH amendment changed it so that they can be elected by popular vote. Each state has two senators.
*Responsibilities (House of reps.)
-Serve as prosecution in impeachment trial
-Originate all spending ($$) bills
-Select a President if the electoral college cannot.
Representatives serve 2years, and they are also elected by popular vote. They must be over30years, resident of the state in which they are serving, and 9 years citizen of the United states.There are 435 reps, and the population count that is done very 10 years, determines how they are divided in different states.
* Executive branch (Article 2 of the constitution. Composed of the president and all people related President (or Vice-President) must over 35, a natural born citizen and a 14 year resident of the United States. President serves a maximum 4years and 2 terms (8 years in total) In the original Constitution allowed of unlimited terms of service.)
Role of chief executive
- Enforce the laws passed by Congress
- Issue executive orders, which helps to enforce the law.
- Act as the head of the federal bureaucracy and all federal agencies
- Nominate judges
- Appoint government officials
Role of chief diplomat
-Act a representative of the United States to foreign governments
-Make treaties with foreign nations
-Extend or rescind diplomatic recognition of foreign nations
Role of chief legislator
-Propose a federal budget
-Recommend proposed laws to Congress
-Veto legislation
- Approve legislation passed by Congress
Roles of commander in chief of armed forces
-Authorize use of US military for up to 60 days
-Supreme commander of all branches of US military
Roles if chief of state.
-Serve as ceremonial head of US Government
Judicial Responsibilities
-Grant pardon
-Grant amnesty
*Judicial Branch (The judicial branch was created by article 3 of the Constitution, and its composed of the Supreme Court and all the lower federal courts as created by Congress. The most significant power of the judicial branch is that of judicial review) Judges serve for life and they are nominated by the president but the senate must approve them. Also they may be removed by an impeachment proceeding.
Role of this branch
-Interpret the law
-Exercise the power of judicial review
-Chief Justice presides over trials of presidential impeachment
Judicial review
-Determine if laws passed by Congress are allowable by the Constitution
-Determine if treaties negotiated by the President and approved by the Senate are allowable by the Constitution
- Determine if actions by the President in enforcing the law are allowable by the Constitution
- Determine if laws passed by states are allowable by the Constitution
Jurisdiction (supreme court)
- The Supreme Court hears cases of appeal from lower federal and state courts
- The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction (may hear a case first) in cases involving a state vs. state matter or a branch vs. branch matter
My feelings:
UGH! When reading the constitution and taking notes, it felt as if the reading was never going to end. It seemed as if the constitution was a million pages long. I have never learned this much about the constitution and Im grateful to be learning about this topic because I feel that everyone should be educated on this. Although it was very frustrating to understand some of the ideas that were in the constitution, it gave me a lot more insight on the way the united states go about doing things. I already knew most of what I needed to know about the three branches, but during the reading it just seemed to give me a clearer understanding of how they worked. When doing this assignment, often I found myself just reading and reading and reading, instead of reading and paying attention the message in the text. I don’t feel as if we actually follow the constitution now in days, which gave me a feeling that the constitution was full of it. I personally do not like this way of learning. I don’t feel as if it is the most productive way of learning something, I feel as if maybe its just a lazy way of teachers to teach students things instead of giving them lessons or something that would be more hands on for them. Overall the whole process of learning about the constitution was very boring, but at the same time important .
Questions:
1. What other countries use our constitution as a blueprint for theirs?
2. For the years stated that it takes for a person to be a senator, or president...are these years consecutive, or can it be that they were in and out of the state throughout his or her life?
3. If the VP is less than 35 years old(the age qualification) then the President dies and than VP is sworn in as President, who determines if he is eligible for the office because he isnt "old enough"? Or if they aren’t eligible to be president, than they cannot be vice president either just incase something happened to the president?
4. Do all constitutions have preambles?
5. Is the constitution something that we really need in order to have a well balanced society?
