• Close cooperation between the two major parties to achieve desired political goals.

↳ May be crucial for political success

• Framers of the Constitution hoped to encourage a spirit of Bipartisanship and compromise between the President and Congress

• Law would be passed, treaties ratified, appointments confirmed, and budget fixed only when both parties worked together

• For example, Republican President George W. Bush managed to achieve his education reforms in 2001/2002 because he worked with leading congressional Democrats such as Senator Edward Kennedy.

  ↳ However, this cooperation does not always happen and instead gridlock can be the result.

• This can create a divided government - when the presidency is controlled by one party and one or both Houses of Congress are controlled by the other party.

• The 52 years between 1969 and 2021 have seen 36 years of divided government and for 24 of those years the President's party controlled neither house.

• Both national and state governments have substantive control over defined areas of government

• Some areas have unclear and disputed boundaries over which authority has jurisdiction.

• Framers of the Constitution sought a 'middle ground' to ensure Federalism respected the desire for limited government

• James Maddison (a founding father) saw federalism as a "middle ground" between strong central government and "states rights" - argument which goes through American history

• No where in the constitution is the word "federal" or "federalism", written in the constitution

• Its written in the enumerated powers of all three branches of federal government

  ↳ For example, Congress was to "coin money", the President was to be "commander-in-chief"

• "Elastic Cause" of the constitution grants implied powers

  ↳ For example, the Supreme Court was to be the umpire of all disagreement between the federal and state governments.

  
  

• Third Amendment:
  ↳ This amendment states that the government cannot force people to house and feed soldiers in their homes during times of peace.

• Fourth Amendment
  ↳ This amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, requiring warrants to have probable cause and specific details.

• Fifth Amendment:
  ↳ The amendment guarantees the right to a grand jury for serious crimes, protects against self-incrimination, prohibits double jeopardy, ensures due process, and requires fair compensation for property taken for public use.

• Sixth Amendment:
  ↳ This amendment guarantees a speedy, public trial by an impartial jury, the right to be informed of charges, the right to a lawyer, and the right to confront accusers.

• Seventh Amendment:
  ↳ This amendment guarantees a trial by jury in civil cases. (Disputes between private parties or between the government and a private party.)

• Eighth Amendment:
  ↳ This amendment guarantees that excessive bail or excessive fines will not be imposed and that punishment will not be cruel and unusual.

• Ninth Amendment:
  ↳ This amendment states that the people have other rights that are not stated here.

• Tenth Amendment:
  ↳ This amendment states that the people have all the rights not given to the United States government or forbidden to state governments by the U.S. Constitution.

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• Constitutional amendment can be proposed either by Congress or by a national constitutional convention called by Congress at the request of two-thirds of the states legislatures.

• All constitutional amendment so far have been proposed by Congress

• No national convention has ever been called, although in 1992, 32 states legislatures had petitioned Congress for a convention to propose a balanced budget amendment - just two stages short of the required two-thirds.

↳ The Equal Rights amendment 1982 - Would have provided equality of rights by the federal or state governments on account of sex.

↳ The Flag Protection Amendment would let Congress make flag desecration illegal. The Supreme Court overturned the Flag Protection Act in 1990, citing First Amendment rights. The proposed amendment aimed to reverse this decision, passing the House six times by 2006 but always failing in the Senate.

↳ The Federal Marriage Amendment - Introduced into Congress several times between 2002 and 2013. Seeks to define marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman. It however failed to receive the required votes in both the House and Senate in 2006.

↳ Right to Vote Amendment - Would end felony voting restrictions and help protect voting rights after Shelby County v. Holder Supreme Court ruling in 2013 overturned sections of the voting rights act 1965.

• They need both Congress and the states to agree, and the need for the supermajorities, make the amendment process difficult

• Hundreds of amendments have been initiated but very few have made it successfully through the process.

  
  

• Supreme Court's power of judicial review

  Powers allows the court to interpret the Constitution and in effect, change the meaning of the words written over two centuries ago

  ↳ For example, the eight amendment which forbids "cruel and unusual punishment" can be interpreted differently