The Constitution

The ConstitutionChapter 3Basic Principles of DemocracyPopular Sovereignty: All political power is with the peopleLimited Government: Government is not all-powerful, only has the power people give itConstitutionalismgovt must follow the ConstitutionRule of Lawgovernment and its officers are always subject to the law, and are never above itExamples?

Separation of Powers: power is distributed among separate branches of the governmentLegislativeExecutiveJudicialChecks and Balances: Each branch keeps an eye on the others to keep them from using too much powerJudicial Review: the Court has the power to decide if the government is following the ConstitutionCan declare things unconstitutionalFederalism: dividing power among a central government and several regional governmentsFederal and state governments, local decisions madeStates wanted more rights than they would have with a completely powerful National governmentWhy?

Formal Amendmentspg 73The Constitution was written over 200 years ago. How has it kept up with so much change?Amendments!Changes in the written words of the ConstitutionArticle V of Construction explains how to amendThere are 4 ways to amendFirst method: 2/3 vote in each house of Congress, and ratified by of state legislatures26 of the 27 amendments were done this waySecond method: Proposed by Congress and ratified by of states21st amendmentThird method: proposed at a national convention called by 2/3 of state legislaturesFourth method: proposed at a national convention and ratified by of the statesProposed Amendmentspg 761 rule: cannot keep any state from voting in the SenateCongress can reject amendments, but they dont go awayMore than 10,000 attempted amendments since 1789, only 33 have made it to vote, and 27 have been ratifiedThe first 10 amendments=Bill of RightsOther ways to change the ConstitutionCongress adds more detailExecutive Agreement: president makes an agreement with another countryCustom: unwritten concepts that become traditional and accepted (the Cabinent)What other ways can you think of?

Challenges to Constitution GovernmentCivil WarExpanding SuffrageGreat DepressionCivil Rights Movement

Civics Homework: Due Monday, October 4 at beginning of classRead your documentWRITE a 2-3 paragraph summary of the documentExplain where you found Core Democratic Values (CDVs) in the document, what CDVs they are, and why you think they are relevant to the document, and WRITE that in 1 paragraphDoes NOT need to be typed, but does need to be legible!