American Government Final Project

BY: JASON HEIKES

Constitution
PowerPoint

Table Of Contents
1.

Cover

1.

Executive Branch

2.

Title

12.

The Electoral College and Electing a President

3.

Table of contents

13.

Judicial Branch

4.

The Preamble

14.

The Supreme Court

15.

Federal Court

16.

The Bill of Rights (Amendments 1-10 )

17.

Amendments 1-5

5.

Major principles of constitution

6.

Legislative Branch

7.

House of Representatives

18.

Amendments 6-10

8.

Senate

19.

Other Important amendments

9.

Special Duties

20.

Amendments 13,14,15, & 19

10.

How a Bill Becomes a Law

11.

How a Bill Becomes a Law (Continued)

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 for the
United States of America.

Major principles of constitution

1)

Popular Sovereignty

4.

Designed to prevent abuse of power in

the government

The people hold ultimate power in the

government.
2)

Limited Government

5.

Separation of Powers
No one component of the government
holds too much power Powers are
distributed among 3 different branches.

Federalism

power is shared between the

central/national government and the
states.

No government is all powerful.

Government must obey the law
3)

Checks And Balances

6.

Judicial Review

the power of the courts to declare a law

constitutional and unconstitutional

Legislative Branch

The Legislative Branch is the part of

the government that write laws and
votes on them. Other powers of the
Congress include declaring war,
confirming Presidential appointments
for groups like the Supreme Court
and the Cabinet, and investigating
power. House of Representatives.

House of Representatives

The House of Representatives shares

equal responsibility for lawmaking
with the U.S. Senate. As conceived
by the framers of the Constitution,
the House was to represent the
popular will, and its members were
to be directly elected by the people.
The number of voting
representatives in the House is fixed
by law at no more than 435,
proportionally representing the
population of the 50 states.

Senate

100 elected Senators, each state is

represented by two Senators.

The Senate has the power to try cases

of impeachment of federal officials,
should such officials be impeached by
the House of Representatives.

The Senate ratifies all treaties between

the United States and foreign powers.

The Constitution gives the Senate the

power to "advice and consent"
appointments made by the President.

Special Duties

The President of the Senate cannot

vote unless the Senate is equally
divided.

When the president is absent, the

president pro tempore controls the
Senate

The Senate has the sole power to

conduct impeachment trials,
essentially serving as the jury and
judge.

How a Bill Becomes a Law

Step 1: A Bill Is Born

Anyone may draft a bill; however, only members of Congress can introduce
legislation, and, by doing so, become the sponsor(s). The president, a
member of the cabinet or the head of a federal agency can also propose
legislation, although a member of Congress must introduce it.

Step 5: Committee Action to Report a Bill

After receiving a subcommittee's report on a bill the full committee votes on
its recommendation to the House or Senate. This procedure is called
"ordering a bill reported."

Step 2: Committee Action

As soon as a bill is introduced, it is referred to a committee. At this point the
bill is examined carefully and its chances for passage are first determined. If
the committee does not act on a bill, the bill is effectively "dead."

Step 6: Voting
After the debate and the approval of any amendments, the bill is passed or
defeated by the members voting.

Step 3: Subcommittee Review

Often, bills are referred to a subcommittee for study and hearings. Hearings
provide the opportunity to put on the record the views of the executive
branch, experts, other public officials and supporters, and opponents of the
legislation.Step

Step 7: Referral to Other Chamber

When the House or Senate passes a bill, it is referred to the other chamber,
where it usually follows the same route through committee and floor action.
This chamber may approve the bill as received, reject it, ignore it, or change
it.

4: Markup
When the hearings are completed, the subcommittee may meet to "mark
up" the bill; that is, make changes and amendments prior to recommending
the bill to the full committee. If a subcommittee votes not to report legislation
to the full committee, the bill dies. If the committee votes for the bill, it is sent
to the floor.

How a Bill Becomes a Law

(Continuned)

Step 8: Conference Committee Action

When the actions of the other chamber significantly alter the bill, a conference
committee is formed to reconcile the differences between the House and
Senate versions. If the conferees are unable to reach agreement, the
legislation dies. If agreement is reached, a conference report is prepared
describing the committee members' recommendations for changes. Both the
House and Senate must approve the conference report.

