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Notes on video lecture:
Article I: The Legislative Branch
Notes taken by Edward Tanguay on November 6, 2014 (go to class or lectures)


Choose from these words to fill the blanks below:
conflict, fail, congress, check, back, person, both, specific, minded, president, fix, party, complies, branches, people, three, corruption, stop, rid, legislatures, peers, separation, head, interstate, lead, worried, state, interest, polarization, weight, constitutional, loyalty, foreign, idea
even though the president is often thought of as the of the nation, the president doesn't come first in the Constitution
it is that is described in Article I
it's probably an over-simplification to call the president the leader
each branch is supposed to in some ways or circumstances
what is congress
the Senate
represents the states
2 senators from each state
chosen by legislatures, originally
the House of Representatives
represents the
number determined by population
chosen by population
as far as making laws, the two houses function in the same way
a bill has to get a through houses
the senate can filibuster
this can be ended by three-fifths majority vote
this is not in the constitution and so the senate could get of it any time it wanted
what kinds of bills
a state legislature can pass anything it feels is a good
but congress has only the powers set out in the constitution
basically on issues that couldn't be left to the states
commerce
affairs
once bill passes both houses it goes to the
if he signs it, it becomes law
if not, it goes
two-thirds can override it
courts will decide whether the law to the constitution or not
separation of powers protects you from in the government
generally a law needs the participation and approval of all branches
congress enacts law
executive enforces law
judicial agrees that law is
a jury (your ) can also be brought in to determine guilt
what were the drafters about?
concentrating power in the hands of one branch of government or of one , someone like King George
what device did they use to protect us from it?
of powers
how has that worked out over the years?
two things that have made the separation of powers work differently than how the framers anticipated
1. 17th amendment: took election of senators away from the and gave it to the people of the states
people-elected senators generally care less about the states per se than state-elected senators
today in congress, more is given to the people than to the states
2. the system:
a system of government where elected officials belong to, and commonly vote with, a like- political bloc
the idea behind the separation of government is that the different of government will see each other as rivals
congress will feel a sense of to congress
the president will feel a sense of loyalty to the office of the presidency
the framers didn't think about political parties, which eventually with separation of powers
a congress controlled by the same party as the president is much less likely to or balance that president
a congress controlled by the opposite party has an in going out of its way to make the president in order to win the next presidency
the party system tends to give us too much or too little checking and balancing
how can we this?
this is a problem that comes from political , from thinking of politics as if it were a team sport rather than a shared attempt to promote the common good
so one thing we can do, probably the only thing we can do, is to thinking of politics in this way
Ideas and Concepts:
Via tonight's Key Constitutional Concepts and Supreme Court Cases class, two ways the separation of powers now works differently than how the Framers anticipated:
"The Framers of the Constitution set up the three sections of government in order for them to keep checks and balances on each other in specific ways. Two changes since then have impacted how these checks and balances work:
The first change was the 17th Amendment which took the election of senators away from the legislatures and gave it to the people of the states. People-elected senators generally don't care as much about the states interests per se as state-elected senators would. Today in congress, more weight is given to the people than to the states than what the Framers envisioned.
The second change is the political party system, a system of government where elected officials belong to, and commonly vote with, a like-minded political bloc. The Framers' idea behind the separation of government was that the different branches of government will see each other as rivals, e.g. congress will feel a sense of loyalty to congress, and the president will feel a sense of loyalty to the office of the presidency. However, in a government which is influenced by a political party system, a congress controlled by the same political party as the president is less likely to check or balance that president, and a congress controlled by the opposite party has an interest in going out of its way to make the president fail in order to win the next presidency. In this way, the political party system tends to give us too much or too little checking and balancing. How can we fix this? This is a problem that comes from political polarization, from thinking of politics as if it were a team sport rather than a shared attempt to promote the common good. So one thing we can do, probably the only thing we can do, is to stop thinking of politics in this way."
"The Framers of the Constitution set up the three sections of government in order for them to keep checks and balances on each other in specific ways. Two changes since then have impacted how these checks and balances work:
The first change was the 17th Amendment which took the election of senators away from the legislatures and gave it to the people of the states. People-elected senators generally don't care as much about the states interests per se as state-elected senators would. Today in congress, more weight is given to the people than to the states than what the Framers envisioned.
The second change is the political party system, a system of government where elected officials belong to, and commonly vote with, a like-minded political bloc. The Framers' idea behind the separation of government was that the different branches of government will see each other as rivals, e.g. congress will feel a sense of loyalty to congress, and the president will feel a sense of loyalty to the office of the presidency. However, in a government which is influenced by a political party system, a congress controlled by the same political party as the president is less likely to check or balance that president, and a congress controlled by the opposite party has an interest in going out of its way to make the president fail in order to win the next presidency. In this way, the political party system tends to give us too much or too little checking and balancing. How can we fix this? This is a problem that comes from political polarization, from thinking of politics as if it were a team sport rather than a shared attempt to promote the common good. So one thing we can do, probably the only thing we can do, is to stop thinking of politics in this way."