Summary A-level Politics Edexcel Unit 3, US Constitution & Federalism (3,800 words)
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Unit 3 - US Politics
Institution
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Pearson Edexcel A level Politics
Chapter 17 from my full Unit 3 US Politics document
A comprehensive document written by an A* predicted student covering A-level government and politics Unit 3 - US government and Politics Chapter 17 - Constitution & federalism
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Unit 3 - US Politics
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US politics
Chapter 17 – Constitution & Federalism
definitions
Constitution – a collection of rules, principles and
conventions which outlines the political system,
location of sovereignty and relationship between
the government and those being governed
Federal Government – the national government of
the USA consisting of Congress, The presidency
and the judiciary
Federalism – system of government in which power
and sovereignty are shared between the federal
government and the individual states
Principle – the fundamental belief or ideal.
Constitutional principles may not be named in the
constitution, but they underpin the entire
document and can be seen throughout the writing
of this document
, Limited government – A government which is
subject to restrictions on the power it can exercise
over a country or its citizens. In the USA these
limits are laid out through checks and balances in
the constitution
Separation of powers – the complete separation of
the three branches of government: Congress, the
presidency and the supreme court
Checks and balances – the power of one branch to
directly prevent the action of another branch, thus
‘checking’ their action and that all branches can do
this to each to each other provides a ‘balance’ of
power
Bipartisanship – the ability of two or more parties
to work together to achieve an outcome. These
enforced supermajorities required in the
constitution.
Codification – a single written document containing
all of the constitutional rules and principles
Judiciable – a constitution which contains a higher
form of law and therefore allows other laws to be
, judged against it and to be deemed either
constitutional or unconstitutional
Entrenched – a constitution which is protected from
change through a legal process. In the US this is a
2-stage amendment process which requires a
supermajority from both congress and the states
Enumerated powers – powers that are explicitly
written down in the US constitution
Implied powers – powers not specifically granted in
the constitution but are assumed from the wording
‘necessary and proper clause’ – a clause within
Article I of the constitution which allows congress
to imply any powers which are necessary for it to
be able to carry out enumerated powers
Supermajority - a required majority of more than
half, usually in a vote. The US supermajority
requires a supermajority of 2/3 and ¾ for a variety
of processes
Appropriation bills – a proposed law from congress
that authorised the spending of government
(taxpayers) money
, Judicial review – the power of the supreme court to
judge the actions of the presidential branch or acts
or actions of congress as against the constitution
and make the actions ‘null or void’
Republican ideals – a prevention of arbitrary rule
such as a monarchy or a dictator
Divided government – when at least one of; the
presidency, the house of representatives or the
senate have a different political party to the others
Unified government – when both congress and the
presidency are all controlled by the same party
Gridlock – when both the president and congress
have difficulty exercising their powers meaning
little can be achieved
Gerrymandering – the manipulation of constituent
boundaries to give a political party an advantage
Tyranny of the minority - the ability of the minority
to exercise power over the interest of the majority
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