98 POINTS!!! Essay response: explain and give examples of the six principles of the United States constitution. (popular sovereignty, limited government, separation of powers, checks and balances, judicial review, and federalism)
Answers
Explanation:
Popular Sovereignty
The first principle of the Constitution is Popular Sovereignty. This principal means that the people are in charge. We can see this in the constitution when it says, "We the people..." as the first sentence in the Preamble. This quote works as an example for the legislative AND executive branch because the people vote for both representatives in the Senate/House of Reps. and President.
Limited Government
The first principle of the Constitution is Limited Government. Limited Government means that everyone is bound by the US Constitution and ensures that one branch of government will never have too much power One example for the Legislative Branch is from the Origination Clause, which says, "All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with the amendments as on other bills." This means that the H.O.R and Senate need approval from each other before a bill can pass.
An example for the Executive Branch is "The president shall have the power, by and with the consent of the Senate to make treaties..."(Article 2, Section 2). This means that the president must get an "OK" from the Senate before making treaties. This way, the president won't be able to make treaties if the rest of the government doesn't want to and ensures that it is a good idea.
Separation of Powers
The third principle is Separation of Powers. This means that the branches have separate powers that make, enforce, or interpret laws. This principle makes it so that no branch can become too powerful, or take control of other branches,
One example for the Legislative Branch (who make the laws), is "The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments"(Art. 1 Sect. 3 Clause 6). This means that the House of Representatives can impeach the president, but the Senate holds the impeachment trials. This ensures that if one part of the Legislative branch thinks that the president is bad, they can't be the only ones who thinks so in order to get rid of him/her.
An example for the Executive branch is, "The Vice President of the United States shall be the President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided" (Art. 1 Sect. 3 Cl. 4). This means that the Vice President will lead the Senate, but he will be unable to vote unless there is a tie. This ensures that he/she will not have too much control over what the Senate decides.
Checks and Balances
The fourth principle of the Constitution is Checks and Balances. This means that other branches can preform controls or "checks" on other branches.
An example for the Legislative branch is, "Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States..." (Art. 1, Sect. 7, Cl. 2). This means that once the Bill has been passed between the House of Representatives and the Senate (legislative), it must then be checked by the President (executive) before it can become a law.
Republicanism
The fifth principal is Republicanism. Republicanism means that the people have the right to vote for representatives.
An example in the Constitution for the Legislative Branch is, "...members chosen every second year by the people of the United States..." (Art. 1, Sect. 2). This gives the people the right to vote for their representatives in the House of Representatives (who serve 2 year terms).
Federalism
The final Principal of the US Constitution is Federalism. Federalism means that the power is shared between Natural and State Governments.
An example for the Legislative Branch and the Executive Branch is the 10th Amendment, which in summary means that anything that was not given to the Federal Government or banned by the Constitution is a power of the States. States are also not allowed do do certain things that the Federal Government can, such as; form alliances with foreign governments, coin money, declare war, and impose duties on imports or exports.