US Government 101- quick refresher

Key questions to consider:

 What are Human Rights? Why do these matter?

What Rights do you think you have? Where do these come from or on what are they based?

What should the legitimate purpose of government be in a Democracy?

How does Democracy work?

What makes an election fair and free?

What are your beliefs about the role of voting? Who should be allowed to vote and why? 

What safeguards are in place to prevent a democracy from eroding?

 

PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION:

“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.”

Consider those goals as what our Framers saw as the purpose of government:

"establishing justice”

“providing for the common defense”

“promoting the general welfare”

“helping to secure the blessings to liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”

 

The CONSTITUTION describes and provides the basic governing principles and rules, structures, functions, powers, and limits on government.

Our founders established three distinct and separate branches of Federal government & their powers. To protect against tyranny this system provides checks and balances to power, so no one branch has more control.

• The Executive (President, Cabinet, Federal departments, including the Departments of Justice, Defense, Energy, etc.) – Elected President & VP. Cabinet Officials are appointed – nominated by POTUS & confirmed by Congress. Other positions are hired/promoted up, etc. The Executive branch sets POLICY priorities both domestic and foreign (including diplomatic Corps), POTUS is commander in chief over US military, retains veto power of Congressional bills, issues executive orders  and sets up systems for how tell government departments how to “execute” their jobs.
• The Legislative (Congress- House of Representatives & Senators) – These bodies of elected officials creates laws, decides funding, has sole power to declare war, can override Presidential Veto with 2/3 majority.
• The Judicial – (Federal court system, topped off by the Supreme Court). Appointed, confirmed by Congress. Oversees how laws are interpreted and applied in specific cases in terms of the Constitution and legal precedent. Levels of courts.

Note: State jurisdiction versus Federal often clash. If State laws run counter to Federal Laws, the conflict can be contested through the court systems, all the way to the Supreme Court.

AMENDMENTS – The purpose of Amendments is to clarify and amend the Constitution. The National Archives describes it this way:

"The BILL OF RIGHTS is the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. It spells out Americans’ rights in relation to their government. It guarantees civil rights and liberties to the individual—like freedom of speech, press, and religion. It sets rules for due process of law and reserves all powers not delegated to the Federal Government to the people or the States. And it specifies that “the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

Bill of Rights - National Archives Links to an external site.