10.31.13

ESSAY 3     The methods that have changed the Constitution over more than two centuries have come from either formal or informal methods to add amendments.  Some formal methods include ratification of an amendment by the Legislative Branch and then ratification by the states, 3/4 of which must agree to ratify.  Another option is 2/3 of the states can call for a Constitutional Convention which can be approved by 3/4 of the states and bypassed by the legislature, this method is called a National Convention.  There are many more informal methods for Constitutional change than there are formal.  The main informal process is Judicial interpretation.  The Supreme Court has the ability to decide whether laws are constitutional or not.  The Constitution never gave the court this power, therefor judicial review was created so that they could check the other branches.  Another informal method is found within the electoral college.  At first the president wasn't elected by popular vote, state legislature would elect people to vote for candidates.  But now these delegates have little to no power, and vote for whoever their state is voting for.
     Informal methods are more commonly used than formal because they are easier to use and require less consensus from a large group of people.  To amend the Constitution Congress has to have 2/3 majority to send it to the states, but with informal methods, a much smaller group of people are needed to change anything.


ESSAY 4  The framers of the United States Constitution created a federal system.  Federalism is the distribution of power in an organization between a central authority and the constituent units.  In other words our national government is organized so that two or more levels of government have the same amount of formal authority over the same people/areas.  Categorical grants, federal mandates, and selective incorporation have all been used to increase federal power relative to the states.  A categorical grant is a grant designed for a specific purpose, they are the main source of federal aid to states and local governments, but the state must spend money in accord with national government wishes.  They are "strings attached" grants.  A federal mandate is when a federal government tells it's states what policies to implement.  Lastly selective incorporation is when federal courts can overturn state and local practices.
     States use block grants and the Tenth Amendment to increase their power of the government as well.  Block grants are considered to be "no strings attached".  This means the states can use the money however they feel useful.  The Tenth Amendment reserves power to the states and to the people, it is being used to argue that power should be returned to the states.  This means that the government cannot hold something over the states if it is not in the Constitution.