US CONSTITUTION
1.1 The nature of the US Constitution
Codification – A constitution that consists of a full and authoritative set of rules written
down in a single document.
A codified constitution is:
o authoritative – it is on a higher level than ordinary law, so it sets out the basis for all
political institutions, including those that create everyday legislation
o entrenched – it is hard to amend or abolish
o judiciable – as a higher form of law, other laws can be judged against it. The
judiciary is responsible for this, judging whether other laws are constitutional or not.
The Founding Fathers deliberately entrenched the Constitution to prevent it being changed
too easily by a single institution or political party in their own self-interest – for example, by
centralising excessive power in the hands of the government of the day. However, the
Founding Fathers knew that there would need to be some mechanism for changing the
Constitution to meet the changing needs of society – an amendment process – and this is
outlined in Article V.
Entrenchment – The application of extra legal safeguards to a constitutional provision to
make it more difficult to amend or abolish. Entrenchment is written into the Constitution by
the complicated and demanding process for amending it.
Vagueness – Some of the powers given by the Constitution are very specific, especially to
Congress, but others are very vague. This leads to the issues of whether certain powers
belong only to the federal government, only to state governments, or to both the federal
and state governments.
There are many clearly enumerated powers, but the Constitution is often unclear. This is
partly because it is a compromise between Founding Fathers who sometimes disagreed, and
partly because there was a deliberate decision to allow room for the Constitution to evolve.
However, this lack of clarity means there is often significant disagreement over its meaning.
The Constitution has many enumerated powers – powers that are explicitly stated. However,
many implied powers have been found in the Constitution too – powers that are not
expressly written down in the Constitution but are needed to perform an enumerated power
or are suggested by the wording.
Enumerated Implied
Powers of • Collection of taxes and duties, which provide for the debts • The necessary and
Congress of the United States, as well as for the common defence and proper clause
welfare of the country. • Interstate commerce
• Borrowing money on behalf of the United States. clause
• Regulation of commerce, both on the international and
interstate levels. This also includes native American tribes.
• Establishing currency and coin money and fixing common
weights and measures.
• Establishing post offices.
• Provision for and maintenance of an army and navy.
• Organise, train, and arm a militia.
• Exclusive powers to legislative matters of the country.
• Establishing courts that are subordinate to the Supreme
Court.
1.1 The nature of the US Constitution
Codification – A constitution that consists of a full and authoritative set of rules written
down in a single document.
A codified constitution is:
o authoritative – it is on a higher level than ordinary law, so it sets out the basis for all
political institutions, including those that create everyday legislation
o entrenched – it is hard to amend or abolish
o judiciable – as a higher form of law, other laws can be judged against it. The
judiciary is responsible for this, judging whether other laws are constitutional or not.
The Founding Fathers deliberately entrenched the Constitution to prevent it being changed
too easily by a single institution or political party in their own self-interest – for example, by
centralising excessive power in the hands of the government of the day. However, the
Founding Fathers knew that there would need to be some mechanism for changing the
Constitution to meet the changing needs of society – an amendment process – and this is
outlined in Article V.
Entrenchment – The application of extra legal safeguards to a constitutional provision to
make it more difficult to amend or abolish. Entrenchment is written into the Constitution by
the complicated and demanding process for amending it.
Vagueness – Some of the powers given by the Constitution are very specific, especially to
Congress, but others are very vague. This leads to the issues of whether certain powers
belong only to the federal government, only to state governments, or to both the federal
and state governments.
There are many clearly enumerated powers, but the Constitution is often unclear. This is
partly because it is a compromise between Founding Fathers who sometimes disagreed, and
partly because there was a deliberate decision to allow room for the Constitution to evolve.
However, this lack of clarity means there is often significant disagreement over its meaning.
The Constitution has many enumerated powers – powers that are explicitly stated. However,
many implied powers have been found in the Constitution too – powers that are not
expressly written down in the Constitution but are needed to perform an enumerated power
or are suggested by the wording.
Enumerated Implied
Powers of • Collection of taxes and duties, which provide for the debts • The necessary and
Congress of the United States, as well as for the common defence and proper clause
welfare of the country. • Interstate commerce
• Borrowing money on behalf of the United States. clause
• Regulation of commerce, both on the international and
interstate levels. This also includes native American tribes.
• Establishing currency and coin money and fixing common
weights and measures.
• Establishing post offices.
• Provision for and maintenance of an army and navy.
• Organise, train, and arm a militia.
• Exclusive powers to legislative matters of the country.
• Establishing courts that are subordinate to the Supreme
Court.
