Questions & Answers: U. S. Government - Principles of U.S. Government

Explain the following ideas found in the U.S. Constitution: individual’s rights, natural rights, popular sovereignty, and separation of powers.
 

In the U.S. Constitution, there are many important ideas on government:
Individual rights—there is no total freedom in a democracy. A person in a democracy cannot do whatever he or she wants. So, there are powers set up to protect people’s rights. In addition, those powers do not become controlling and break people’s rights.
Natural rights— John Locke thought a person had rights at birth of “life, liberty, and private property.” Thomas Jefferson agreed with Locke. In the Declaration of Independence, he wrote that people have the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Popular sovereignty—the government is decided by the people. So, the government gains its rule and power from the people.
Separation of powers—the government is divided into three branches: executive (e.g., President), legislative (e.g., Congress), and judicial (e.g., Supreme Court). Each branch has its own set of powers.

Review the two main groups of federalism: state’s rights and nationalists.
Debate on how federalism should function in practice has gone on since the period when the Constitution was being written. There were—and still are—two main factions regarding this issue:

1. States’ rights—those favoring the states’ rights position feel that the state governments should take the lead in performing local actions to manage various problems.
2. Nationalist—those favoring a nationalist position feel the national government should take the lead to deal with those same matters.
The flexibility of the Constitution has allowed US government to shift and adapt as the needs of the country have changed. Power has often shifted from the state governments to the national government and back again, and both levels of government have developed various ways to influence each other.

Explain the following ideas found in the U.S. Constitution: Constitutionalism, checks and balances, limited government, federalism, majority rule and minority rights, and rule of law.
Constitutionalism—the government must follow the ideas and rules in the constitution.
Checks and balances—there is not one branch that can rule on its own. Each branch has the power to review the decisions of another
Limited government—the powers of the government are limited. There rights (e.g., Bill of Rights) are for the people and cannot be broken by the government.
Federalism—the power of the government does not belong only to the national government. Instead, power is divided between national and state governments.
Majority rule and minority rights—the idea in a democracy that a greater number of people will make the right choice over a small group. However, the small group has rights that the majority cannot break.
Rule of law—a government or rulers are not outside the boundaries of the law. They must follow the same laws as the people that they serve.

Review the parts of the legislative, executive, and judicial branch.
There are three branches of the U.S. Federal government.
Legislative Branch—this is the two Houses of Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate. All members of the U.S. Congress are elected officials.
Executive Branch—this branch is for the President, the Vice President, the presidential advisors, and cabinet members (e.g., Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense). These advisors are suggested by the President, and Congress must approve each member.
Judicial Branch—this branch is made of the federal court system. The system is headed by the Supreme Court.

Review the three major effects on public policy in the U.S. and how federalism influences the balance of political power in the U.S.
Federalism has three major effects on public policy in the United States.

1. Deciding whether the local, state, or national government creates rules and agendas

2. The steps on how policies are made

3. Guaranteeing that rules and agendas are created. However, these rules and agendas are made with limits on how much control is given

Federalism influences the balance of political power in the U.S.:
· making it difficult for a single political party to take total power.
· ensuring that individuals can participate in the political system at different levels.
· making it possible for individuals working within the system to be able to affect policy at some level, whether local or more widespread.

Explain the purpose of the Legislative Branch.
The Legislative Branch consists of the two Houses of Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate. All members of the Legislative Branch are elected officials. The Legislative Branch is largely concerned with law-making. All laws must be approved by Congress before they go into effect. They are also responsible for regulating money and trade, approving presidential appointments, and establishing organizations like the postal service and federal courts. Congress can also propose amendments to the Constitution, and can impeach, or bring charges against, the president. Only Congress can declare war.

Explain expressed and implied powers.
The structure of the US government divides powers between national and state governments. Powers delegated to the national government by the Constitution are:

1. Expressed powers—powers directly defined in the Constitution, including power to declare war, regulate commerce, make money, and collect taxes.

2. Implied powers—powers the national government must have in order to carry out the expressed powers.

3. Inherent powers—powers inherent to any government. These powers are not expressly defined in the constitution.
Some of these powers, such as collection and levying of taxes, are also granted to the individual state governments.

Explain the purpose of the Judicial Branch and the role of the United States Supreme Court.
The Judicial Branch is made up of the federal court system, headed by the Supreme Court. The Judicial Branch makes decisions on challenges as to whether laws passed by Congress meet the requirements of the US Constitution. The Supreme Court may also choose to review decisions made by lower courts to determine their constitutionality.
Supreme Court
When the Founding Fathers wrote in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal,” they meant “men,” and, in fact, defined citizens as white men who owned land. However, as the country has developed and changed, the definition has expanded to more wholly include all people. “Equality” does not mean all people are inherently the same, but it does mean they all should be granted the same rights and should be treated the same by the government. Amendments to the Constitution have granted citizenship and voting rights to all Americans. The Supreme Court evaluates various laws and court decisions to determine if they properly represent the idea of equal protection. One sample case was Brown v. Board of Education, in 1954, which declared separate-but-equal to be unconstitutional.

Explain the purpose of the Executive Branch.
The Executive Branch consists of the President, Vice President, presidential advisors, and other various cabinet members. These advisors are appointed by the President, but must be approved by Congress. The Executive Branch carries out laws, treaties, and war declarations enacted by Congress. The President can also veto bills approved by Congress, and serves as commander-in-chief of the US military. The president appoints cabinet members, ambassadors to foreign countries, and federal judges.