2A Assignments
Reapportionment
Unit 2A Cloze Notes:
The Legislative Branch: National and State
THE NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE BRANCH: House of Representatives and
Senate
Terms of Congress
Ñ Each of Congress lasts two years
Ñ Each of Congress lasts one year
Ó However,
the president can call a special session or adjourn a session if the purpose is
not met
Ó This is an
example of ?
A Bicameral Congress
Ñ Two house
legislature…but why?
Ó To settle
conflict between New Jersey and
Ó One house
can check the other (this is called what?)
House of Representatives
Ñ As part of
the Connecticut Compromise, the House is based on population of a state
Ñ Every
representative is up for re-election at the same time, every two years
Ñ Review:
Which plan called for representation based on population?
Ñ There are US representatives
Ñ District
of Columbia, Guam, Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico all have a
representative who is NOT a full member of the House.
Senate
Ñ As part of
the , the Senate
is made up of two senators per state.
Ñ Only one
senator is elected from a state during any given election (once every six
years)
Ñ Review:
Which plan called for representation based equality (same number per state)?
Ñ Senators
are viewed as “national” politicians because they focus more on the national
interest than their own
Ñ constituencies ( )
Questions: Based on the chart and the information we learned
today, please answer the following questions.
1) What are
four similarities between the House and the Senate?
2) What are
four differences between the House and Senate?
3) If you
were in the legislative branch, explain which you would rather serve in and WHY
Referendum
Ñ A
direct vote in which voters are asked to either accept or reject a
particular proposal.
Ñ This may
result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional
amendment, or a law
Assigning Seats in the House
Ñ Every ten
years, the US takes a (official count of population)
Ñ Article 1
of the Constitution directs Congress to (re-assign) the seats in the House after every
census year
Ñ However,
this has not been done since the 1910 census. Why?
The Reapportionment Act of 1929
Ñ 1.
Permanent size of House is reps
Ñ 2.
Following each census, the Census Bureau must allocate the number of reps for
each state
Ñ 3.
President must send this plan to Congress
Ñ 4.
Congress has 60 days to accept/reject it or it becomes effective. States then
redraw lines, which national government must approve
Ñ This is
called (re-drawing the lines of districts to
accommodate number of Representatives)
Ñ Order from
start to finish is Census, Reapportionment, Redistricting
Districts of House
Ñ Single
Member District: Voters in each district elect one representative from several
candidates
Ñ Districts
must be a small area and have roughly the same population
How do you decide the size of a district?
Ñ Population
-
Each election district must have about the same number of constituents.
Ñ Contiguity -
Each district must be one continuous shape
Ñ Compactness -
Generally speaking, districts need to be drawn in compact shapes. Extremely
jagged edges and skinny extensions are features that are the hallmarks of
gerrymandered districts.
Gerrymandering
Ñ Districts
created to benefit the political party that controls the legislature
Lines are drawn for:
1) To create
a district for the opposition’s voters
2) Spread
opposition as thinly as possible among several districts
v Focuses on
demographics: the characteristics
of human populations ----Main goal is to create “safe districts”
Powers of National Congress
Ñ Expressed/enumerated
powers: powers stated in the
Ñ Implied
powers: reasonably deduced from the powers
Ñ Inherent
powers: powers given to Congress because they belong to the government
Ñ Concurrent
powers: by state and national government
Your Rights Protected
Ñ Bill of
Attainder: Congress cannot inflict a without a court trial
Ñ Writ of
Habeas Corpus: prevents unjust arrests and imprisonments
Ñ Ex post
facto law: "After-the-fact" laws. Laws that provide for the
infliction of punishment upon a person for some prior act that, at the time it
was committed, was not illegal.
Filibuster
Ñ Filibuster
is an attempt to “talk a bill to death”
The Power of Tax
Ñ The Power
to tax (a tax is to collect money for a need)
Ó Cannot lay
taxes on churches or voting
Ñ Rules of
tax
1. Must be
for a public purpose
2. Congress
may not tax exports
Borrowing Money
Ñ Borrow
money on behalf of the US
Ñ Public
debt: all money borrowed, plus interest
Ô Currently,
the US owes almost $17 trillion or -$16,800,000,000,000
Ó That’s 1.1
billion meat lovers pizzas, 541,935,484 2014
Ford GT Mustangs, or three full years of room, board, and tuition for 66,666,667
Harvard medical students
Debt Ceiling
Ñ The United
States debt ceiling or debt limit is a legislative
restriction on the amount of national debt that can be issued by
the Treasury
Ñ Congress
has the power to raise the ceiling
Ñ The US
practices financing, meaning we regularly spend more
than we make, and borrow the rest to make up for it
Ñ Power to
regulate interstate and foreign trade
Ñ Congress
cannot tax ,
favor one state over another, require vessels to enter, clear, or pay duties to
another, or interfere with the slave trade (until 1808)
Ñ Gibbons v.
