American Democracy in Context. Joseph A. Pika

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СКАЧАТЬ Tenth Amendment.

      enumerated powers Powers specifically listed in the Constitution, such as congressional powers outlined in Article I, Section 8.

      Implied powers are those authorized by the “necessary and proper clause” of Article I, Section 8, Clause 18. The necessary and proper clause (discussed in Chapter 3) expands the enumerated powers by saying that Congress has the power to “make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.” This clause is sometimes also referred to as the elastic clause, because it serves to expand Congress’s power. The controversial question of how much the clause can—or should—expand Congress’s power is discussed in more detail in Chapter 3 (see also Figure 2.6).

      Description

      Figure 2.6 Does the Federal Government Have Too Much Power, Just Enough, or Too Little Power?

      What does this figure tell us about how Americans view the power of the central government today? Are the concerns expressed in this poll valid?

      Source: “Government,” Gallup, 2018, https://news.gallup.com/poll/27286/government.aspx

      Article I, Section 9 places certain specific limits on the power of the national government. For example, it prohibits Congress from passing a bill of attainder (legislation declaring one or more people guilty of a crime) or ex post facto laws (those that retroactively criminalize behavior), limits when Congress may suspend habeas corpus (a recourse for unlawful imprisonment), and—in the so-called emoluments clause—prevents any government official (in any branch) from receiving any gift, payment, or items of value from a foreign state or its representatives without the consent of Congress.

      Finally, Article I, Section 10 lists the powers that are withheld from the states. For example, states are forbidden to enter into treaties with foreign nations, coin money, or impose duties on imports and exports without the consent of Congress.

      Article II: The Executive Branch

      Article II vests the executive authority in the president. In other words, it gives the president the power to carry out the laws. However, the ambiguity of the opening sentence of Article II has led to considerable debate about the precise scope of executive power. Unlike the opening of Article I, the opening of Article II does not limit powers to those “herein granted,” even though Article II does contain enumerated powers. It simply says, “The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.” Does the omission of the words “herein granted” give presidents greater leeway than Congress? People disagree about the answer to this question. As we shall see in Chapter 12, three quite different interpretations of the scope of presidential power have emerged.

      implied powers Powers that are not specifically enumerated in the Constitution but are considered “necessary and proper” to carry out the enumerated powers.

      Article II, Section 2 enumerates specific powers of the president, such as serving as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, granting pardons, negotiating treaties, and appointing specified officials with the advice and consent of the Senate. In addition, Article II spells out the way in which presidents will be elected and eligibility requirements for the office (Section 1); it requires that the president give information to Congress about the state of the union and recommend for its consideration such measures as he deems necessary and expedient and that he “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed” (Section 3); and it provides guidelines for the president’s impeachment and removal from office (Section 4).

      Article III: The Judicial Branch

      Article III is the shortest of the articles delineating the three branches of government. It creates a Supreme Court and says that the judges will hold office “during good Behaviour”—in other words, unless they are impeached, they will have life tenure (the method for selecting Supreme Court justices was spelled out in Article II). Life tenure was designed to promote judicial independence, as was a guarantee that justices receive a compensation for their services that would not be reduced during their tenure. No federal courts existed under the Articles of Confederation, and some members of the Constitutional Convention feared that a large federal judiciary with expanded jurisdiction would interfere with decisions that they felt should be left to the states. Therefore, the delegates postponed the decision about creating federal courts in addition to the Supreme Court by, in Article III, giving Congress the authority to establish lower federal courts if it chose to do so (which it quickly did, in the Judiciary Act of 1789; see Chapter 14).

      Articles IV–VII

      The remaining four articles of the Constitution cover a wide range of issues. Article IV deals with the states and their relations. It requires states to give “full faith and credit” to the laws and judicial proceedings of other states, prohibits discrimination by one state against citizens of another state, guarantees a republican form of government in every state, and delineates procedures for admitting new states. Article V spells out the processes by which the Constitution can be amended. Article VI contains the supremacy clause, forbids the use of any religious test as a qualification for holding any office (in other words, candidates could not be disqualified because of their religious views or lack thereof), and guaranteed that debts incurred by the Confederation would be honored under the Constitution. Finally, Article VII spelled out the procedure for ratifying the Constitution.

      Ratifying the Constitution

      The vote to approve the Constitution at the Convention was only the beginning of the battle. The document still had to be ratified by the states. Article VII of the Constitution spelled out the procedure: Each state would hold a ratifying convention. For the Constitution to take effect, at least nine of the thirteen conventions would have to vote in favor of approval. Once nine states voted to approve the Constitution, any states failing to vote for approval would exist as independent nations. The process ended up lasting more than two and a half years, during which time the Articles of Confederation remained in place. Unlike the deliberations at the Constitutional Convention, which were shrouded in secrecy, debate over the ratification of the Constitution was a distinctly public affair and the conventions were widely covered by the press.

      Federalists Those who supported ratification of the Constitution and the stronger national government that it created.

      Anti-Federalists States’ rights advocates who opposed the ratification of the Constitution.

      Federalists versus Anti-Federalists

      Supporters of the Constitution and of the stronger national government it created quickly dubbed themselves Federalists. Opponents, who feared that the proposed national government would be too strong and who preferred that more power remain with the states, came to be known as Anti-Federalists. As Joseph J. Ellis has noted, however, both sides were really “Federalists,” which literally meant favoring СКАЧАТЬ