The U.S. Constitution 3

These study questions are part of the study over The Founding Documents of The United States of America. For a general introduction to this study you can go HERE. If you’d like to learn more about Study The Great Books, or to find another text to study, you can go HERE.

Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find these in the Text and Note them in the Margins)

Justice

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. How long is a single presidential or vice-presidential term?

2. How many electors may each state have and who is excluded from being a presidential elector?

3. How many votes does an elector get and from what place must they cast their vote(s)?

4. To whom are the electors’ votes sent, where are they counted, and before whom are they counted?

5. According to the Constitution, what normally determines who becomes President and Vice President of the United States?

6. What must take place if there is a tie in the Electors’ votes, or a lack of a true majority, for the President and/or Vice President of the United States?

7. What are the explicitly stated prerequisites in the Constitution for those who desire to attain the office of the President of the United States?

8. What happens if the President, for any reason, becomes unable to “discharge the Powers and Duties” of his office?

9. What is the President required to do “Before he enter on the Execution of his Office?”

10. What are at least five things which the President of the United States “shall be” or “shall have Power” to do according to the Constitution?

11. What things shall cause “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States” to be removed from their office prematurely (prior to the natural end of their term of service)?

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. Why might Senators, Representatives, and other office holders be excluded from being an elector?

2. The Constitution states that of the votes cast by a presidential elector “one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves.” Why might this have been included in the laws governing the electors’ voting?

3. Why might it be important that presidential electors cast their votes from their respective prescribed locations as required by the constitution?

4. Why might being “a natural born Citizen” be a prerequisite for seeking the office of President of the United States?

5. Why might the Constitution have omitted giving any prerequisites for those who would seek the office of Vice President?

6. Why might the Constitution have made it law that the President’s “compensation” for his work “shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected?”

7. Why might the “Oath or Affirmation” be a critically important thing for a President to give prior to his taking office?

8. Why might the Constitution have given power to the President to “grant reprieves and pardons for Offenses against the United States” and why would that power fall short of “Cases of Impeachment?”

9. Why might the power to appoint “Judges of the Supreme Court” and “other officers of the United States” be given to the President (the Executive Branch)? Why should this power not belong to either Congress (the Legislative Branch) or the Judicial Branch?

10. Having now read about the Executive Office, what seems to be the primary responsibility laid upon the President of the United States of America?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. Article II, Section 1 states the laws which govern the electoral process of what is commonly called “the electoral college.” Why might such an electoral college have been deemed necessary for the good of our nation by the founders? What are the pros and cons of such a system as this where representatives determine the final outcome of an election? What might be some of the pros and cons of a “direct democracy” where the popular vote determines all? Ultimately, do you think our system is the best one or would some other approach be ultimately better and more just? Explain your reasoning carefully.

2. Some people believe that to be President of the United States one should have had to serve for a time in the military since the President is the de facto “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy” and all other armed forces in America. Though the Constitution does not make this a prerequisite for the office, do you think it should be? Why or why not?

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. The President of the United States has the power to Pardon convicted criminals. Read Romans 3:21-26. What principles concerning the pardoning of a criminal might we derive from the means by which God has pardoned our sins as Christians? What might we infer from this in regard to principles of justice for whom, how, or when, the President should ever extend a pardon?

2. Read Matthew 27:11-26. Why do you think Pilate handed Jesus over to death rather than pardoning him (as was in his power to do)? How might we relate this back to the presidential power of Pardon?