Ogden (1824), was a landmark decision in which
the Supreme Court of the United States held that the power to
regulate interstate commerce was granted to Congress by
the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.
Currency Power
Ñ Coin money
and regulate the value of it
Ñ Legal
tender: any kind of money a creditor must by law accept as payment for debts
Ñ Bankruptcy:
Congress can establish laws on the meaning of bankruptcy throughout the US
Implied Powers
Ñ The and Clause (Elastic Clause)
Ñ “The Congress shall
have Power - To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
into execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this
Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or
Officer thereof.”
Ñ Examples:
trading, US bank, making crimes.
Ñ Identify
the court case this clause came from:
Maryland General Assembly
Ñ MD House
of Delegates
Ó 3 from
each districts
Ó 47
districts (based on )
Ó 4 year
term
Ñ MD Senate
Ó 47 members
Ó 4 year
term
SMART GROWTH
Ñ Smart
Growth directs the state to emphasize and use state funding to support established
communities, their businesses, and their designated growth areas, as well as
protect rural areas.
Ñ Infrastructure:
,
lines, plants
Ñ Urban
Sprawl: Development that has spread from traditional population centers
Ñ To
simplify: the spreading of urban developments (as houses and shopping centers)
on undeveloped land near a city
END OF ASSIGNMENT
Reapportionment
The Legislative Branch of government is made up of elected officials. When the federal government was created two houses of Congress were formed – one to represent the states – the Senate, and the other to represent the people – the House of Representatives. Representation was a major issue during the development of the Constitution. Small states wanted equal representation and large states wanted representation based on population. The compromise was that states would have equal representation in the Senate, and that the people would have proportional representation in the House (this meant that representation in the House would be based on a state’s population and would not be a fixed number per state). In order to set representation, the Constitution provided for the population to be counted every 10 years, this is known as the census.
The result of the census is often disputed by states for fear of losing representation in the House, which means a loss of power for the state at the national level. Originally each state was apportioned (assigned) at least one representative, with states receiving additional representatives for every 30,000 people. Eventually the House ran out of room for additional Representatives. In 1929 the number of seats was permanently 435.
Reapportionment is the redistribution of seats in the House of Representatives based on population changes in each state. Reapportionment of the House seats is done after the census. If your state lost population and another state gained population, or if other states gained people faster than yours, you would lose representation in the House. It is then up to the states to redistrict; to redraw the congressional districts within the state based on population changes. The number of congressional districts is based on the number of representatives they have been apportioned. In Maryland redistricting boundaries are created by the MD General Assembly. These redistricting plans can become very controversial, because the political party that is in power tends to want to stay in power, so they will often draw the districts to best suit their needs. This practice of deliberately redrawing districts to keep a group in or out of power is known as gerrymandering. Gerrymandered districts are easy to see because they are not compact, uniform or contiguous (which means some parts don’t touch). They are also referred to as “safe zones”.
In the past some states refused to redistrict, or just had not done so in a long time. Unfortunately, this caused many people to be under or over represented because of population shifts within a state. In Tennessee by the 1960s many people had moved from rural areas to cities; however the state never redistricted even though the rural population had become very small. In the case Baker vs. Carr, the Supreme Court ruled that states must redistrict every 10 years in order to assure equal representation of all the people.
Directions: Use the previous reading to define and/or explain the following terms.
- Census –
- Reapportionment –
- Redistrict -
- Gerrymandering –
- Explain Baker v. Carr
Redistricting & Gerrymandering
Directions: Read the excerpt below and evaluate the cartoon. Use both to answer the questions that follow.
