The Constitution Brooklyn Main HIS 115 January 19, 2014 Richard Coop The Constitution addressed many of the complaints of the Declaration of Independence, some not as directly as others, but all were addressed in some form. Included in these complaints is that the laws passed by the King did not help the colonists. The First amendment protects the good of the people, there by addressing this issue. There was also the matter of the Kings refusal to protect the colonists from their enemies. The second amendment gave the colonists the right to bear arms, allowing them to protect themselves.
Most of congresses oversight comes from congressional committees as unlike in Britain congress cannot hold question time as the executive is not present in congress so it is only in committees that members of congress can directly question the executive. There is much evidence to suggest that congressional oversight is only effective when the controlling party in congress and the presidents party remain distinct due to that idea that when they are not, oversight and the scrutiny that comes parallel to it, would do the executive unnecessary harm, in the words of David Broder 'no Republican committee chairman wanted to turn over rocks in a Republican administration'. This argument is highlighted by the fact that almost all of the senates rejection of presidential appointments existed in a time when the presidents party did not control congress, for example, the democrat senate's rejection of George H W Bush's appointment of John Tower to secretary of defence and the republican senate's rejection of Clinton's nuclear test ban treaty. The most noticeable example however comes from George Bush JNR's time in office where for the majority of his first 6 years in power he held a republican congress. During this time of lapdog congress, congressional oversight was practically non existent with a measly 37
It can be argued that the UK constitution is too flexible. The lack of clearly defined roles (separation of powers) means that theoretically an electoral dictatorship could occur. For example in 1997 Tony Blaire’s government passed a series of laws without any difficulty. Devolution, human rights act and freedom of information were all acts set by the priminister and his cabinet (the executive) which went relatively unchecked by the opposition (legislative). This demonstrates how a lack of separation of powers/checks and balances would only come about from and uncodified/flexible constitution.
However, Hamilton’s plan showed that there were differences on how to interpret the Constitution. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson argued that the Constitution did not give the government the power to set up a bank. Madison and Jefferson believed in a strict construction of the Constitution and said that the government only had the powers that are written within the four corners of the Constitution. Because the Constitution made no mention of a national bank, then the government did not have the authority to create one. Hamilton, on the other hand, believed that a loose construction of the
As a result, no counterbalance of executive or judicial power existed at the national level, and the Articles of Confederation, drafted with the intent of limiting the power of central government, created one without adequate power to govern effectively. Though the government did have certain powers, such as declaring war, entering into treaties, and obtaining and controlling the development of western territories, its weaknesses outweighed its strengths. The most notable shortcomings of the federal government during this period were its inefficient decision-making process and its inability to regulate trade or levy taxes. The Articles of Confederation began the trend of discordant colonies hampering forward movement in government with the ratification process itself. Requiring unanimous acceptance, ratification could be foiled by one state’s refusal.
Gridlock occurs when the branches of government scrutinise each other’s action to such a point where neither can pass any form of legislation, and the government therefore becomes less able to perform its duties, therefore leading to a less effective government. For example during Obamas presidency he had struggled with the majority of republican opposition in congress, and therefore had trouble to pass any major legislation such as immigration reform, jobs bill, gun control initiatives and etc. On the other hand, others may argue that the government is not ineffective because of the constitution as the checks and balances system do in fact work, as a way to prevent an overly centralised and powerful form of government, which may not stay accountable to the people as much as it does to large corporations who fund them for re-elections and etc.
The constitution created a more stabilzed federal government and giving rights and power to the central government. Congress had some weaknessess in the Articles of confederation that consisted of having no power to coin money, therefore each stay had to develop its own currency. Another weakness was that congress was unable to negotiate their interstate and foreign commerce. Some of the steates had refused topay for the goods that they had purchased from abroad. More weaknessed were that congress was unable to impose taxes.
Any legislative or Presidential act repugnant to it is void. The tenth amendment and Federalist Papers 45, 14, 27, 39, 73 and 83 verify that the Constitutional powers granted were "few", "defined" and "enumerated." The suspension of the Constitution, the written will of the governed, is a desperate measure. It is peculiar that this power is not clearly defined and enumerated in the text of the Constitution. Examination of previous national emergencies provides evidence of what prior governments viewed as normative.
Federalism The Constitution doesn't contain an injunction to save the areas of three long range of powers that it gives to people, neither does it help join and help supply the support system of checks and balances. It gives to the three different areas the right to legislate, execute, and adjudicate. It also provides throughout the report that means that each of the separate branches could turn down the incursions of people. Framers gave us the idea of our original document against a person with a background rich in the studying of scholars leading towards the right ordering of a system with the exact amount power to govern. The colonies broke away from Great Britain after the Revolution got over with, and the framers of their own
The content of the constitution (doesn’t show a controlling influence) x. Facts - that there are no wealth/property qualifications to hold office in the federal government IV. Logic and overall strength of argument g. Beard xi. Powers given to the government by the founding fathers such as control in foreign and interstate commerce allowed them to make laws that help themselves. Also,