What is Government?

1. What is Government? Lesson 7: Constitutional Government

2. A Constitutional Government A constitutional government is one whose powers have been adapted to the interests of its people and to the maintenance of individual liberty… the ideal of a government conducted upon the basis of a definite understanding, if need be of a formal pact, between those who are to submit to it and those who are to conduct it, with a view to making government an instrument of the general welfare rather than an arbitrary, self-willed master, doing what it pleases, and particularly for the purpose of safeguarding individual liberty. -President Woodrow Wilson, 1908

3. Legislative • makes laws • Executive • enforces laws • Judicial • manages conflicts Branches of government

4. People are greedy and power-hungry • Ambitious • Balance each other off Founders and human nature

5. Does not change according to laws • Private domain protected • Control over distribution of resources • Control of conflict What is Higher Law?

6. Constitution is the “higher law” • Sets forth the basic rights of citizens • Makes the government responsible for protection What is Higher Law?

7. Constitution supreme law of the land • Higher Law • Congress appropriates $$ • Control over distribution of resources • Federal courts resolve disputes • Conflicts and violations of rights • Bill of Rights • Rights of people to be protected • Amendments • Changes of Law versus laws What is Higher Law?

8. What are the purposes of the Government? • How is the Government organized? • How is the Government to function? Basic questions

9. A constitution establishes a set of rules for government: • the structure of government • responsibilities • enumerating functions and procedures • limitations on power Most constitutions establish civil rights, if not directly, then by limiting the power by government over the citizens. The Canadian Constitutional Act of 1982 separating Canadian law from English law • Section 2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: • freedom of conscience and religion • (b)freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication • (c)freedom of peaceful assembly • (d)freedom of association

10. Constitutions may be codified or uncodified • Codified constitutions are single documents elaborating the powers and function of government. They serve as a single and unified supreme law of the land. • Uncodified constitutions are derived from many sources including: • written sources, such as statute laws passed by parliament • unwritten sources, such as constitutional conventions, legal precedents, common laws, royal prerogatives, customs and tradition of the people • Israel, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom have uncodified constitutions.

11. Entrenchment • Entrenchment means that the process of amending or changing a constitution is more difficult than amending or repealing statutory laws. • Article V of the U.S. Constitution describes the difficult process of making amendments. • Some constitutions contain rules strictly forbidding any changes to specific clauses, such as in the constitution of Germany. Statutory: Laws made by a legislative body. Article 79 of the German Federal Constitution states: (3) Amendments to this Basic Law affecting the division of the Federation into Länder (states), their participation on principle in the legislative process, or the principles laid down in Articles 1 and 20 (basic civil rights) shall be inadmissible. German Constitution

12. Article V of the United States Constitution The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

13. Answer the Questions from the Link on the Previous Slide. 1. Is it a good thing that our Constitution is so difficult to amend? Why should a minority be able to frustrate a clear majority's wish to alter the Constitution? 2. Don't the amendment procedures doom many potentially good changes, because one or the other political parties will see itself as adversely affected by a proposed change? For example, won't Republicans forever block Washington D.C. from gaining representation in Congress because any representative elected by D. C. citizens is likely to be a Democrat? Isn't it equally unlikely that the electoral college method of choosing a president will ever be changed? 3. May a state rescind its prior ratification if an amendment has yet to be ratified by three-fourths of the states? 4. Many proposed amendments, such as the Equal Rights Amendment, have limited the period for ratification to seven years? Are such limits a good idea? What if a state ratifies an amendment after the specified period? What if a proposed amendment contained no time limit and was ratified two centuries later (see the 27th Amendment)? 5. The Court has recognized the constitutionality of ratification procedures as a justiciable question. Should the Court consider these issues, or should it leave them to the other branches to work out?

14. Answer the Questions from the Link on the Previous Slide. 6. Only two provisions in the Constitution have been made unamendable--and the unamendability of one of those, the provision barring restrictions on the importation of slaves, expired in 1808. The only provision now unamendable is the guarantee that each state will have equal suffrage in the Senate. Why do you suppose the framers attached such importance to that provision? What if--despite the provision against changing suffrage in the Senate--, we first repealed the provision prohibiting amendment and that ratified an amendment giving larger states more Senate representation? Are there other impliedly unamendable provisions? Could we abolish the Executive Branch by amendment? 7. What if an amendment (say, an amendment prohibiting abortions) included language prohibiting the amendment from ever being repealed? Should the courts enforce the provision and invalidate an amendment that sought to again permit abortions? 8. The Court, in LaRue and 44 Liquormart, wrestled with the question of whether the Twenty-First Amendment qualified the First Amendment. What do you think is the best answer to that question? 9. Consider the various proposed, but unratified, amendments listed on the U. S. Constitution Online link (lower left column). Which of these proposed amendments do you think should have been adopted?

15. 75% of the states After the Bill of Rights, there have been only 17 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Yet, there have been over 10,000 amendments proposed by members of Congress or the States. 33 passed the Congress (2/3), six are still pending. Answer: Are there other rights that you wish would have been included in the Bill of Rights? What are they? Are there some rights included in the Bill of Rights that you wish Madison would have left out? (Use link above)

16. Façade Constitutions • Constitutions may be used by authoritarian governments to hide their abuses and receive acceptance by the international community as a democratic republic. • For example, the 1936 constitution of the Soviet Union provided for many basic human rights similar to those of the United States as seen below. • ARTICLE 124. In order to ensure to citizens freedom of conscience, the church in the U.S.S.R. is separated from the state, and the school from the church. Freedom of religious worship and freedom of antireligious propaganda is recognized for all citizens. • ARTICLE 125. In conformity with the interests of the working people, and in order to strengthen the socialist system, the citizens of the U.S.S.R. are guaranteed by law: • freedom of speech • freedom of the press • freedom of assembly, including the holding of mass meetings • freedom of street processions and demonstrations

17. The Soviet Constitution of 1977, written under Leonid Brezhnev, clearly stated that the communist party was responsible for the development of the "character" of Soviet citizens. • Article 6 is thought to have superseded all other guarantees of personal freedom. Article 6: The Communist Party, armed with Marxism-Leninism, determines the general perspectives of the development of society and the course of the home and foreign policy of the USSR, directs the great constructive work of the Soviet people, and imparts a planned, systematic and theoretically substantiated character to their struggle for the victory of communism. All party organizations shall function within the framework of the Constitution of the USSR.

