Constitutional Outline Essay
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
CHAPTER 1: THE NATURE and SOURCES of the SUPREME COURT’S AUTHORITY
Judicial Review
1) Whether the courts have the power to exercise judicial review over the other 2 branches of gov’t ?
2) If they have that power, can the court exercise the power of judicial review?
3) Assuming #1 and #2, what is the standard of judicial review to be applied?
Federal Gov’t
Article I: Legislative
Article II: Executive
Article III: Judiciary
Article IV: States
►After Independence we were governed by the Articles of Confederation
▪no national court system
▪no national executive system
▪economic competition between the states
▪ ongoing disputes w/ Great Britain
►By 1787 reforms were needed and in the summer of 1787 they wrote the Constitution (Madison was the centerpiece) along w/ Hamilton, Jefferson, etc.
▪Constitution was a reflection of Madisonian Democracy (Fundamentalist Doctrine)
▪Madison analogized religion w/ the creation of the Constitution (no religion was powerful enough to conquer nationally)
▪shared power (diffused power) w/ all 3 branches
▪all 13 states maintain sovereignty
▪created a very deliberative process for making law (2 houses of Congress, President signs off on new law, then needs 2/3 to override or veto, etc.)
▪ very conservative governmental system
▪Hybrid representation (different constituencies elected for different terms)
People -( House of Representatives (2yrs.)
State Legislatures -( Senate (6yrs.)
Electoral College -( President (4yrs.)
President -( Appoints Judges (Life); wholly removed from political accountability
Republicans (Jefferson & Madison)
▪also known as the Democrat-Republicans
▪state sovereignty, education of citizenry, citizen participation (pretty much they were today’s Democrat party)
Federalist (Adams)
▪strong national gov’t
▪more conservative, concerned w/ land controls
▪today refers to movement of “Our Federalism” (respect for individual power...
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