Step 9: Final Action

After both the House and Senate have approved a bill in identical form, it is
sent to the president. If the president approves of the legislation, he signs it
and it becomes law. Or, if the president takes no action for ten days, while
Congress is in session, it automatically becomes law.If the president opposes
the bill he can veto it; or if he takes no action after the Congress has
adjourned its second session, it is a "pocket veto" and the legislation dies.

Step 10: Overriding a Veto

If the president vetoes a bill, Congress may
attempt to "override the veto." If both the Senate
and the House pass the bill by a two-thirds
majority, the president's veto is overruled and the
bill becomes a law.

Executive Branch

Includes: President(Leader of Executive branch),

Vice-President, Executive office of the president,
and the cabinet.

Presidential Qualifications(4 year term): At least 35

years old, A natural born US Citizen,
Live in the United States for at least 14 years.

One of the main powers of the President is the

power to sign legislation from Congress into law or
to veto it.One of the jobs of the President is to
enforce and implement the laws set in place by
Congress.Other responsibilities of the President
include diplomacy with other nations, including
signing treaties, and the power to grant pardons to
criminals of federal crimes.

The Electoral College and Electing a

President
The election of the President and Vice
President of the United States is an indirect
vote in which citizens cast ballots for a
slate of members of the U.S. Electoral
College. These electors, in turn, directly
elect the President and Vice President.

Unpopular vote
1862,
1876,
1888,
2000,

John Quincy Addams

Rutherford B. Hayes
Benjamin Harrison
George W. Bush

Judicial Branch

ArticleIII of the Constitution,

establishes theJudicial Branch, leaves
Congress significant discretion to
determine the shape and structure of
the federal judiciary.

Thejudicial branchof government is

madeupof the court system. The
Supreme Court is the highest court in
the land. Article III of the Constitution
established this Court and all other
Federal courts were created by
Congress.

The Supreme Court

The Constitution gives theSupreme Court the power to

judge whether federal, state, and local governments are
acting within the law. There are nine members but it can
change.

Marbury v. Madison
Formed basis for judicial review.

Brown v. board of education

Start of civil rights movement

Us v. Nixon

defined the power of the president to claim executive

privilege

Gibbons v. Ogden

definedpower to regulate interstate commerce was

granted to Congress by the Commerce Clause of the
United States Constitution.

The Federal Court

Federal courtsarecourtsof limited

jurisdiction, meaning they can only
hear cases authorized by the United
States Constitution orfederal
statutes. Thefederaldistrictcourtis
the starting point for any case
arising underfederalstatutes, the
Constitution, or treaties.

The Bill of Rights (Amendments 110 )

TheBill of Rightsis the collective name for

the first ten amendments to the United
States Constitution.

An amendment is a changein alegal

documentmade by adding, altering, or
omitting a certain part or term.

TheBill of Rightswasaddedto
theConstitutionas the first ten amendments
on December 15, 1791. The fact that
theConstitutiondid not include abill of
rightsto specifically protect Americans' hardwon rightssparked the most heated debates
during the ratification process.

Amendments 1-5

Amendment One:

Freedom of Religion, Press, Speech,

Assembly, Petition

Amendment Two:

Right to Bear Arms

Amendment Three:

Right to not have to quarter Soldiers

and seizures.

Amendment Four:

Right to be free from un-reasonable searches and seizures

Amendment Five:

Right to grand jury indictment, no double jeopardy, freedom

from self-incrimination, due process of law

Amendments 6-10

Amendment Six:

Right to be in-formed of charges be

present when wit-nesses speak in court,
to call defense witnesses, to have a
lawyer.
Amendment Seven:

Right to a jury trial in civil cases

Amendment Eight:

Freedom from excessive bail and

cruel and unusual punishment

Amendment Nine:

Guarantee of rights not listed in Constitution

Rights of states and people

Amendment Ten:

Other Important amendments

Amendment Thirteen:

Abolition of slavery Outlawed

Amendment Fourteen:

Right to be free from discrimination in

states to have due process of law, to
have equal protection of the law

Amendment Fifteen:

Black Suffrage

Women's Suffrage

Amendment Nineteen: