Tag: constitution

Posted in American History, essay, history, Politics

The Consitution: Article One (Part 1)

Posted on by sokorra

The Constitution in its first article goes about the design of our legislature.

Section One: Congress

This section is brief.  In fact, It’s probably shorter than the paragraph I’m writing about it.  It essentially gives the powers to legislate to ‘Congress’  and explains its design. In the United States, we have a bicameral legislature – meaning we have two governing bodies.  In the original Articles of the Confederation, we were unicameral and each state got one vote when it assembled. There was quite a debate about staying that way.  However, in the end, it was decided that a bicameral design was best for the new nation.

Section Two: The House Continue reading “The Consitution: Article One (Part 1)” →

Posted in American History, essay, Politics

New Series: The Articles of the Constitution

Posted on by sokorra

Since I did a series on the amendments of the constitution, I decided to do a series on the actual articles.  The seven sections of our constitution that tell us how our government is set up and the basic rules it is guided by.

This page will be set up as both the introductory Post (as of July 9, 2016) and afterwards as a master-post of all the posts I write about it.  This may become more than just seven posts, as each article has sections that might require their own post, or in the case of the 7th, discussion on who actually signed.

I hope you enjoy this series of blog posts.

Introduction:

In 1776 the Continental Congress, a group made up of representatives from various colonies in British North America, got together to write and release a document known as the Declaration of Independence.  This was already a year into what would become known as the American Revolution.  On November 15, 1777 they adopted the Articles of Confederation to base their new government on.  It was not untill March 1, 1781 that it was finally ratified by all 13 of the original states.

However, it was soon found to be problematic as it had too weak of a central government.  The Central government relied heavily on the states for finding funds to fund all their responsibilities and also required unanimous votes during key issues, which caused many problems because as with today, hardly ever is America 100% unanimous.  As a result, a Constitutional Convention was brought together to work on a new and improved constitution in 1787 with delegates from 12 of the states (Rhode Island stayed home).  Two years later on March 4, 1789, the new and improved (and still existing) Constitution of the United States was created.

However the balance of power between the central and state governments remains a heated debate in American Politics.  In the years since the creation of the current constitution of the United States, the government has found it necessary to “amend” it 27 times to strengthen or restrict the central governments powers.  On occasion it was a necessary need due to social improvement, and other times it was simply to change to suit the needs of a continuously changing people.

It has one of the most well-known opening lines.  Here is the Preamble:

We The People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution fo the United States of America.

Continue Reading:

Article One  Part Two  Part Three

Constitution:  Impeachment

Article Two  Part Two 
Article Three
Article Four
Article Five
Article Six
Article Seven

The Amendment Series

Intro | One | Two | Three  | Four  | Five  

Six | Seven & Eight | Nine & Ten

Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen | Fifteen

Sixteen | Seventeen | Eighteen | Nineteen | Twenty

Twenty One | Twenty Two | Twenty Three | Twenty Four | Twenty Five

Twenty Six | Twenty Seven | Unratified

The Constitution Tag  (All posts related to the Us Constitution, the Articles of the Confederation and the Amendments to the Constitution)

Sources/Other Reading Material/Further Reading

Articles of Confederation (Library of Congress)

The Constitution of the United States  (Archives.Gov)

The Constitution (WhiteHouse.gov)

Posted in American History, essay, history, Politics

The Amendements: The Unratifieds

Posted on by sokorra

There are several amendments that have not passed congress.  There are amendments that passed but failed to ratify before their time was up.  And there is even one or two that are still floating around timeless from the 1700s.

Since there are several of them, I’m going to put them under a read more due to length.

Continue reading “The Amendements: The Unratifieds” →

Posted in American History, essay, history, Politics

The Amendments: Twenty-Seven

Posted on by sokorra

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened.

(source)

This amendment is interesting.  It is the last amendment passed, yet it was one of the first suggested.  It was originally proposed in 1789.  That was 227 years ago.  It was only ratified in 1992, which was only 24 years ago.  James Madison proposed it, yet somehow it took (according to wiki) 202 years, 7 months, and 12 days to ratify.   Seven states ratified it by 1792 (almost half the states in the nation at that time).  However, the ratification process seemed to lag just behind the increase of states, requiring it to need more and more states.

There are currently only 4 states that have never ratified it.   Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, and Pennsylvania.  Not that they really need to – its already law.

It was a bit of a controversy when it finally became ratified, as Congress had never dealt with a 200 year old amendement.  Some wanted it reviewed for validity.  However the Supreme Court held that any amendment not given a ratification deadline can be ratified at any point.

 

 

Posted in American History, essay, history, Politics, Television shows

The Amendments: Twenty Six

Posted on by sokorra

This is a relatively easy amendment to talk about as it simply is that people, ages 18 years or older, are allowed to vote.

SECTION 1

The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.

SECTION 2

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The amendments spend quite a few words on reminding us that we have the right to vote.  Previous amendments have added that it doesn’t matter what our race, gender, or ability to pay fees are, we have the right to vote if we are an American Citizen.  This Amendment adds that as long as an American citizen is of age (18), they have the right to vote.

This is important, because for many 18 year olds this year, their first opportunity will be to vote.  If you are 18 (or new to voting) and wondering how to register and/or vote, here are a few links to help you out:

Register to Vote (USA.Gov)

This website can help answer your questions (including about Absentee Ballots, which may be important if you are going to college away from your polling area and can’t get back to vote on election day).

The link takes you to their page on registering, but it also has many informative pages on voting and elections.

CanIVote.com 

This website allows you search and find out if you are registered to vote.  I tried it out and it sent me to my state’s services which told me I am registered (although apparently not to the party I thought I was.

The Voting Information Project 

This website is put together by a group of organizations including Google, and state governments to help gather information to help voters inform themselves on items they find on their ballots.

You can also google your state and voting information to find out information that specific to your states.   Remember that some states (like my own) have Voter ID laws and other such specifications on how you register and/or verify your vote.

The first step to changing the way your government does things is to participate in voting.  On average, only 60% of eligible voters actually participate during Presidential elections.  Its even less during midterm elections (about 40%) and even less than that when you are in between those two election years.  We can’t complain about not being heard when we don’t take advantage of what is already there to hear us.

Please register to vote and take advantage of your right to participate in your government.

And you can always listen to Martin Sheen:

Posted in American History, essay, history, Politics, Television shows

The Amendments: Twenty-Five

Posted on by sokorra

For those of you who watched  West Wing (or you are up on your amendments), you may know what the 25th amendment is set up to do.  Several episodes of the television series mentions the amendment.  For those of you aren’t aware, The Twenty-fifth amendment deals with Presidential succession.

SECTION 1

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

SECTION 2

Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

SECTION 3

Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

SECTION 4

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

(Source)

 

Before this amendment was passed by Congress in 1965 (and ratified in 1967), the succession to president had been vague as far as the constitution went.  There were of course precedent since by this time 8 Presidents had died in office, and several times the Vice Presidency was vacant.

However, before this amendment it wasn’t known what the exact line was.  Article 1, Section II, Clause 6 specifies that the Vice President will recieve the duties, and if there isn’t a Vice President, then Congress had the duty of selecting an Acting President.

When William Henry Harrison became the first President to die in office, people debated if the Vice President was really a President, or just an Acting President.  John Tyler took the oath of office, making the “Tyler Precedent” for Vice Presidents becoming full fledged presidents upon assuming the powers of their predecessor.

The Twenty-Fifth amendment clarifies the line of secession, and what Congress can do should something happen.

Section One reiterates that should a President die, resign or be removed from office for some reason, the Vice President should assume the title and duties of the Presidency.  This was also stated in the 12th amendment

Section Two clarifies that should a vacancy appear in the Vice Presidency, the President must present Congress with a nomination for them to confirm.

Section Three and Four  get a little more involved.  The example in the West Wing is that Jed Bartlet’s daughter had recently been kidnapped.  Reasonably, Jed was overwealmed and decided he could not be a worried father and a President at the same time right then and drafted a notice to Congress that he felt unfit to uphold his duties.

However, right before this event they had been without a Vice President for awhile as Bartlet’s first Vice President had resigned after a sex-scandal.  Thus the job went to the Speaker of the House, Glenn Walken.

