American Government & Politics PDF

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS UNITED STATES OF AMERICA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA federal republic of 50 states & a federal district, Washington, D.C. UNITED STATES UNITED STATES OF AMERICA asserts sovereignty over five unincorporated territories and s...

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS UNITED STATES OF AMERICA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA federal republic of 50 states & a federal district, Washington, D.C. UNITED STATES UNITED STATES OF AMERICA asserts sovereignty over five unincorporated territories and several uninhabited island possessions. UNITED STATES UNITED STATES OF AMERICA The world's oldest surviving federation, the U.S. has the world's oldest national constitution still in effect (from March 4, 1789). UNITED STATES UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Its presidential system of government has been adopted, in whole or in part, by many newly independent nations following decolonization. It is a liberal representative democracy "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law." UNITED STATES UNITED STATES OF AMERICA The Constitution of the United States serves as the country's supreme legal document, also establishing the structure and responsibilities of the national federal government and its relationship with the individual states. UNITED STATES AMERICAN SYMBOLS  Eagle - Symbol of strength and Each Star/ Stipe - Original power but always turned to the Thirteen Colonies; The olive branch as preferring peace; glory of thirteen original Clutching America’s National states combining as one Motto: E Pluribus, Unum nation in America’s first ( From many, One.) attempt at self-government by its people Olive Branch - America Thirteen Arrows - seeks peace; Thirteen leaves Prepared to defend and Thirteen olives Liberty White - Signifies Purity and Innocence Escutcheon- Represents valor and virtue protecting the eagle with thirteen bars Red - Signifies Hardiness representing America’s and Valor original thirteen states  Lesson 2: US & PH Declarations of Independence UNITED STATES DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, FORMALLY TITLED THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN BOTH THE ENGROSSED VERSION AND THE ORIGINAL PRINTING, IS THE FOUNDING DOCUMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. US & PH DECLARATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE UNITED STATES DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ON JULY 4, 1776, IT WAS ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE 56 DELEGATES TO THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, WHO CONVENED AT THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE HOUSE, LATER RENAMED INDEPENDENCE HALL, IN THE COLONIAL ERA CAPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA. US & PH DECLARATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE PHILIPPINE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE THE PHILIPPINE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (FILIPINO: PAGPAPAHAYAG NG KASARINLAN NG PILIPINAS; SPANISH: DECLARACIÓN DE INDEPENDENCIA DE FILIPINAS) WAS PROCLAIMED BY FILIPINO REVOLUTIONARY FORCES GENERAL EMILIO AGUINALDO ON JUNE 12, 1898, IN CAVITE EL VIEJO (PRESENT-DAY KAWIT, CAVITE), PHILIPPINES. US & PH DECLARATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE PHILIPPINE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IT ASSERTED THE SOVEREIGNTY AND INDEPENDENCE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS FROM THE 300 YEARS OF COLONIAL RULE FROM SPAIN. US & PH DECLARATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE  CONTEXT AND TIMING US DECLARATION OF PH DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE INDEPENDENCE Date: July 4, 1776. Date: June 12, 1898. Context: The Thirteen Colonies Context: The Philippines asserted declared their independence sovereignty and independence from British rule. from Spanish colonial rule. US & PH DECLARATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE  AUTHORS & SIGNATORIES US DECLARATION OF PH DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE INDEPENDENCE Main author: Thomas Jefferson. Main author: Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista. Signatories: Representatives of Signatories: 98 delegates, the Thirteen Colonies. including a U.S. Army officer who witnessed the proclamation US & PH DECLARATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE  COLONIAL RULERS US DECLARATION OF PH DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE INDEPENDENCE Declared independence from the Declared independence from the British Empire. Spanish Empire after 300 years of colonial rule. US & PH DECLARATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE  RECOGNITION US DECLARATION OF PH DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE INDEPENDENCE Recognized by Britain after the Not initially recognized by either American Revolutionary War. the United States or Spain. The Philippines was ceded to the U.S. in the 1898 Treaty of Paris US & PH DECLARATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE  LEGACY US DECLARATION OF PH DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE INDEPENDENCE Influenced democratic ideals Symbolized a significant step worldwide. toward full sovereignty, leading to eventual independence and membership in the United Nations. US & PH DECLARATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE MODULE 2  LESSON 1: THE