Summary
Summary A Level Politics - US Politics and Government
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Everything for A Level Politics - US government and politics. Etc; constitution, civil rights, congress, structure.....
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21Other collective organisations and groups
Think Tanks
● Collection of experts who provide advice and solutions to problems. Etc; Legatum Institute
proposed Britain leave the EU.
● Try to influence public policy and debate through direct access to politicians.
Lobbyists
● Paid to influence politicians.
● Political donations, gifts and meals. Work on behalf of organisations. Can be most
successful when they have access to politicians.
● Etc; Hanbury Strategy lobbied around Brexit
Corporations
● Corporations are consulted by the government on policies.
● Try to influence politicians by controlling sectors of the economy.
● Can fund political parties and hire lobbyists
● Etc; BMW and Airbus threatened to reduce investment if there was a hard Brexit.
The European Union
The EU & UK
Aims of the UK and its Impact on the UK
Aims of the EU
● Aims to integrate its member states to the four freedoms of free movement of goods,
capital, workers and freedom to provide services.
● Social Chapter - outlines 30 principles on rights
● Charter of Fundamental rights
EU Policy Making
● Treaties - binding agreements which set out rules and relationships. Etc; General Data
protection regulation
● Directives - goals EU members must achieve.
● Social Chapter - sets out regulations UK businesses must follow
● Working Time Directive - weekly working hours
● Working Time Directive - minimum holidays for employees
The Constitutional Framework of the US Government
The US Constitution
Nature of the US Constitution
Codified Constitution
● Structure - 7 articles and 27 amendments
● First 10 amendments are known as the Bill of Rights
● Codified - all written in a single document. Created by a group of men called the Founding
Fathers.
● Ratified in 1788 and came in force in 1789.
● Entrenched constitution - cannot be changed without a supermajority (2/3s of votes in
congress)
, 22
Vagueness
● Contains enumerated and implied powers.
● Enumerated powers - powers explicitly given to each branch of government. Article 1
Section 8 sets out enumerated powers of congress. Etcl tax citizens, issue a currency
● Implied powers - powers suggested. Article 1 Section 8 Clause 18 gives congress implied
powers. Etc; Make all laws necessary for its ability to rule is the elastic clause
Positives and Negatives
Positives
● Vagueness - allows it to adapt to the modern world as it can be interpreted to mean
different things.
● Simplicity - allows all citizens to know their rights.
● Clarity - clear structure of government with separation of powers
● Entrenched - preserves the intentions of the founding fathers and prevent drastic changes.
Negatives
● Article 1, ‘elastic clause.’ Caused regular conflicts between states and the federal
government due to uncertainty about the extent of federal government power.
● Vagueness - final say goes to the Supreme Court, hard to overturn the Supreme Court's
decision. The US judiciary is politicised and not impartial.
● Difficult to amend
Constitutional Framework
Articles 1-3
● Article 1 - grants all legislative powers to Congress. Election process and powers given.
● Article 1 - House of Representatives elected every 2 years and based on population,
Senate serves 6 year terms and ⅓ is elected every 2 years and 2 senators per state.
● Article 2 - grants executive powers to the president who serves 4 years.
● Article 3 - grants judicial powers to the Supreme Court. No term limit and appointed by the
president and approved by the senate.
Articles 4-7
● Article 4 - relationship between states. All states should respect the laws of other states
and all citizens should be treated fairly and equally in all other states.
● Article 5 - process to amend the constitution. Requires ratification of ¾ of states and ⅔ of
Congress. Or ¾ of state legislatures.
● Article 6 - supremacy clause. The Constitution is the highest law in the US.
● Article 7 - ratification process of the constitution
Amendments
● Amendment process - ⅔ of both houses of congress vote to introduce an amendment or
⅔ of states can call a constitutional convention. Require support (ratification) of ¾ of
states.
● Bill of Rights - 1st (freedom of speech and religion), 2nd (right to bear arms), 4th
(unreasonable search and seizures), 6th (right to trial by jury, right to a lawyer), 8th (right
not to have cruel and unusual punishments), 10th( (all power not granted to the federal
government is given to the states).
● Other amendments - 19th (women given right to vote), 22nd (limits president to 2 terms).
, 23
Advantages
● Populism - makes it hard for any one group to amend it.
● States rights - states with a small population can maintain their rights against larger states
Disadvantages
● States overrepresented - states have changing population and small states get an equal
say to large states
● Undemocratic - 13 states can block the will of the people
Principles of the US Constitution
Federalism
● Articles 1 - 4 sets out the powers of the states and federal government.
● 10th amendment gives all powers not given to the federal government to the states.
● Effective - each state has its own working government, states have the power to ratify
amendments.
● Not effective - powers given to the federal government and states is the vaguest area of
the constitution. Most states don't have a year round legislature so don't have the ability to
create law year round like congress. Congress can issue mandates that state
governments have to follow
Separation of Powers/Checks and Balances
● Separation of powers - no one branch of government should have too much power.
● Checks and balances - president can veto a law passed by congress but congress can
overturn the veto with ⅔ support. Congress can control funding, and can declare war. The
Supreme court can declare laws and executive actions unconstitutional.
● Is effective - executive orders can be nullified by congress as congressional laws are
more significant than executive orders. President is unable to fire judges. The Supreme
court can strike down laws as being unconstitutional.
● Not effective - president is the de facto leader of their party and has power over legislative
agenda, separation of powers means legislation is slow (Congressional gridlock),
increased use of executive orders bypassed legislative process.
Bipartisanship
● Need for supermajorities to pass amendments or overturn a presidential veto.
Limited Government
● How the government is limited - separation of powers and checks and balances restrict
the power of the federal government.
● Codification and entrenchment of the constitution prevents the government imposing their
will on the citizens.
● The Bill of Rights limits the power of the government by protecting the rights of the
individual and the states.
● Is it effective - supreme court has struck down legislation.
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