State legislatures have the responsibility of redrawing congressional districts after every census, a process known as redistricting. Controlling parties in some legislatures have been known to draw some very odd-shaped districts. They try to create as many districts as possible with a majority of voters from their party and to draw as few districts as possible where a majority of voters are from the minority party. This manipulative practice is known as gerrymandering. The term has its origin in early nineteenth century Massachusetts when Governor Elbridge Gerry and the state legislature drew a district in one area of the state that looked just like a salamander. 'Gerry' was combined with 'salamander' to name the practice gerrymandering. In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled against gerrymandering in the case of Baker v. Carr.
1. Put the following steps of the districting process in order: Redistricting, Census, Reapportionment
2. Who is responsible for drawing congressional districts?
3. Why does Gerrymandering happen?
4. Based on the cartoon, what is the artist’s view on Gerrymandering? Do you agree or disagree – explain.
END OF ASSIGNMENT
Elastic Clause: Making it Stretch
Read the following and answer the questions that follow.
The Founding Fathers created three specific branches of government in order to separate power so that no one branch would become too powerful. However, the peoples’ branch – the Legislative Branch was given the most expressed/enumerated powers (powers written in the Constitution). This branch is outlined in the first Article of the Constitution. Although Congress was delegated (assigned) many powers, there was no way to know what new powers might be needed. Since the amendment process was long and difficult, and the founders recognized the need for the document to be flexible or it would break, they included in Article 1 Section 8 the following statement, “to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers…" The purpose of this “necessary and proper” clause was to allow the Constitution to stretch to cover the powers that Congress needed. (Gave Congress implied powers to carry out their expressed powers) The clause is often referred to as the Elastic Clause because, like elastic, it stretches the Constitution.
The powers that Congress asserts under the Elastic Clause/Necessary and Proper Clause are known as implied powers. Congress cannot make up a power that is not already listed in the Constitution, but they can more clearly define those powers. For example: Congress has the power to raise an army and navy – this is a delegated/enumerated power, however the way that Congress raises this army and navy is not explained, therefore Congress can use the power of the draft which is implied by the original power. Other powers specifically delegated to Congress/enumerated in the Constitution include: collecting taxes, coin or borrow money, creating a postal service, regulating interstate trade, naturalizing citizens, dealing with bankruptcies, counterfeiting and piracy, issuing copyrights and patents, establishing the federal courts, declaring war, creating rules for the armed forces, organizing a militia/national guard, and creating laws for the District of Columbia.
Directions: In the chart below list the enumerated (listed) powers of Congress and then an implied power for each. You will also need to use the chart you were given in class with enumerated/expressed powers
Enumerated Powers
|
Implied Powers – What can they do because of the power that was listed?
|
Coining money/borrow money
|
Establish the federal reserve system of banks
|
To lay and collect taxes
| |
Raise an Army
| |
Creating a postal service-
| |
Naturalizing citizens-
| |
Regulate interstate trade (commerce)
|
Note: expressed powers and enumerated powers have the same meaning.
2A: Expressed and Implied Powers
(continued from the Elastic Clause reading/charts above)
Directions: The following powers are some of the expressed and implied powers granted to Congress. Under each listed expressed power, write the implied power(s) from the list below. Be prepared to share your answer AND why you believe it is correct.
(continued from the Elastic Clause reading/charts above)
Directions: The following powers are some of the expressed and implied powers granted to Congress. Under each listed expressed power, write the implied power(s) from the list below. Be prepared to share your answer AND why you believe it is correct.
|
Expressed Powers
A. Regulate a Post Office (Article I, Section 8 [7])
B. Regulate commerce (business) (Article I, Section 8 [3])
C. Raise an Army and Navy (Article I, Section 8 [12-14])
D. Lay taxes (Article I, Section 8 [1])
E. Borrow money (Article I, Section 8 [2])
F. Establish naturalization laws (Article I, Section 8 [4])
G. Appropriate funds and pass laws (Article I, Section 8 [1, 18])
How a Bill Becomes a Law
Use the diagram on page 345 to answer the following questions.
1. If a bill is identified as S.1 or H.R.1, what does that tell you about that particular bill?
2. Which kind of committee is the first to study a bill?
3. List 3 things that occur during floor action on a bill.
a.
b.
c.
4. What is the purpose of a conference committee?
5. Why after Floor Action does a bill have to go to the other house of Congress?
6. The president has three options to act on a bill that passes both houses of Congress. They are:
a.
b.
c.
