Principles of Democracy Collins 2

7/29/2019 Principles of Democracy Collins 2

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Principles of Democracy



TEKS/TAKS

8.16 Government. The student understandsthe American beliefs and principles reflected in

the U.S. Constitution and other importanthistoric documents. The student is expectedto:

(D) analyze how the U.S. Constitution reflects the

principles of limited government, republicanism,checks and balances, federalism, separation of powers, popular sovereignty, and individual rights.



“Supreme Law of the Land”

In the United States, the US Constitutionis the Supreme Law. No law and noperson can override the Constitution.



The Principles of Democracy

Are the basic rules that the people of theUnited States live by. We made our US

Constitution and all of our laws followthese principles.

Are 7 basic principles or rules for all of us

to follow in order to peacefully livetogether as one nation.




POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY

Limited Government

FEDERALISM

Republicanism

SEPARATION OF POWERS Checks and Balances

INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS



Click on the Principles below

to continue

Popular Sovereignty Limited Government

Federalism Separation of Powers

Individual RightsChecks and Balances

Republicanism

Finished ALL of the above?

Then click here for review



Popular Sovereignty

Political power rests with the people whocan create, alter and abolish their

government. In our country, this principle is found in

the Constitution‟s __________



Preamble

“We the People of the United States, in

order to form a moreperfect union, …. doordain and establishthis Constitution for

the United States of America.”

http://www.mrsmith.com/constitution.gif



We, the People can …

Amend the Constitution to keep up withtoday‟s generation

Elect our representatives to go toCongress to express our wishes

Petition the government to do something

we want

And lots more!!



Remember –

Popular Sovereigntymeans We, the People

control our government!

Return to “Principles”



Limited Government

Does this mean wecan tell our

government what todo or what not to do?



YES!!!

In the Constitution, the people establishedthe government to serve us. We were

tired of the abusive King and fought forindependence. We did not want to beabused by another king or government so

we ….



MADE RULES FOR GOVERNMENT!



Powers granted

Government can only do certain things like

Pass new laws or taxes if a majority of our

representatives in Congress agrees Coin money

Make treaties with foreign nations

Raise an army and navy

Regulate trade between the states [interstatecommerce]

And more.



Powers denied

Government can NOT do certain things

Why is First Lady Laura Bush not called a

Queen? We have no titles of nobility in the United

States

Can Congress pass a law today that sayswhat we did yesterday was wrong?



NO WAY!

These types of laws are called ex post facto laws. The Constitution prohibits

Congress and state governments frompassing such unfair laws.

Can a state declare war on another

country?



NO.

The Constitution onlygives the national

government thepower to declare war.

Think of the mess wewould be in if 50different states coulddeclare war!



Limited Government

Congress and the state governments arerestricted by what the Constitution says.

-- Think of the Constitution as thegovernment‟s parents!

Click to return to

“Principles”



Federalism

o Is the distribution of power between thenational government, the states‟

governments and local governments.

Refers to the different levels within our

government.



Federalism

Compare to a buildingwith 3 floors … National

State

Local



Each level of government has its ownresponsibilities.

Sometimes, these responsibilities areshared or overlap [known as concurrentpowers] . For example, taxes: national =

income tax, state = sales tax, local =property tax



Federalism

Levels of government --- 3 layers

Remember:

you are a resident of Harris County,

a resident of the state of Texas, and

a citizen of the United States



Federalism National,

state and

local …

… governments working under one

Constitution

Click here to return to “Principles”



Republicanism

A form of government where the peoplevote for representatives to make laws and

run the government on their behalf [totake care of the people]



Republicanism‟s tie to Popular

Sovereignty? The People control the government by voting for

elected representatives

the representatives meet with other

representatives to make laws for the publicgood

if the representatives abuse thepeople, the people take back their “consent” and

vote them out of office

then the people vote for electedrepresentatives ….Hey, are we starting over?



Yes!

Remember: in a Republic, therepresentatives work for the people!




Separation of Powers

Each branch of government is given anequal, but different, set of powers

The US Constitution is divided intodifferent Articles (like chapters in your

book)



Each of the first 3 articles deals

with a different branch of government –

Article I Legislature (Congress)

Article II Executive (President)

Article III Judiciary (Supreme Court andother courts)



Responsibilities

Each branch has a different responsibility inour government ---

o Legislative branch -- makes our lawso Executive branch – enforces our laws

o Judicial branch – interprets our laws



This diagram illustrates the

separation of powers

US Constitution

Legislative Branch Executive Branch Judicial Branch

Congress President Supreme Court

Makes Laws Enforces Laws Interprets Laws



Separation of Powers

o Think: each branch of government notonly has different powers but also

different buildings!o Capitol = Legislative

o White House = Executive

o Supreme Court building = Judiciary



There‟s no way you can walk into all3 buildings at the same time!




Checks and Balances

The ability of each branch of government to oversee the other

branches, to prevent abuse andto keep everything in “balance” or…

No branch is number one over theother two.



Example:Congress passesa law the

President thinksis wrong. ThePresident checks

Congress by …



Using the VETO [torefuse to sign and

make into law].



