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A-Level Politics Paper 3
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Pearson Edexcel Politics Paper 3
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POLITICS PAPER 3 2022Evaluate the view that the principles of the US Constitution are no longer upheld
(disagree) Limited Government: The checks and balances and the separation of powers in
the Constitution are a check on populist power and therefore retain limited government.
- Populist politicians will be elected and the founding fathers understood this but
nevertheless the constitutional framework ensures that civil liberties are protected as
the bicameral Congress counters the "ambition" of the populist residents such as Trump
while equally the President can veto the Congress to "counter" the ambitions of
Senators and Representatives that challenge the principle of limited government.
- On the right there have been attempts to amend the Constitution to define marriage as
purely heterosexual whereas on the left there have been attempts to revisit 2nd
Amendment rights and both sets of efforts failed because the Framers entrenched the
Constitution which means that changing the Constitution requires supermajorities
meaning rights can't simply be stripped away from citizens and the principle of limited
government remains.
EVAL: Limited government hasn't been upheld since the end of WWII which has seen
the rise of a security state as seen by the protection of the 'homeland' which has
resulted in the FBI, NSA and CIA all have violated citizens' rights by the NSA violating
Americans 4th Amendment rights under the PRISM programme which means that there
are some loopholes in the Constitution that allows for excessive government.
(agree) Federalism: Bush expanded the power of the federal government after 9/11 in
which he set up the Department of Homeland Security and a new 'security state'
apparatus.
- Bush also centralised to deal with educational inequality as he effectively nationalised
education policy via the No Child Left Behind Act which increased half the budget of the
Department of Education.
- 'Big government conservatism' seemed to reach its peak with the Bush's order to the
Treasury to nationalise America's two biggest mortgage companies in 2008 at the
height of the Great Recession to stop a cataclysmic collapse of the economy.
- Obama also abandoned federalism during his first term in office as seen by the
Affordable Care Act forced the states to provide healthcare for uninsured Americans
and the Wall Street Reform Act regulated the financial services industry.
- Trump did centralise power also as seen during the coronavirus crisis where the
federal government centralised distribution of medical equipment and also provided a
new furlough scheme for businesses and the unemployed.
- Centralisation also occurred when the executive agency ICE was ordered to ignore
'sanctuary cites' in Blue States and to conduct deportations of illegal immigrations who
had committed criminal offences within the US.
- Biden has already established centralisation by passing a $1.9tn stimulus package
and has also continued Trump's centralised response to covid.
,EVAL: The Obama industry did try to offer states more power particularly at first via the
$800bn Stimulus Bill following the Great Recession in which a third of which went to the
states. Trump promoted states' rights in environmental law which weakened the role of
the federal Environmental Protection Agency which allowed the restoration of coal
mining in West Virginia for example. Trump also promoted states' rights by nominating 3
SCJs who are likely to expand states' rights at the expense of the federal government
especially on abortion. Federalism has clearly been upheld by the states having state
governors which have allowed unique policies in different states such as the legalisation
of cannabis in Colorado.
(disagree) Checks and balances remain ineffective: Checks on the executive branch
have remained effective as seen by Clinton being impeached during his second term
and Trump being impeached twice.
- Congress' ability to block legislation has also been effective as seen by Trump's
Mexico Border Wall being repeatedly blocked by both the House and Senate from
2017-21.
- The Congress and POTUS can determine the composition of the judiciary meaning the
legislature/executive can add additional judges which was seen by Biden stating during
the 2020 election cycle that he might consider adding more judges should the SCOTUS
overturn Roe v Wade.
EVAL: Although the Supreme Court has effectively used its ability to declare acts of
Congress unconstitutional effectively it tore up parts of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform
Act unconstitutional in United Citizens v FEC. The Congress can propose amendments
to the Constitution however this has been ineffective as a result of the super-majorities
required to pass these changes.
(agree) Bipartisanship and compromise: Rather than compromise and bipartisanship
there is hyper-partisanship and "abnormal behaviour".
- Presidents are elected but the Congress refuses to negotiate over key parts if their
legislative agenda as seen by Obama being elected in 2012 partly to pursue
bipartisanship immigration reform which was blocked by House Republicans.
- President's now resort to the power of the pen using the federal bureaucracy to enact
policy without authorisation from Congress as seen by Obama claiming he has a "pen
and a phone" signing executive orders such as DACA and Trump ordered the US
military to start building the Mexico Border Wall.
- This era of hyper-partisanship is created by partisan media and MOCs and presidents
refuse to compromise for fear of criticism from partisan media such as Republicans who
compromise being labelled RINOs.
- Special interest influence has also caused this as politicians are so reliant on support
and finance from special interests that they are unwilling to take an independent
position on many issues such as Republicans being unable to compromise over gun
control as they will lose support and funding from NRA.
,EVAL: Compromise has occurred in recent years such as Obama working with the
Republicans to pass Every Student Succeeds Act.
Evaluate the view that the Constitution fails to effectively protect freedom
(agree) The surveillance state: Since the end of WWII the US has seen the rise of a
surveillance and security state.
- To protect the 'homeland' the FBI, NSA and CIA have all violated citizens' rights at
times ignoring the Bill of Rights.
- To exemplify some scholars argue that the NSA violates Americans' 4th Amendment
rights by collecting all bulk internet data under the PRISM programme which was made
possible by the 9/11 era PATRIOT Act.
- Such abuses of power were exposed by the former NSA analyst Edward Snowden.
- All such abuses are justified in the name of 'national security' and are often
constitutional.
- This means that there are some clear loopholes in the Constitution that allow for
excessive government power of the kind the Founding Fathers aimed to limit.
- To many civil liberty advocates such as the PG ACLU the Constitution has been
unable to prevent the rise of tyrannical security and surveillance state.
EVAL: In many parts of the document the language of the Constitution is so clear in
terms of establishing limited government that civil liberties are securely protected.
Although the federal and state governments do occasionally 'abridge' civil liberties the
Constitution allows for speedy judicial review. Further, the SC has curtailed the powers
of the surveillance state in Riley v California which stated that the warrantless search
and seizure of digital contents of a cell phone during an arrest is unconstitutional.
(disagree) Federalism: The US is a system of dual sovereignty with democracy
strongest at the state level.
- Governors are elected on four-year cycles and under the 10th Amendment many
powers are 'reserved to the states'.
- At a state level there tends to be much less gridlock and some interesting experiments
have taken place -> in 2020 cannabis has been fully legalised in California and
Colorado, the state of Oregon has legalised assisted dying and Texas and Florida have
implemented a 0% state income tax.
- The decentralisation of power to the states has allowed for a diverse political culture
that is more representative and response which allows for freedom as it prevents a
"tyranny of the majority".
EVAL: Experiments don't always have positive outcomes. For women living in Texas the
Heartbeat Act strips them of abortion rights. For the LGBT community in Ohio before
Obergefell gay marriage was banned and LGBT rights were limited. The 2nd
Amendment rights has lead to some people being restricted from the right to life. Thus,
the decentralisation of power is not necessarily a positive for democracy.
, (disagree) The safeguard of the Constitutional Amendment Process: On the right there
have been many attempts to amend the Constitution to define marriage as purely
heterosexual whereas on the left there have been attempts to revisit the Second
Amendment and the Right to Bear Arms however they have failed due to the
entrenched constitution.
- The Congress route requires two-thirds consent in both houses in the proposition
stage followed by three-quarters consent during ratification by the states.
- This is an exceedingly high threshold that ensures widespread consensus is
necessary to change the Constitution.
- This system has resulted in just 27 amendments to the Constitution and many issues
such as abortion rights and gay rights have been settled by the Supreme Court.
- Resultingly, rights cannot be simply stripped away from citizens and the principle of
limited government remains.
EVAL: Even when there is a significant majority in favour of constitutional reforms such
as protecting women's reproductive rights via the proposed Equal Rights Amendment
constitutional reform can't happen due to the high barrier for constitutional change.
(disagree) Checks and balances between Congress and Presidency: The House of
Representatives and Senate both have the power to effectively veto legislation
proposed by the POTUS meaning the POTUS must compromise or fail in their
legislative aims as seen by Trump's Mexico Border Wall being repeatedly blocked by
both the House and Senate from 2017-21.
- The Senate has the subpoena power meaning the state can demand all documents
concerning the executive branch's activities which means law breaking by the executive
branch is exposed as seen by the CIAs use of torture post 9/11 was exposed by a 6,700
page report by the Senate Intelligence Committee which forced Obama to ban torture
that had been used during the Bush Jr administration.
- The Federal Courts can also rule executive orders unconstitutional which means that
this limits the POTUS' ability to act unilaterally with Congressional approval as seen by
Trumps Muslim Travel Ban being ruled unconstitutional by federal courts during his first
year in office.
- The Congress can propose amendments to the Constitution which means that the SC
would have no ability to obstruct the will of Congress should their proposal be ratified as
seen by the landmark SC case of Dred-Scott that ruled slavery was legal was
overturned by the 13th amendment of the Constitution that banned slavery.
EVAL: The President can veto legislation meaning one of the key powers of the
presidency can be to stop the legislative agenda of Congress which was seen when
Trump vetoed an attempt by Congress to block arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The
Congress/POTUS can determine the composition of the courts meaning the current
Conservative court could overturn Roe v Wade whilst maintaining 2nd Amendment
rights.
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