18. France has had several constitutions. • The Constitution of 1791 was the first written constitution of France. • It was inspired by the American and British constitutions. • It established The Kingdom of France under popular sovereignty and created a constitutional monarchy. • It was signed by King Louis XVI. Popular sovereignty is a concept whereby the legitimacy and source of power of the state is created by the will and consent of the people. "In free governments the rulers are the servants and the people their superiors and sovereigns." – Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) Royal Flag of France

19. Many turbulent years after the French Revolution and the Empire of Napoleon, the Constitutional Laws of 1875 established the Third French Republic with a president and a bicameral legislature. • After WWII, the Constitution of 1946 established the Fourth Republic with a republican government. • The Algiers crisis of 1958 led to a military coup. • Charles de Gaulle became the head of the republic. His supporters introduced a new constitution establishing the Fifth Republic. • As of 2008, the Constitution of 1958 has been amended 18 times. Patrice de Mac-Mahon, First president of the Third Republic The liberation of Paris, 1944 Charles de Gaulle

20. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen(1783) came from the French Revolution, declaring the individual rights of the French people and their estates. Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette is credited for its creation. "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good."

21. Constitutions of Spain • The Spanish Constitution of 1812 was drafted in exile by the Cádiz Cortes (General Court) during the Spanish War of independence (Peninsular War) from France. • Spain’s constitution called for popular sovereignty, the legitimacy of King Ferdinand VII, equality before the law, a centralized government, a modern civil service, tax system reform, an end to feudal privileges, and the recognition of individual property rights. • It has been replaced seven times. • The current constitution was made effective in 1978. Ferdinand VII The Cortes de Cadiz

22. The Constitution of Norwaywas first adopted in 1814 by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly (right). • It is the oldest, original constitution in force in Europe. • The Norwegian constitution specifies the separation of powers between executive, legislative and judicial branches. • This notion came from the constitutions of the U.S. and France. • The Constitution of Norway is divided into the following sections: • Form of Government and Religion • The Executive Power, the King and the Royal Family • Rights of Citizens and the Legislative Power • System of Judicial Power • General Provisions Norwegian Constitution

23. Constitutions of Mexico Mexico 1824 • The 1824 constitution of Mexico was the first constitution to establish a republic named "The United Mexican States." • Roman Catholicism was declared the state religion • Established a bicameral congress and a supreme court • Mexico’s 1835 constitutionwas created under President Antonio López de Santa Anna (right). • It was inspired by an anti-federalist movement. • Mexico’s Constitution of 1857included freedom of speech, conscious, press, assembly, the right to bear arms and the abolition of slavery.

24. The Mexican Revolution of 1910resulted in the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1917. • Venustiano Carranza presided over the Constitutional Convention and became the first president under the new constitution (right). • The Constitution of 1917 is still in force today. • Key provisions included: • Established a bicameral legislature similar to the United States government • Required free education • Freedom of religion • Limited freedom of the press, although it protects writers from unjust incarceration • Abolishment of private courts • Establishment of rule of law

25. Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth • In 1569, the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania combined their states under Sigismund II Augustus (below, left) to form the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth at the Union of Lublin. • The new government was called the Noble's Democracy or Golden Freedom and was made up of the following: • The monarchy was responsible to a legislature • Free election of the king by the nobility • A bill of rights • The right to insurrection against an unjust king • The right to organize political opposition • Ultimate control was in the hands of the nobility Union of Lublin

26. Who is a citizen? • Are citizens supposed to have any power or control? If so, how? • What are the rights and responsibility of citizens, if any? Citizens

27. Constitution • A set of fundamental customs, rules, traditions and laws that set forth the basic way a government is organized and functions • written v unwritten constitutions • No real difference • constitutional government • A government that follows its constitution and is uses limited powers Some Important Terms

28. autocratic (dictatorial) government • One or many in an unlimited use of power • limited government • Government that exercises only those powers given to it by the governed • higher law • Constitutional (natural law) Some Important Terms

29. private domain • Areas of a person’s life that is no concern of government (John Stuart Mill) • separation of powers • In order to prevent dictatorships of a minority, be careful there can still be one of majority (Supreme Court’s job to prevent that) • Checks and balances • Power used by one branch may be checked by another because these powers are shared • Veto • Disapproving a law Some Important Terms

30. I believe that words have power. Sticks and stones may hurt our bones, but bones heal in a relatively short time, while one critical parent can cripple you forever. With that in mind, let's try a little experiment. As you read the following words notice whether you feel the impulse to smile. Did it work? Did you smile immediately upon reading that? If not, that's okay. Don't get down on yourself. Remember, this is just an experiment. We can try it again. This time feel your lips curl up gently at the corners. You try to fight it, but your mouth seems to have taken on a life of its own. As you continue reading you can't help but notice that you are now smiling like the execs at Paramount after they realized they got a piece of Titanic for chump change. See? The power of words. In this case used for good. If you would like an example of words used for evil, call your mother and tell her you're really starting to make progress in therapy.