END OF ASSIGNMENT
Powers of Congress Activity
Other Expressed Powers
Please turn to pages 301 to 304 to answer the following questions.
Part 1: Define the expressed power and state the implied power that Congress has. You may use your “Expressed/Implied Powers” Chart to help you provide examples. The first has been done for you as an example.
1. Explain the term naturalization. This is an expressed power of Congress, but what implied power does Congress have to regulate naturalization?
Naturalization is the process of making non-citizens into citizens. Congress has the implied power of regulating and limiting immigration.
2. Explain the terms copyright and patent. What laws might Congress have established for those who violate these laws?
Part 2: Fill in the blank with the appropriate term. You must also provide an example of the term.
3. Federal land under the control of Congress is known as .
An example would be…
4. The government’s right to take private property (as long as they pay you the value) for public use is called .
An example would be:
Part 3: Answer the following questions in complete sentences, using your book.
5. According to the Constitution, the right to conduct foreign relations is shared by which two branches?
6. Of the two branches mentioned above, which has the power to declare war? Which has the power to command the armed forces?
7. Congress has the power to create lower federal courts (not the Supreme Court). This is an example of which Constitutional principle?
END OF ASSIGNMENT'
Part 1: Implied Powers
Directions: Using your notes and readings, answer the following questions.
1. The Necessary and Proper Clause is often called the because it bends and stretches as needed.
For the following four questions, decide if the power is expressed or implied.
2. Congress has the power to raise and army and a navy. power
3. Congress reinstates the draft to increase the size of the military. Power
4. Congress passes a law preventing discrimination against people of different ethnicities or people with disabilities.
This is an power
5. Congress is allowed to regulate commerce (businesses). This is an power.
Part 2: Read and Define
|
Use pages 310 to 314 and the word bank to answer the following questions
6. A court order for a person to appear in court or product documents
7. Lying under oath
8. The next in line, the replacement for someone who has left a position
9. To find an accused person not guilty
10. To formally accuse
11. After the House of Representatives impeaches a President, what must happen next to remove the president from office?
12. Which section of Congress (House or Senate) must confirm presidential appointments and ratifies treaties? Which branch elects president of the US if no one receives majority of Electoral vote?
END of ASSIGNMENT
Read the following court case summaries. Then, using the graphic organizer, write an article detailing the cases.
Marbury v. Madison
Definition: First decision by the Supreme Court to declare a law unconstitutional (1803).
Here is a summary:
- At the very end of his term, President John Adams had made many federal appointments, including William Marbury as justice of the peace in the District of Columbia.
- Thomas Jefferson, the new president, refused to recognize the appointment of Marbury.
- The normal practice of making such appointments was to deliver a "commission," or notice, of appointment. This was normally done by the Secretary of State. Jefferson's Secretary of State at the time was James Madison.
- At the direction of Jefferson, Madison refused to deliver Marbury's commission. Marbury sued Madison, and the Supreme Court took the case.
- Chief Justice John Marshall wrote that the Judiciary Act of 1789, which spelled out the practice of delivering such commissions for judges and justices of the peace, was unconstitutional because it gave the Supreme Court authority that was denied it by Article III of the Constitution. Thus, the Supreme Court said, the Judiciary Act of 1789 was illegal and not to be followed.
This was the first time the Supreme Court struck down a law because it was unconstitutional. It was the beginning of the practice of "judicial review."
McCulloch v. Maryland
Definition: Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the opinion for this landmark case defining the powers of a state over the federal government.
The facts are these:
- The United States, at this time (1819) had a federal bank, the Bank of the United States.
- The State of Maryland voted to tax all bank business not done with state banks. This was meant to be a tax on people who lived in Maryland but who did business with banks in other states. However, the State of Maryland also sought to tax the federal bank. Andrew McCulloch, who worked in the Baltimore branch of the Bank of the United States, refused to pay the tax. The State of Maryland sued, and the Supreme Court accepted the case.
- Writing for the Court, Chief Justice John Marshall wrote that the federal government did indeed have the right and power to set up a federal bank. Further, he wrote, a state did not have the power to tax the federal government. "The right to tax is the right to destroy," he wrote, and states should not have that power over the federal government
Gibbons v. Ogden
Definition: One of the most important decision of the early Supreme Court. Led by Chief Justice John Marshall, the Court said that the federal commerce clause, in effect, outranked a state law that had granted a monopoly to one group of people.