Congress thinksthe President iswrong. Congresschecks thePresident by …



Re-passing the law with a 2/3

vote or override.

The Supreme Court thinks Congressor the President is wrong. TheCourt can …



Declare the law oraction unconstitutional

by using judicial review tocompare the law or action towhat the Constitution „says‟.

Return to TAKS question 2



Checks and Balances

Keeps our system even




Individual Rights

Each person in the United States hasrights

The Declaration of Independence spoke of

these as being “unalienable” or

not separate from you



By limiting government and

separating powers theConstitution provides ….

For your Rights!



More protection is

provided by the … ah,let me think, the…



Bill of Rights!

The First 10 amendments to

the ConstitutionProhibits Congress or thenational government fromtaking away your basic rights



Can you listsome examplesof your rightsfound in the

Bill of Rights?



1st Amendment –

Freedom of SpeechFreedom of the PressFreedom of AssemblyFreedom to Petition

Free Exercise of ReligionNo Government Established

Religion



4th

Amendment – nounreasonable search without awarrant

5th Amendment – right to notincriminate yourself

6th

Amendment – right toattorney



Wow! What a list?!

Are these the only rights youhave?

or



No!

In case they forgot to list

some rights, the 9th

Amendment covers all otherrights not listed in

Amendments 1-8. Example:right to privacy



Are your rights absolute?

Can you exercise your

rights at any time?



Sorry, the answer is no.

Your rights arelimited by the

rights of theperson standingnext to you.



Think of your

rights as a bubblethat walks aroundwith you. Whenyou go down the

hall, your rightsbump intosomeone else‟s

rights!




Let‟s review –

Principles of Democracy are…

the rules our society used toform our government

the rules we still use today to

guide us

P i i l f D




include … Popular Sovereignty Limited Government

Individual rights Federalism Separation of Powers

Checks and Balances Republicanism



TAKS Practice:

Which aspect of the US government did this documentmost clearly influence?

A. Separation of powers

B. Guarantee of individual rightsC. Duties of the president

D. System of checks and balances

No freeman shall be arrested or imprisoned or

dispossessed or … in any way harmed … except by the

lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.--- Magna Carta, 1215



Sorry, A is incorrect

The phrase “except by the lawful judgmentof his peers” refers to trial by jury while

“or by the law of the land” refers to dueprocess. Separation of powers refers tothe different duties of government‟s

branches.

Try again



Sorry, C is incorrect

Look again at the words “imprisoned” and “judgment of his peers”. These words

refer to being sent to prison after a juryfinds one guilty. The President cannot trya person.

Try again



Sorry, D is incorrect.

A system of checks and balances involvesone person doing something and the other

person seeing if it is right. When a teachercorrects your paper, he checks it for you.Here, the Magna Carta is talking about not

sending someone to prison without a trial.

Try again



You got it!

B is correct. The excerpt is talking aboutthe right to trial by jury and the right to

due process. Both of these individualrights are guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.



TAKS again:

2. What principle does theheadline illustrate?

A. republicanism

B. individual rights

C. limited government

D. checks and balances

It’s a Go!!

Supreme Court

Reviews Bush’s Affirmative Action Plan



A is not the right answer.

Republicanism involves electedrepresentatives acting in place of the

voters at home. The Supreme Court is notelected and does not directly representthe people.

Try again.



Sorry, B is not the right answer.

Although affirmative action is a civil right, itis not the answer because affirmative

action is not the subject of the sentence[it‟s the object].

Try again



Sorry. C is not the correct answer.

This is a close one. The federal and state

governments are limited in their powersbut here the action verb is “reviews”.Define judicial review. Then look atwhat the Supreme Court is doing.

Try again



Terrific! D is the answer!!

The judicial branch is checking thegovernment‟s action – a plan for

affirmative action to see if it followsthe Constitution. The Court said thisplan followed the Constitution and did

not have to be changed.



TAKS practice:

3. When the federal courts required allpublic schools in all states to desegregate,Pres. Eisenhower sent troops to protectthe “Little Rock Nine” and to implement

the Brown decision. This action was anexample of

A. federalism.

B. nullification.C. reverse discrimination.D. republicanism.



B is not the right answer.

Nullification means to declare a nationallaw void and invalid; to make useless.

Although Gov. Faubus did try to nullify the

courts‟ orders, the action in the questionconcerns Pres. Eisenhower and his troops.What did Pres. Eisenhower think was

ranked higher: federal or state law?

Try again



Sorry. C is not the right answer.

Reverse discrimination meansfavoring minorities over

whites. This question doesnot concern this issue.

Try again



Missed… D is not the correctanswer.

Republicanism involves elected

representatives acting for the people.Congress is not involved in this question.That‟s okay … try again!



Super! You really know yourgovernment!

A is the correct answer. Duringintegration the federal andstate governments had to work

together to advance civilrights. In the 1950s the federalgovernment led the way forthe states and kept the USConstitution supreme overstate laws.



You‟ve done a great job!

Complete your worksheet including the diagramson the back. If you have any blanks or wish toreview again, you may.

Principles of Democracy Collins 2

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