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American Institutions
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Lecture notes of 16 pages for the course US civilisation at Bordeaux - Université Montaigne
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THE CONSTITUTION.(Preamble of the U.S Constitution) "We the people of the United States, in order to form a
more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common
defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves
and our prosperity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of
America."
American Institution: 1 federal government - 50 estate governments - 89 476 local
governments. The federal government is a central one as a nation. It interacts with other
nations and is organized by the U.S Constitution. The president can be considered as (and
is) the most powerful man/woman.
Amendment: a change or addition to a legal or statutory document, for instance the U.S
Constitution: the 1st amendment to the U.S Constitution protects the press.
Bill of Rights: a statement of the rights of a class of people. In the United States of
America, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, ratified in 1791 are guaranteeing
such rights as the freedoms of speech, assembly and worship (religion)
Democracy: a system of a government by the whole population or all the eligible
members of a state, typically through elected representatives.
Federal: a system of a government in which several states form a unity but remain
independent in internal affairs.
Green Card: in the U.S, a permit allowing a foreign national to live and work permanently
in the country.
Jeopardize: put someone or something into a situation in which there is a danger of loss,
harm or failure.
Ratify: sign or give formal consent to a treaty, contract or agreement, making it officially
valid.
Republic: a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected
representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.
The Constitution isn't the first document: the first one is the Declaration of Independence
on July 4th, 1776 (July 4th is now the Independence day).
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,The Boston Tea Party (1773) is a symbol of unrest and discontent which had been growing
in the U.S.A because the British crown didn't want the colonies to become too powerful to
independence, so they maintained them in a peripheral role.
After their independence, the colonies had to invent a common form of government: "the
articles of confederation".
The first attempt was based on the creation of a lonely chamber which dealt with both the
legislative branch and the executive one. But it encountered many issues: indeed, this
required the unanimity between the states, plus, they had no revenues because they just
couldn't create taxes. Georges Washington Kennedy called it "a rope of sand»: it was
actually likely to break up whenever tensions appeared.
Then, because of the difficulties to organize trade, food riots exploded all around the
country. It appeared that the powers of the central government needed to be redefined.
In 1787, a Constitutional Convention was created. It aim was to improve the existing
system of government. They also created the Constitution, ratified in 1788 in Philadelphia
and effective in 1789.
The federalist papers organized a very effective press campaign made of letters and
pamphlets in order to convince people that the new government would be right for the
U.S and coherent with the principles of the American nation.
The Constitution defines the powers of the system of the government, but also its limits.
Moreover, it is a written document on which this system is exposed. So this document can
be viewed as a form of government, as a piece of paper, as a national symbol (though it
was hardly debated at the time), or, nowadays, even as a sacred text.
The Tea Party is a movement which celebrates the Constitution. It believes the U.S should
go back to the Constitution time.
Politicians who signed/created the Constitution are now known as the "Founding Fathers",
the people who built the United States of America.
There are 3 organizing principles: popular sovereignty, federalism and balancing the
powers.
There are also 3 types of powers for the government:
- the enumerated powers : levy/taxes, coin/money, regulate interstate commerce, set up
federal courts of justice, raise an army/declare war, make all laws necessary to enforce
the Constitution.
- The implicit powers: all that the congress needs to enforce the Constitution.
- The implied powers: the government can do whatever he thinks necessary to apply the
Constitution.
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, The States, responding to this third type of power, guaranteed their own powers by the
10th amendment: "The powers not delegated to the U.S by the Constitution (enumerated
powers), nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to
the people", for instance: death penalty.
So the powers are either defined by the Constitution (federal powers), or guaranteed by
the Bill of Rights (States powers).
In order to separate the powers, they created 3 distinct branches:
- The legislative one (the Congress) which creates laws
- The executive one (the President) which applies the laws
- The judicial one (the Courts) which checks the laws are constitutionals and that the law
is applied properly.
Each branch has a certain control/power over the 2 others.
The Bill of Rights.
It was created and ratified immediately after the Constitution (1789-91) and is made of
10 amendments. It was originally meant as a guarantee against tyranny (avoid the
government to become too powerful).
First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a
redress of grievances". This means the government has nothing to do with religion and
also it cannot censure.
Second Amendment: "A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free
State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed". This
amendment is nowadays used to defend the right to own and carry a gun.
Amendments 3 to 8: deal with the judicial protection, protection against unwarranted
searches as well as "cruel and unusual" punishments.
Ninth Amendment: "The enumeration in the Constitution of certain Rights, shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retrained by the people".
Tenth Amendment: "The powers not delegated to the U.S by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people".
These two amendments guarantee the rights of the people/States.
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