Basically this section of the amendment lists what should happen if over the course of the Presidents term he feels he can not hold up his job.  It could be something like Bartlet’s emotional tormirl or perhaps a serious surgery that might keep him out of work for an extended time period.  If this happens, the President can write in to Congress and temporary the Vice President will assume the role of Acting President till it is determined that the President can resume, by either writing another note to Congress.

The Vice President and the President’s senior officers can also write to congress and claim he is unfit for duty.  At this point the Vice President would become Acting President.  The President could refute this and Congress would then have a month or so to review and make a decision on whether the President really is ready to resume his duties.

Other sources:

Article 1, Section II, Clause 6 (WIKI)

Presidential Sucession Acts (WIKI)

Presidential Sucession Act of 1941 (Senate)

 

Posted in American History, essay, Politics, Uncategorized

The Amendments: Twenty-Four

Posted on by sokorra

The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax.

SECTION 2

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

(Source)

The Twenty-fourth amendment to the consitution once again deals with voting rights.  While the 14th and 15th  amendments gave equal protection to voters, it wasn’t till the 24th amendment that Congress made it unconsitutional to charge voting fees.  Known as the poll tax, in largely effected the lower income and minority communities who couldn’t afford to pay the fees, thus couldn’t vote.  In 1964, there were still 4 states retiaining the poll tax.  Virginia, Alabama, Texas, Mississippi and Arkansas.  At first it was argued that it only effected federal elections, however in 1966 the Supreme Court struck down that argument, claiming the 24th amendment did not limit it to Federal elections, and frankly the poll tax violated the 14the amendment.

Discriminary voting regluations are still debated today, including the Photo ID Laws several states have put into action to prevent voting fraud.  Many however believe it unfiarly affects low income and minorities who don’t have access to locations to get their ids, or can not afford one.  My personal stance on this is neutral because I don’t think they are necessary because voting fraud is very very low and often more likely to be clerical error.  But I also found IDs are required so often during everyday things that its hard to believe people don’t have some form of ID, even if its just a state photo ID and not a driver’s license.

Posted in American History, essay, history, Politics

The Amendments: Twenty-Three

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SECTION 1

The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as Congress may direct:

A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.

SECTION 2

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

(Source)

This amendment allows the District of Columbia (Washington, DC) to have delegates in the electoral college when it comes to presidential elections.  It does not change anything else about the way DC is govern, which even today is debated. It is not a state, but a territoty.  It is governed by Congress, and has no representation that can vote within congress (It does have 1 unvoting representative in the House).

Currently DC has 3 electoral votes.

This was passed by Congress in 1960, and ratified in 1961.

 

Posted in American History, essay, history, Politics

The Amendments: Twenty-Two

Posted on by sokorra

SECTION 1

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

SECTION 2

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.

(Source)

Continue reading “The Amendments: Twenty-Two” →

Posted in essay, history, Politics

The Amendments: Twenty-One

Posted on by sokorra

The 21st amendment (which I find hilarious considering the subject matter and the age people are allowed to drink legally in the US) has the unique situation of being the only amendment to full out repeal another.

SECTION 1

The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

SECTION 2

The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

SECTION 3

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress

(Source)

The 21st amendment was ratified in December of 1933, having been passed by congress in February of that year.  So it came in well under the ratification deadline.  Its sole purpose really is to repeal the 18th amendment.

Section one is self explanatory, as that is where they tell you that the 18th amendment, prohibiting alcohol, was repealed.  Section two continues to hold up state rights in this manner, explaining that even if its now legal in the US to transport alcohol,if a State still prohibits it then its still illegal within that state’s borders.  This is how you get some states where you can purchase your alcohol at your gas station, while other states you have to purchase it at specially licensed stores and distributers.

Section three basically allows for this law to become active at a certian time after the ratification, and also gives it a limit on how long it could take.  Thus we don’t have to wait 100 years like we did on the 27th amendment (which we will of course get to).

So this amendment not only doesn’t actually edit the constitution, it actually only serves to repeal an earlier amendment.  It was the first (and only to my knowledge) amendment to do so.