POLS 1101 1st Edition Lecture 4 Outline of Last Lecture I. I. Constitutional Convention Debate A.Virginia PlanB.New Jersey PlanII. The Great Compromise III. Three Branches of GovernmentA. Checks and BalancesOutline of Current Lecture I. AmendmentsII. Electoral CollegeIII. Federalism Current LectureI. The AmendmentsThe constitution contains several amendments, which involve a two-step process. This process involves proposal and ratification. Because this process is very difficult and arduous, only a few amendments have been actually passed. They have only ever been passed by 2/3 of congress voting.This chart can help explain the process: Proposal Stage Ratification Stage2/3 vote by congress ¾ of state legislature OR ORNational convention called Constitutional conventions incalled by congress at 2/3 of ¾ of states state legislationThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.II. Electoral CollegeThe Electoral College is the institution that officially elects the president and vice president of the United States every 4 years.- The minimum number of electoral college votes in each state is 3- To get a certain state’s electoral college votes, take the number of congressional districts they have and add two- Redraw boundary lines every 10 years- Gerrymandering is to manipulate the boundaries of an electoral constituency so as to favor one party or classIII. Federalism (Intro)- Over 89,000 government units in the U.S.- Federalism is a division of sovereign power between federal governments and state governments- Systems of governments:-Unitary government-Federation-Confederation Unitary System:- Authority centralized - State and local government administered from authority delegated by central authority Confederate:- Authority held by individual states- States delegate authority to central government - Ex: Switzerland, U.S. under Articles of
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