US CONSTITUTION THE US CONSTITUTION  UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION It is the highset authority in the United States It is the basic law of the United States US CONSTITUTION  UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION It has three main parts ⚬ Preamble - opening section of the Constitution ⚬ Articles (7) - main parts of the constitution ⚬ Amendments (27) - changes to the constitution US CONSTITUTION  UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION Contains many political ideas of the Enlightenment ⚬ Montesquieu’s ideas of the 3 branches of government with checks & balances ⚬ Locke’s power in the hands of the people ⚬ Voltaire’s freedom of speech and religion ⚬ Beccaria’s fair system of justice US CONSTITUTION  ARTICLES OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION ARTICLE DESCRIPTION assigns the responsibility for making laws to the Legislative Branch (Congress). Congress is divided into two parts, or “Houses,” the House of Representatives and Article I. the Senate. The bicameral Congress was a compromise between the large states, Legislative which wanted representation based on population, and the small ones, which wanted the states to have equal representation. details the Executive Branch and the offices of the President and Vice President. It Article II. lays down rules for electing the President (through the Electoral College), eligibility Executive (must be a natural-born citizen at least 35 years old), and term length. The 12th and 25th Amendments modified some of these rules. US CONSTITUTION (ARTICLES)  ARTICLES OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION ARTICLE DESCRIPTION establishes the Judicial Branch with the U.S. Supreme Court as the federal court system’s highest court. It specifies that Federal judges be appointed for life unless Article III. they commit a serious crime. This article is shorter than Articles I and II. The Federal Judiciary Convention left much of the work of planning the court system to the First Congress. The 1789 Judiciary Act created the three-tiered court system in place today. outlines states’ powers in relationship to each other. States have the authority to create and enforce their own laws but must respect and help enforce the laws of Article IV. other states. Congress may pass Federal laws regarding how states honor other states’ laws and records. US CONSTITUTION (ARTICLES)  ARTICLES OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION ARTICLE DESCRIPTION explains the amendment process, which is different and more difficult than the process for making laws. When two-thirds of the Senate and two-thirds of the House of Representatives vote to change the Constitution, an amendment goes to the Article V. state legislatures for a vote. Alternatively, two-thirds of the state legislatures can submit an application to Congress, and then Congress calls a national convention at which states propose amendments. Three-fourths of the state legislatures or state conventions must vote in favor of an amendment to ratify it. states that Federal law is supreme, or higher than, state and local laws. This means Article VI. that if a state law conflicts with a Federal law, Federal law takes precedence. US CONSTITUTION (ARTICLES)  ARTICLES OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION ARTICLE DESCRIPTION describes the ratification process for the Constitution. It called for special state Article ratifying conventions. Nine states were required to enact the Constitution. Rhode VII. Island became the 13th state to ratify the Constitution in 1790. US CONSTITUTION  U.S. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS AMENDMENT YEAR DESCRIPTION prohibits laws "respecting an establishment of religion" and protects First 1791 freedoms of religion, speech, and the press and the rights to Amendment assemble peaceably and petition the government Second 1791 protects the people's right to "keep and bear arms" Amendment Third prohibits the involuntary quartering of soldiers in private homes 1791 Amendment during peacetime forbids unreasonable searches and seizures of individuals and Fourth 1791 property; requires probable cause for search warrants; prohibits Amendment nonspecific search warrants US CONSTITUTION  U.S. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS AMENDMENT YEAR DESCRIPTION protects the criminally accused by requiring indictment by a grand jury, prohibiting double jeopardy and forced self-incrimination, and Fifth 1791 forbidding deprivation of "life, liberty, or property, without due Amendment process of law"; bars the taking of private property for public use without "just compensation" further protects the criminally accused by establishing the rights to a Sixth speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, to be informed of 1791 Amendment criminal charges, to confront hostile witnesses, and to have the assistance of counsel Seventh 1791 establishes rules governing civil trials Amendment US CONSTITUTION  U.S. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS AMENDMENT YEAR DESCRIPTION Eighth prohibits excessive bail, excessive fines, and "cruel and unusual 1791 Amendment punishments" Ninth establishes that the enumeration of certain rights in the Constitution 1791 Amendment does not "deny or disparage" other rights "retained by the people" Tenth reserves to the states those powers not delegated to the federal 1791 Amendment government or prohibited to the states by the Constitution Eleventh 1795 establishes the principle of state sovereign immunity Amendment US CONSTITUTION  U.S. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS AMENDMENT YEAR DESCRIPTION Twelfth repeals and revises presidential election procedures established in 1804 Amendment the original Constitution Thirteenth 1865 outlaws slavery Amendment grants citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to African Fourteenth 1868 Americans and slaves who were emancipated after the American Amendment Civil War Fifteenth guarantees that the right to vote cannot be denied based on "race, 1870 Amendment color, or previous condition of servitude" US CONSTITUTION  U.S. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS AMENDMENT YEAR DESCRIPTION Sixteenth 1913 permits a federal income tax Amendment Seventeenth provides for the direct election of U.S. senators by the voters of the 1913 Amendment states Eighteenth 1919 imposes the federal prohibition of alcohol Amendment Nineteenth 1920 extends to women the right to vote Amendment US CONSTITUTION  U.S. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS AMENDMENT YEAR DESCRIPTION Twentieth changes the beginning and ending dates of presidential and 1933 Amendment congressional terms 21st 1933 repeals the Eighteenth Amendment Amendment 22nd limits to two the number of terms a president of the United States 1951 Amendment may serve 23rd permits citizens of Washington, D.C., the right to choose electors in 1961 Amendment presidential elections US CONSTITUTION  U.S. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS AMENDMENT YEAR DESCRIPTION 24th prohibits the federal and state governments from imposing poll 1964 Amendment taxes before a citizen can participate in a federal election 25th sets succession rules relating to vacancies and disabilities of the 1967 Amendment office of the president and of the vice president 26th 1971 extends voting rights to citizens age 18 or older Amendment requires any change to the rate of compensation for members of the 27th 1992 U.S. Congress to take effect only after the subsequent election to the Amendment House of Representatives US CONSTITUTION  SALIENT FEATURES OF THE US CONSTITUTION 1. WRITTEN CHARACTER brief document consisting of seven articles and 27 amendments; model of draftsmanship, of constitutional elegance, of brevity and of apparent clarity; skeleton of constitution as the framers left the details to be filled by the congress WRITTEN CHARACTER 1I. SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION A LAW OR EXECUTIVE ORDER REPUGNANT TO THE CONSTITUTION CAN BE DECLARED UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND INVALID BY THE SUPREME COURT WRITTEN CHARACTER 1V. RIGIDITY CAN BE AMENDED BY A LENGTHY AND CUMBERSOME PROCESS; EVERY AMENDMENT BECOMES OPERATIVE AFTER IT HAS BEEN PROPOSE RIGIDITY AMENDMENTS TO THE US CONSTITUTION RIGIDITY V. PRESIDENTIAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT ALL EXECUTIVE POWERS ARE VESTED IN THE PRESIDENT; NOT CONSTITUTIONALLY RESPONSIBLE TO THE CONGRESS IN THE MANNER IN WHICH THE EXECUTIVE IS RESPONSIBLE TO THE LEGISLATURE; DOES NOT ATTEND ITS SESSIONS, NOR INITIATES LEGISLATION DIRECTLY, NOR ANSWERS QUESTION; MEMBERS OF THE CABINET ARE NOT MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS – CONSIDERED AS HIS ERRAND BOYS, FAMILY OF THE PRESIDENT, OR HIS KITCHEN CABINET Presidential Form of Government VI. SEPARATION OF POWERS ELECTED INDIRECTLY BY THE PEOPLE; CANNOT BE VOTED OUT THROUGH VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE; DOES NOT PARTICIPATE IN DEBATES NOR DISSOLVE THE CONGRESS; FEDERAL JUDICIARY ENJOYS INDEPENDENCE SEPARATION OF POWERS VII. CHECKS AND BALANCES POWERS OF ONE ORGAN TO CHECK UPON THE POWERS OF THE OTHER; PRESIDENT CAN VETO BILLS; SENATE SHARES WITH THE PRESIDENT HIS POWERS OF MAKING APPOINTMENTS TO THE VARIOUS FEDERAL OFFICES AND CONCLUSION OF TREATIES WHICH ARE RATIFIED BY 2/3 VOTES OF THE SENATE CHECKS AND BALANCES VIII. JUDICIAL REVIEW DECLARE ANY LEGISLATION OF EXECUTIVE ACTION NULL AND VOID IF THE SAME IS FOUND TO BE INCONSISTENT WITH THE PROVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION; HAS INTERPRETED THE CONSTITUTION THAT IT HAS ADAPTED IT TO THE CHANGING NEEDS OF SOCIETY; HAS ENLARGED THE POWERS OF THE CONSTITUTION; CONSIDERED AS THE JUDICIAL VETO JUDICIAL REVIEW IX. REPUBLICANISM PRESIDENT IS ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE; CONSTITUTION DERIVES ITS AUTHORITY FROM THE PEOPLE. REPUBLICANISM X. POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY A CONTROVERSIAL POLITICAL DOCTRINE ACCORDING TO WHICH THE PEOPLE OF FEDERAL TERRITORIES SHOULD DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES WHETHER THEIR TERRITORIES WOULD ENTER THE UNION AS FREE OR SLAVE STATES. POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY XI. FEDERAL CHARACTER USUALLY A FEDERATION OF THIRTEEN STATES, ENUMERATES THE POWERS OF THE CENTER AND THE RESIDUAL POWERS ARE GIVEN TO THE STATES FEDERAL CHARACTER XII. BILL OF RIGHTS GUARANTEES FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF PERSONS, LIBERTY, PROPERTY rights of the citizens are enforceable by recourse to the judiciary BILL OF RIGHTS XIII. SPOILS SYSTEM GOVERNMENT OFFICE WAS CONSIDERED AS A SPOIL FOR THE SERVICE RENDERED TO THE PERSPECTIVE PRESIDENT AT THE TIME OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION under the Pendleton Act, about 80% of such officer were to be filled through competitive examinations spoils persist only in 205 cases which remain to be patronage of the American president SPOILS SYSTEM END OF LESSON 1