Here is a summary:
- The New York Legislature had passed a law giving a monopoly on steamship travel in New York state to a group of investors, including Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamship Clermont. Among the people who had permission to do business under this monopoly was Aaron Ogden.
- Thomas Gibbons, another steamship trader, wanted to use the New York waterways for his business, too. He had been given federal permission to do so. He was denied access to these waterways by the State of New York, which cited its law as enforcement. Gibbons sued Ogden, and the Supreme Court agreed to decide the case.
- The majority opinion, written by Marshall, said that the U.S. Constitution had a commerce clause that allowed the federal government to regulate commerce, in this case trade, wherever it might be, including within the borders of a state. Previously, it was thought that the federal government had power over only interstate commerce. But Marshall's opinion said that the commerce clause applied here, too. Thus, the Supreme Court extended the definition of interstate commerce and cemented the power of the federal government over the states when laws conflicted
Graphic Organizer
Writing Project
Your goal is to create a newspaper article on the case of
Marbury vs. Madison, McCulloch vs. Maryland, and Gibbons vs. Ogden. You need to
write about 1) the circumstances leading up to the case, 2) the Supreme Court’s
decision, and 3) the impact this had on our nation’s government. You should use
CONTENT SPECIFIC vocabulary and profession grammar, as this is a formal writing
piece. You need one image for each
article. You will be graded according to the following:
Score 3
The response demonstrates an understanding of the complexities
of the text.
·
Addresses the demands of the question
·
Uses expressed and implied information from the text
·
Clarifies and extends understanding beyond the literal
|
Score 2
The response demonstrates a partial or literal understanding
of the text.
·
Addresses the demands of the question, although may not
develop all parts equally
·
Uses some expressed or implied information from the text to
demonstrate understanding
·
May not fully connect the support to a conclusion or assertion
made about the text(s)
|
Score 1
The response shows evidence of a minimal understanding of the
text.
·
May show evidence that some meaning has been derived from the
text
·
May indicate a misreading of the text or the question
·
May lack information or explanation to support an
understanding of the text in relation to the question
|
Score 0
The response is completely
irrelevant or incorrect, or there is no response.
ORGANIZERS
|
Marbury vs.
Madison
Intro:
Point/Sentence 1
Point/Sentence 2
Point/Sentence 3
Point/Sentence 4
Conclusion
McCulloch vs.
Maryland
Intro:
Point/Sentence 1
Point/Sentence 2
Point/Sentence 3
Point/Sentence 4
Conclusion
Gibbons vs. Ogden
Intro:
Point/Sentence 1
Point/Sentence 2
Point/Sentence 3
Point/Sentence 4
Conclusion
END of ASSIGNMENT
2A Review Sheet
1.
What was an effect of the Supreme Court decision
in Marbury v. Madison?
2.
What does the electoral college do?
3.
The US has a bicameral legislation. Explain what
that means.
4.
Explain the Necessary and Proper Clause (AKA
Elastic Clause) and WHY it was given to Congress
5.
Know the Checks and Balances systems
6.
House of Reps
|
Senate
|
-Makes Laws
-Conducts hearings on Bills
-Declares war
-Amends Constitution with 2/3
vote
-Creates all revenue/tax bills***
-Brings charges of impeachment***
-Elects president of the US if
no one receives majority of Electoral vote***
|
-Makes Laws
-Conducts hearings on Bills
-Declares war
-Amends Constitution with 2/3
vote
-Ratifies treaties***
-Tries charges of
impeachment***
-Confirms Presidential
appointments***
|
KNOW THESE ABOVE POWERS INSIDE AND
OUT!!!!!!
7.
Explain what Constituents are
8.
What are two responsibilities of the MD General
Assembly?
9.
What is the purpose of gerrymandering?
10.
What does “reapportionment” mean? How is it
affected by the US census?
11.
What is a Referendum?
13.
What does it mean to impeach? Explain the
process.
14.
Explain McCulloch vs MD. How do implied powers
factor in?
15.
What is a filibuster?
16.
Explain the difference between the Bill of
Attainder and Writ of Habeas Corpus
17.
What is an Ex Post Facto Law?
18.
You’ll want to know what expressed/implied
powers in terms of taxes and the military (Use your chart!)
19.
What is redistricting?
20.
Explain expressed vs. implied powers.
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