Constitutional Conversations and Civil Dialogue

What is the U.S. Constitution?

• The supreme law of the land in America

• A document declaring independence from Great Britain

• A source of much debate and discussion among Americans

• Both A and C

The Constitution is not a particularly long document (the Preamble, seven articles, and 27 amendments). The Founding generation wrote it that way so

• Only wealthy elites could own a copy

• Everyone, lawyer and nonlawyer alike, could read it and understand it

• The new laws would be confusing and difficult to understand

• To save money on the ink needed to print it

The Constitution expresses one of its core principles, popular sovereignty, in its Preamble, beginning with these words:

• We the People

• Four score and seven years ago

• We hold these truths to be self-evident

• Of the people, by the people, for the people

The framers set out the basic structure of government-in other words, its three different branches in Articles I through III. In order, match the three different branches (1. Legislative, 2. Executive, 3. Judicial) with its constitutional responsibility.

• 1. Enforcing the laws, 2. Interpreting the laws, 3. Making the laws

• 1. Interpreting the laws, 2. Making the laws, 3. Enforcing the laws

• 1. Making the laws, 2. Enforcing the laws, 3. Interpreting the laws

• The framers really didn't want a separation of powers

Article V outlines a formal process that has allowed later generations to revise the Constitution without the need to resort to violence or revolution. This process is called

• The Impeachment Process

• The Amendment Process

• The Midterm Elections

• Judicial Review

Some of our most cherished liberties, such as free speech, free press, freedom of religion, and the right to a jury trial, were not listed in the original Constitution. Rather, they were added in 1791 with the adoption of the

• Northwest Ordinance

• Articles of Confederation

• Continental Association

• Bill of Rights

After the Civil War, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments abolished slavery, wrote the Declaration of Independence's promise of freedom and equality into the Constitution, and banned racial discrimination in voting. This period, which some historians call America's "Second Founding" is also known as

• Reconstruction

• Antebellum

• The Progressive Era

• The New Deal

The key to thinking like a constitutional lawyer is to separate your political views (what should be done) from your constitutional views (what can be done). Which of these would be an example of a constitutional question?

• Should the government raise your taxes?

• Does the federal government have the power to pass a law to raise your taxes?

• Should the government lower your taxes?

• Should wealthy corporations pay more in taxes?

Phillip Bobbitt's landmark book Constitutional Fate identifies seven different forms of argument used by constitutional lawyers. When having a civil dialogue, it is important to be aware of these different arguments because

• You can criticize someone who uses a different interpretive method than you

• It is easier to tell people that they are wrong

• Even judges and constitutional lawyers don't always agree on the Constitution's meaning

• You can prove that you are smarter than everyone else

Someone who is using a Textual Interpretation would most likely try to

• Use the Constitution's text to understand the best reading of the Constitution's text at the time the provision was added to the Constitution

• Use only modern resources

• Use any text they can find, even if it has nothing to do with the Constitution

• Use sources that were first published on the internet