A detailed set of revision notes for the US Government section of AQA A Level Politics Unit 2. Included are: a detailed set of notes for chapters 11,13,14,16 in the textbook, key definitions, key concepts in bold, real life case studies and examples, arguments for potential 25-mark essay questions....
,The US Constitution...........................................................3
Background, nature and significance of the constitution.............................................................3
The amendments process............................................................................................................ 3
Principles of the constitution....................................................................................................... 4
Federalism................................................................................................................................... 4
US Congress......................................................................6
Structure and powers of congress............................................................................................... 6
Functions of Congress.................................................................................................................. 7
Parties and committees in congress............................................................................................ 9
Representation in congress....................................................................................................... 10
The US Presidency...........................................................11
Powers of the president............................................................................................................. 11
The president’s relationship with other institutions...................................................................12
Approaches to presidential power............................................................................................. 13
Presidential profiles................................................................................................................... 15
Supreme Court................................................................16
Composition and appointments of scotus..................................................................................16
Judicial review............................................................................................................................ 17
Checks on the courts................................................................................................................. 17
Political significance of the courts.............................................................................................. 18
Landmark cases......................................................................................................................... 18
, The US Constitution
BACKGROUND, NATURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CONSTITUTION
• Establishes federalism in the US - necessary due to its large size
• 1776 - Declaration of Independence; 13 states break away from rule by the UK
• 1781 - Articles of Confederation; established a loose association of the 13 breakaway
states
The Philadelphia Convention
• 1787 - The US Constitution was formed by the 55 founding fathers at the Philadel-
phia Convention, they had originally intended to just revise the Articles of Confedera-
tion
• Article 1 - ‘All legislative powers herein should be vested in a Congress of the
United States which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives’ - cre-
ated the ‘necessary and proper’ clause, laid out how elections would take place +
said Congress would collect taxes and coin money. 3/5 clause, enslaved blacks
would count for 3/5 of the number of whites in a state
• Article 2 - ‘The executive power shall be vested in a President’ - established the
Presidential system + electoral college. Was a very small article in terms of words,
indicates that they didn’t want the president to be that important?
• Article 3 - Established SCOTUS, outlined judges terms of office + supremacy clause
(federal laws take priority over conflicting state laws)
• 3 compromises were made: 1) over the form of gvt. - the US was going to be fed-
eral 2) over the representation of states - Senate advantageous to small states,
House advantageous to big states 3) over choosing the president - some though he
should be appointed, others said elected, they cam up with the idea of an electoral
college
Codification
• The constitution is codified and entrenched due to the deliberately complicated
amendments process
• Some phrases are deliberately vague to allow for interpretive amendment by
SCOTUS e.g ‘necessary and proper’ ‘right to bear arms’ ‘to provide for the common
defence and general welfare of the United States’
• Not everything that happens today is in the constitution though. There are no: Judi-
cial review, primaries, EXOP, Congressional committees or cabinet laid out in the
constitution
THE AMENDMENTS PROCESS
• Made intentionally difficult by the founding fathers in order to keep the constitution
well entrenched
• An amendment needs: 2/3 approval from each chamber in Congress + ratification
by 3/4 of states where another supermajority is needed
• Only 33 amendments ever passed and only 27 ever ratified (10 of those were the Bill
of Rights which was basically mandatory). 2 are irrelevant as one is starting and one
is ending the Prohibition
• Most recent amendment to fail was in 1972 which was meant to guarantee equal
rights for women
• The constitution is rarely amended because: It is hard, Vagueness allows for natural
amendments, SCOTUS amend through JR, Cultural reasons - people very protective
over the constitution in the US
The Bill of Rights
• Ratified in 1791, aimed to protect citizens rights and liberties (liberal democracy)
• 1st amendment - Right to freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly
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