Governmental Structure (College Board AP® US History)

Summary

The Constitution is the blueprint for the structure and operation of the United States central government. When they met at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, the Constitution’s framers knew two things:

1. They wanted a government that was stronger than the one created by the Articles of Confederation

2. They did not want any one part of the government to become too powerful

The result was a federalist system of government that separated power between three distinct branches. Each branch with its own responsibilities and its own ways to check the powers of the other two.

Federalism

• The Constitution created a federalist system of government

• Federalism is when power is shared between a national government and state governments

  • This is also known as dual sovereignty

Federal government and enumerated powers

• The federal government has enumerated powers

• These included the power to:

  • regulate trade between states and with foreign countries

  • issue and control currency

  • raise and maintain armed forces

  • declare war against other nations

  • create federal courts

  • pass laws that were “necessary and proper” to carry out its responsibilities

State government and reserved powers

• State governments had reserved powers

• These included the power to:

  • control trade inside their state borders

  • establish local governments

  • set up schools

  • determine marriage and divorce laws

  • anything else not included in the enumerated powers 

    • The 10th Amendment says that any powers not given to the federal government are reserved for the states or the people

State and federal concurrent powers

• Federal and state governments also had concurrent powers

• They could all:

  • levy and collect taxes

  • borrow money

  • contribute to public welfare

  • establish and operate court systems

Supremacy clause

• Under federalism, neither the federal government nor the state governments are meant to be more powerful than the other

• If a state law and a federal law conflict, the federal law overrules the state law

  • This is known as the Supremacy Clause

  • The Constitution itself is the “supreme law of the land”

    • Any law found to contradict the Constitution is struck down by the courts

Separation of Powers

• The framers of the Constitution understood that people who hold positions of power can often be tempted into abusing that power

• That is why they separated governmental powers into three separate branches

Legislative branch

• The legislative branch makes the laws

  • The Senate is the upper house

  • The House of Representatives is the lower house

  • Together, they are referred to as Congress

Executive branch

• The executive branch carries out and enforces the laws

• The president is the head of the executive branch

  • He or she appoints judges, ambassadors, and department heads

  • He or she is also commander-in-chief of the military

Judicial branch

• The judicial branch interprets the laws and ensures that they do not conflict with the Constitution

• The Supreme Court is the highest court in the country

• Congress has the power to create lower federal courts (which it has done)

Checks and balances

• The framers also developed a system of checks and balances to ensure that no one branch of government was more powerful than another

• The legislative branch can check the power of:

  • The executive branch by:

    • overruling a president’s veto of a law

    • rejecting a president’s nominee for a position

    • refusing to approve a treaty

    • impeaching a president for improper behavior or actions

  • The judicial branch by:

    • amending the Constitution

    • impeaching a justice for improper behavior or actions

• The executive branch can check the power of:

  • The legislative branch by:

    • Vetoing bills passed by Congress

  • The judicial branch by:

    • Appointing new judges

• The judicial branch can check the power of:

  • The legislative branch by:

    • Determining that a law is unconstitutional

  • The executive branch by:

    • Determining that certain presidential actions, such as executive orders, are unconstitutional

• The people can check the powers of the legislative and executive branches

  • Representatives are elected to the House of Representatives every two years

  • Senators are elected to the Senate every six years

  • Presidents are elected every four years

    • Presidential and legislative elections also influence the composition of the judicial branch

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