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Summary A* A Level Edexcel Politics - US POLITICS TOPIC 1 ESSAY PLANS
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A* A Level Edexcel Politics - US POLITICS TOPIC 1 ESSAY PLANS
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Evaluate the US ConstitutionDefine a constitution and outline what makes a good constitution from L and R sides
Framers were CL – designed it to stop one person getting too much power
Meant to limit gov to night watchmen state to ensure people’s rights
What makes a Constitution good?: don’t need to say both just say which one is preferred
L – Effective, Rights for everyone, majoritarian democracy
R – Limited gov, prevents tyranny, traditional, pluralist
Overall – Constitution is not effective because the FG has expanded and no longer has limited government but it protects
everyone’s rights
Idea of constitution is democratic will of the people – majoritarian democracy is wanted
Argument
Vagueness allows it to be manipulated
Summary
The Constitution covers the framework of powers of government but it is a short document so cannot cover all powers and roles of government.
This leads to means that there are significant disagreements over its meaning and interpretation
Examples
Article 3 which outlines the SC is not clear at all
Arguments for
This allows for flexibly and adaption to keep up with modern times e.g. elastic clause doesn’t define general welfare so can be manipulated by
Congress to mean anything
Example
Patriot Act was passed using general welfare clause even though it has been accused of going against the 4th amendment as it allowed for
unlawful searches without a warrant – this vagueness allowed the Constitution to pass legislation to strengthen security control to protect
against terrorism
Arguments against
Means the Supreme Court could become too powerful – the vagueness allows individual justices to apply their own ideologies when ruling on a
case. Each of the nine justices is associated with a particular ideology, consistently ruling with a clear bias. For example, liberal justices typically
interpret the Constitution to achieve liberal outcomes. A more detailed Constitution would give less room for this bias
Example
The 8th amendment ‘cruel and unusual’ phrase has been used by some justices to allow the death penalty, while others say the death penalty is
unconstitutional
Overall
The vagueness of the Constitution is good because it has allowed it to keep up with modern times through its flexibility. However, as Congress
have largely increased their power through elastic clauses it has gone against the philosophy of limited government which the US was founded
on. Furthermore, it means that the 9 judges on the SC have a large amount of power to decide on whether legislation should be allowed.
Amendment process is deliberately hard
Summary
Very lengthy process in which it is very difficult as both federal and state governments need to agree
Examples
This means it is very difficult to change it seen by the fact only 27th amendments have been passed in over 220 years with 2 cancelling each
other out and the first 10 were passed shortly after Constitution was created – so 15 operating in over 220 years.
Arguments for
Prevents tyranny of the majority as it ensures that only amendments with wide support can be added as you need ¾ of states to ratify the vote
Stops the gov changing it too easily and stops abuse of power
Example
The Flag Protection amendment has been proposed many times which would make illegal to desecrate the US flag – but goes against the 1st
amendment of freedom of speech – so this stops the gov from breaking the 1st amendment and abusing their powers
Arguments against
The amendment process is undemocratic and goes against the concept of majoritarian democracy
This is because to block an amendment only 13 of 50 states have to oppose it. This means it would be possible for the 13 smallest states to block
an amendment proposal
Example
Some amendments such as Flag Protection amendment have received over 50 % of votes in both House and Senate but have not reached the
super majority threshold
Overall
The process was deliberately designed by the Founding Fathers to ensure that few amendments could be passed unless they have massive
support from not only Congress but the people as well. However, the system means that it allows such a small percentage of voters to block the
views of the majority.
, Separation of powers and Checks and Balances
Summary
This is the complete division of the three branches of government in the US which are the presidency, Congress and Supreme Court. In the US no
one is allowed to be in more than one branch at the same time e.g. on becoming President in 2009 Obama had to give up his Senate Seat. So
that people cannot manipulate all the branches and control them
Checks and Balances is the where each branch of government has exclusive powers, limiting the ability of other branches to operate in an
unrestrained manner
Arguments for
This help encourage cooperation between the different branches and parties encouraging bipartisanship as it means they must work to
compromise on situations especially during times of divided governments.
Prevents government tyranny as it ensures power cannot be concentrated and means that one person cannot dominate the political system –
which the Founding Fathers saw as a guiding principle that allowed the preservation of the liberty of individuals in society.
Examples
After the legislative branches investigation into Watergate Nixon was forced to resign – threat of impeachment was why he resigned
The President can veto legislation which ensures that there is not tyranny from the government
Arguments against
It is used to limit government action for partisan reasons and cause political paralysis making government less effective
Example
e.g. when D had lost control of the Senate during Obama presidency Mitch McConnell blocked all legislation proposed by Obama
Overall
Separation of powers and Checks and balances stop tyranny of the government as it ensures that a single person can’t control all of the
government however it does decrease the efficiency of the government especially during times of the divided government due to increasing
partisan climate.
Conclusion
The amendment process prevents tyranny of the majority as it ensures that only amendments which very wide support can be passed however
this process is undemocratic as it allows such a small percentage of states to block the will of such a large majority going against the concept of
majoritarian democracy
Vagueness of the Constitution allows it to be updated and reflect modern times but does mean that the SC who interpret it can become too
powerful as they get to decide if legislation which is brought to them is constitutional.
Lastly, separation of powers and checks and balances ensures that through the complete divisions of government there is cooperation
encouraging bipartisanship and compromise on issues. However, it has been used to limit government action for partisan reasons leading to
political paralysis making government less effective.
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