Constructing the Constitution - AP Government and Politics

Article VI of the constitution outlines that the constitution, treaties made, and laws of congress shall be the supreme law of the land. This clause ensures that state and local governments recognize the supremacy of the constitution and national law.

John Locke wrote that man was endowed with the natural rights of life, liberty, and property. Thomas Jefferson changed it to Pursuit of Happiness when he wrote the Declaration of Independence.

The American system is often described as a democracy, but a more technical definition is a representative republic, where the people elect representatives to reflect their interests in a congress. A true democracy is when citizens have direct voting power, as in some Ancient Greek city-state governments.

The clear and present danger test first arose after World War I. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. authored this test. The clear and present danger test put limits on first amendment rights, such as freedoms of assembly, press, and speech.

John Locke is the correct answer. This was not a tricky question, it, \[un\]fortunately just requires rote memorization. Remember: popular sovereignty means that we the people elect representatives to rule for us, and they rule with our consent.

The other political philosophers can all be found in the constitution (not their names, of course, but their political ideas):

Isaac Newton: Action/reaction—checks and balances

Montesquieu: separation of powers between a legislature, executive, and judiciary

Hume: pluralism

Hobbes: elements of social contract theory

Baron de Montesquieu penned the idea of separation of powers in a political treatise. The Founders, to a large extent, followed his model—an executive, legislature, and a judiciary, each independent of one another. This was a fairly novel approach. Take Britain, for example. Britain has a unitary system of government (a constitutional monarchy, in fact), whereby nearly all of the power is concentrated in the legislature. The British legislature, “Parliament,” is bicameral, consisting of an upper (House of Lords) and lower (House of Commons) chamber. The executive is called the Prime Minister (PM), and comes from the legislature itself. What’s more, the PM is beholden to the legislature—in other, oversimplified, words, the PM is subject to the legislature. Until quite recently, the highest court was technically part of the legislature as well—the House of Lords consisted of “Law Lords” which interpreted the law.

Our government, however, operates completely differently. Other than impeachment, the President is not accountable to the legislature; he is beholden to the voters (technically the Electoral College). Similarly, other than being confirmed by the Senate, the Supreme Court is separate from the legislature. Thus, the Founders completely broke with British tradition and created the Constitution \[in part\] based on Montesquieu’s theory of separation of power.

The three elements of Constitutionalism are limited government, rule of law, and the fundamental worth of each individual. The framers believed that a government limited in power would be more responsible for its actions. The rule of law declares the Constitution "the supreme law of the land" or "higher law," meaning that no one or no other law is above the Constitution. Everyone is held accountable to the same standards outlined in the Constitution. The fundamental rights of each individual are most obviously observed in the Bill of Rights. This concept guarantees rights and liberties to each individual.

The Individualism theory of politics supports a procedural view of justice. A procedural view of justice states that a political system is only legitimate as long as it applies fair rules and procedures equally to all people. The Communitarian theory, on the other hand, supports a substantative view of justice. This means that justice is obtained through fairness of obtained results (fair procedures are not a measure of justice, but rather the results of procedures).

Anti-federalists strongly supported power to the states and the bill of rights. Anti-federalists were strongly opposed to the idea of a centralized, powerful authority figure. Rather, they wanted power to be left in the states. As a result, they supported a small national government that would be more responsive to the people. For these reasons, anti-federalists did not support the adoption of the Constitution. The anti-federalists also wanted a Bill of Rights to ensure their liberties without government interference. Upon adopting the Constitution, a Bill of Rights was added as a compromise.

As part of the checks and balances and separation of powers, the Founders, wanted war-making decision making to rest with Congress, the body that represents the people. That way, war would not be waged at the whim of an executive.

John Locke is often considered the grandfather of the constitution. He wrote that people are endowed with natural rights of life, liberty, and property. Thomas Jefferson when drafting the Declaration of Independence, borrowed directly from these ideas when he wrote life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The Founding Fathers believed in the republican form of government. A republic is a system of government where individuals elect representatives to speak for them in the government. They were skeptical of democracy, which is technically defined as direct involvement of the people in policy making.

James Madison, echoing the writings of Aristotle, argued that the most enduring divisions within society are between the rich and the poor. Therefore, mixed systems are best to govern and to balance these factions.

McCulloch v. Maryland was the first constitutional case in 1803 to deal with interpreting exactly what powers rested with the national government. The Necessary and Proper clause was interpreted to give the national government implied powers beyond those powers explicitly stated.

As part of the separation of powers, ultimate authority over the military was to be given to the president. That way, the military would always be subordinated to civilian authority.

The conflict between Federalists and Antifederalists was the major thread of late eighteenth century American politics. A major sticking point was the need for a Bill of Rights in the Constitution. Students should recall that Federalists like Alexander Hamilton did not see a need for a Bill of Rights to be added, while Antifederalists James Madison spearheaded the amendments.

Debates between the Anti-Federalists and the Federalists can be considered the first political party debates in America. Anti-Federalists disliked the creation of the constitution because they feared it was creating a too powerful central government. The Federalists favored the constitution due to issues with the Articles of Confederation and its lack of a strong central government. A compromise was reached with the formation of the Bill of Rights which was designed to protect civil liberties of all citizens.

The 4th amendment is more commonly known for its protection from unreasonable search and seizure, it is part of the Bill of Rights, which was designed for the protection of individual rights.

The center of the debate between the Anti-Federalists and the Federalist was the power that the central government would have. Anti-Federalists argued for the protection of states and individual rights. Anti-Federalists such as Mason were began to support the Constitution when the bill of rights was added to protect states and individual rights.