Democracy Monarchy Anarchy Oligarchy Governability a govt that is not to strong or weak Government purpose to secure our rights Unless it s too strong then it will trample on our rights Unless it s too weak can t protect your rights or personal safety Articles of Confederation Made sense at that time United States citizens thought of themselves as part of their state not part of America as a whole Gave a lot of power to the states almost no power to the national govt National govt didn t have the power to make treaties to other nations to raise an army to collect taxes No president no courts just the congress 2 3 of the states to make a vote 1787 55 delegates met to reconsider govt structure James Madison Benjamin Franklin Alexander Hamilton Abraham Baldwin George Washington A lot of them but not all agreed they had a good Plan B Articles of Confederation abolished Constitution introduced Preamble begins with We the People First time govt is made by the people not the King or Queen From native americans States goal of new govt To perform a more perfect union To establish justice courts To ensure domestic tranquility within our borders To provide for the common defense power to defend our shores To promote the general welfare wellbeing To secure the blessings of our liberty First 3 articles branches of govt Strong legislature 1st article is longest Don t want strong executive unlike a King 4 6 Federalism 5 amendment process 7 Ratification Article 1 Bicameral legislature Senate House of Representatives Great Compromise o House of Representatives proportionate to the number of people in the state o Senate 2 from each state to provide equality each senator has 1 vote House of Representatives vote every 2nd year South wanted slaves to vote so they have more votes North thinks they shouldn t be counted because they aren t treated equally North wanted slaves counted for the taxes but South doesn t want to Both sides are being hypocritical in order to make the situation good for them 3 5 compromise each slave counts as 3 5 of a person for both taxation and representation o we re all equal except some of us are only 3 5 of a person o Changed later with the 14th amendment after the Civil War Speaker of the House from the majority party of the House House has the sole power of impeachment 17th amendment to elect Senate directly by the people President of senate VP of US shall have no vote unless there s a tie o How often there s a tie depends if there is an equal number of each party o President usually tells VP what to vote Senate House vote on a law exact same wording President signs it and becomes law o If vetoed it goes back and can be overridden but takes 2 3 Habeas Corpus if you re arrested you have the right to be informed of your crime in front a judge no ex post facto laws after the fact can t say laws start in the past Section 8 Powers of Congress expressed enumerated o Ex provide defense borrow money regulate commerce regulate trade coin money establish post offices and post roads to promote progress of science create tribunals inferior to the supreme court declare war not president raise armies etc Last part of Section 8 Congress has the power to make all laws that are necessary and proper for carrying out the aforementioned powers Implied powers o Not specifically listed common sense o Ex buildings to coin money drafts for the armies o Tricky because people push it too far US Supreme Court can keep Congress in its place so it doesn t go too far decide if what they re doing is constitutional or unconstitutional