Describe how provisions for majority rule have changed and increased over time, and what role the Progressive movement played in this evolution
Overview: Chapter 2
Constitutional Democracy: Promoting Liberty and Self-Government
Chapter Goals
The chapter addresses the following goals:
- Describe the system of checks and balances on the powers of the three branches of American government, and assess its effectiveness in controlling the abuse of political power.
- Explain and analyze the roots of limited government in America.
- Compare separation of powers and separated institutions sharing power. Assess why the second, which characterizes the U.S. system, is the more substantial check on political power.
- Explain what is meant by the term judicial review, and assess its significance in a system based on limited government. Be sure to explain the constitutional significance of Marbury v. Madison.
- Discuss the distinction the framers made between the terms democracy and republic, and why they considered one preferable over the other.
- Describe how provisions for majority rule have changed and increased over time, and what role the Progressive movement played in this evolution.
- Summarize the arguments for and against direct democracy, as compared to an indirect, representative government.
- Compare and contrast current American constitutional democracy with other political systems, paying special attention to the ways in which the United States is more – or less – democratic.
Focus and Main Points
This chapter describes how the principles of representative government and limited government are embodied in the Constitution and explains the tension between them. The chapter also indicates how these principles have been modified in practice in the course of American history.
The main points presented in this chapter include the following:
- America during the colonial period developed traditions of limited government and representative government. These traditions were rooted in governing practices, political theory, and cultural values.
- The Constitution provides for limited government mainly by defining lawful powers and by dividing those powers among competing institutions. The Constitution, with its Bill of Rights, also prohibits government from infringing on individual rights. Judicial review is an additional safeguard.
- The Constitution in its original form provided for representative government mainly through indirect methods of electing representatives. The framers’ theory of representative government was based on the notion that political power must be separated from immediate popular influences if sound policies are to result.
- The idea of popular government—in which the majority’s desires have a more direct and immediate impact on governing officials—has gained strength since the nation’s beginning. Originally, the House of Representatives was the only institution subject to direct vote of the people. This mechanism has been extended to other institutions and, through primary elections, even to the nomination of candidates for public office.
Chapter Outline
I. Before the Constitution: The Colonial and Revolutionary Experiences
- The Declaration of Independence
B. The Articles of Confederation
C. A Nation Dissolving - Negotiating Toward a Constitution
- The Great Compromise: A Two-Chamber Congress
B. The Three-Fifths Compromise: Issues of Slavery and Trade
C. A Strategy for Ratification
D. The Ratification Debate
E. The Framers’ Goals
III. Protecting Liberty: Limited Government
- Grants and Denials of Power
B. Using Power to Offset Power
C. Separated Institutions Sharing Power: Checks and Balances -
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- Shared Legislative Powers
- Shared Executive Powers
- Shared Judicial Powers
- The Bill of Rights
E. Judicial Review - Providing for Self-Government
- Democracy versus Republic
B. Limited Popular Rule
C. Altering the Constitution: More Power to the People
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- Jeffersonian Democracy: A Revolution of the Spirit
- Jacksonian Democracy: Linking the People and the Presidency
- The Progressives: Senate and Primary Elections
- Interpretation of the Constitution
- Constitutional Democracy Today
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Chapter Summary
The Constitution of the United States is a reflection of the colonial and revolutionary experiences of the early Americans. Freedom from abusive government was the main reason for the colonies’ revolt against British rule, but the English tradition also provided ideas about government, power, and freedom that were expressed in the Constitution and, earlier, in the Declaration of Independence.
The Constitution was designed in part to provide for a limited government in which political power would be confined to proper uses. The framers wanted to ensure that the government they were creating would not itself be a threat to freedom. To this end, they confined the national government to expressly granted powers and also denied it certain specific powers. Other prohibitions on government were later added to the Constitution in the form of stated guarantees of individual liberties in the Bill of Rights. The most significant constitutional provision for limited government, however, was a separation of powers among the three branches. The powers given to each branch enable it to act as a check on the exercise of power by the other two, an arrangement that during the nation’s history has in fact served as a barrier to abuses of power.
The Constitution, however, made no mention of how the powers and limits of government were to be judged in practice. In its historic ruling in Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court assumed the authority to review the constitutionality of legislative and executive actions and to declare them unconstitutional and thus invalid.
The framers of the Constitution, respecting the idea of self-government but distrusting popular majorities, devised a system of government that they felt would temper popular opinion and slow its momentum so that the public’s “true interest” (which includes a regard for the rights and interests of the minority) would guide public policy. Different methods were advanced for selecting the president, the members of the House and the Senate, and federal judges as a means of insulating political power against momentary majorities.
Since the adoption of the Constitution, the public gradually has assumed more direct control of its representatives, particularly through measures that affect the way officeholders are chosen. Presidential popular voting (linked to the Electoral College), direct election of senators, and primary elections are among the devices aimed at strengthening the majority’s influence. These developments are rooted in the idea, deeply held by ordinary Americans, that the people must have substantial direct influence over their representatives if government is to serve their interests.
