Pakistan Institute of International Affairs
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
Author(s): David D. Newsom
Source: Pakistan Horizon, Vol. 4, No. 2 (June, 1951), pp. 101-107
Published by: Pakistan Institute of International Affairs
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41392481
Accessed: 17-12-2019 06:21 UTC
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loi
might become available. Thus what the Iranian Government intend
by the nationalisation of the oil industry will be very far from depriving
the former customers of the Company.
In these circumstances, the best course for the Anglo-Iranian Oil
Company and its share holders to follow is to surrender in a friendly and
peaceful fashion at the earliest possible time their entire oil industry to
the Iranian Government and to remain in full cooperation with it. This
would lead to a natural situation in which Iran would be able to im-
prove the economic lot of her people as well as to contribute to the
maintenance of world peace.
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
David D. Newsom
To understand the American Constitution, it is necessary to recall
the time when it was created. In the year 1787, there were thirteen
nearly sovereign states, lying huddled along the eastern shore of the
North American continent. Eleven years before, they had declared their
independence of Great Britain and six years before, they had completed
the war which confirmed that independence. During the intervening
years, the states had been governed in a loose union under a constitution
known as the Articles of Confederation. By 1787, however, this loose
confederation had proved impractical.
These thirteen states were by no means alike. They differed
strongly on religious matters, on political matters, and were markedly
different in economies and in size. Each was jealous of its sovereignty
So weak was the national government under the Articles that, by this
time, states were passing tariff laws injuring smaller neighbours ; states
were raising their own armies and making their own coinage and currency;
and some were even conducting their own international relations. Yet,
through all this, many were conscious of the need for closer union
against outside threats, and in May 1787 a convention gathered to
consider revising the Articles of Confederation.
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102
In the United States we are proud of our Constitution. Much of
this pride stems from the remarkable achievement of the men who
made it. The convention, which gathered in Philadelphia under the
presidency of George Washington, was charged only with revising the
Articles of Confederation. The fifty-five delegates soon decided that
the Articles were beyond improvement ; instead, they launched boldly
into the creation of an entirely new model of government. Working
through sixteen feverish weeks of a hot Philadelphia summer, they
completed a document which, although devised for a small agricultural
country, is entirely satisfactory today for the government of a large
and growing industrial domain.
The Constitution that resulted from this convention is a document
of compromise, brevity, and flexibility. No more was said then was
absolutely necessary to establish the framework of government and
the basic principles of its operation. The framers left ample room for
additions, both written and unwritten, through which the Constitution
has always remained a modern document.
The basic problem of the convention had been to reconcile two
different demands - that for strong local control within the state and
that for a powerful centre. They adopted the principle that the functions
and powers of the national government, being new, general, and inclusive,
had to be carefully defined and stated, while all other functions were
to be understood as belonging to the states.
The representatives of the states, so recently independent from
Great Britain, had a horror of a strong central power. The powers of
the central government in the new country were therefore not only
limited, but were separated into legislative, executive and judicial
branches. Each branch had a series of checks, which balanced its power
with that of the two so that no one of the three would over attain
supremacy. This balance still obtains today.
The Constitution itself is brief. One can read it through in a
few minutes. It consists only of a Preamble, seven Articles, and those
amendments which have been added to it over the past 160 years. The
Preamble states the purpose : "We the People of the United States,
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in order to form a more, perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic
tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general
welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of
America."
Article I establishes the legislative branch of the federal govern-
ment and defines those powers which shall be entrusted to it. Within
the constitutional convention there was conflict between the large and
small states over their representation. This was resolved by a famous
compromise which provided that the Congress of the new nation should
consist of two houses - a Senate wherein each state, large or small,
would have two senators and a House of Representatives wherein
representation would be in proportion to population. Today there is
one representative for every 300,000 persons or 425 in all. Representa-
tives are elected for two years ; senators for six.
The larger states insisted that all laws for raising revenue should
originate in the House of Representatives and this was agreed to.
Measures other than revenue could originate in either the Senate or
the House of Representatives. All measures passed by Congress must
be submitted to the President who can approve or veto them.
Article I of the Constitution establishes the important balance
between the legislative and executive branches of the government by
providing that the President may veto legislation, but that, if this
legislation is again passed by both Houses of Congress by two-thirds
majorities, it shall become law. A bill may also become law if the
President does not sign it, but fails to return it to the Congress within
ten days.
By defining the powers of Congress, Article I of the Constitution
defines those powers which are allotted to the Federal Government.
These include the right to levy and collect taxes, to control the mone-
tary system, regulate foreign and inter-state commerce, conduct foreign
relations, make war and peace, regulate territories and admit new states
to the Union. Congress was further given the authority to fix weights
and measures, grant patents and copyrights, raise and maintain an army
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aud it цауу, àtid legislate naturalization laws. The additional power to
pass all necessary and proper laws for the execution of these defined
powers rendered the government sufficiently elastic to meet changing
situations and future needs.
The next Article of the Constitution established the executive in
ilio form of a President, elected indirectly by the people for a term of
four years. As originally conceived by the makers of the Constitution,
the various states would elect a number of electors equal to the total
number of Senators and Representatives in Congress from that state.
These electors, presumed to be men of eminence and judgment, would
then meet and choose a President. As will be pointed out later, how-
ever, the rise of the party system changed this concept. Today the
doctoral system is the same in theory, but little more than a formality
in practice. This attempt of the makers of the Constitution to place
another entity, the electoral college, between the people and the
executive, was among their few failures.
The executive power is vested in the President. His duties are to
sec that the laws are faithfully executed, to have command of the army
and navy, to make treaties, appoint and commission officers, and grant
reprieves and pardons. His power, however, was checked by two
important provisos : all appointments to major Government positions
must be confirmed by the Senate and all treaties with foreign powers
must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. I think most of
you are probably aware of the importance this law has had in American
foreign relations. Other provisions of the Article require the President
" from time to time " to give the Congress information on the " state
of the union," and give him authority to convene the two Houses of
Congress in exceptional circumstances.
The third branch of government, the judiciary, is established by
Article III with the words, " The judicial power of the United States
shall be vested in one Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as
Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." Federal courts
were given jurisdiction over Federal laws, over cases affecting diplo-
mats, admiralty law, and controversies in which a state or' persons from
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105
a state are in conflict with those from another state. States have their
own judicial system and are bound to enforce the Constitution and
Federal laws and treaties as well as the constitutionsand laws of the
states.
The remaining four Articles concern the relations between
states, the procedure for amending the Constitution, the rectification
of the Constitution, and the important assertion that " this
Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be
made in pursuance thereof ; and all treaties made, or which shall be
made, under the authority of the United States shall be the supreme
law of the land ; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby,
anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary
notwithstanding. "
Article V provides that Congress, by two-thirds majorities in each
House, might propose an amendment to the several states. If legislatures
or special conventions in three-fourths of the states ratify the amend-
ment, it is added to the Constitution. To date, the Constitution has been
amended twentyone times.
The first ten amendments to the Constitution were enacted im-
mediately after ratification and are known as the " Bill of Rights."
Some states ratified the Constitution only on the condition that such a
bill be made a part of the new document. Although an enumeration
of these rights already existed in state constitutions, these ten amend-
ments were enacted to place restrictions on the national power and to
guarantee protection against oppression by the Government.
The Bill of Rights forbids Congress from enacting laws to abridge
the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech or of the press. They
guarantee the right of peaceful assembly and provide for petitioning
the government for redress of grievances. Protection is assured against
military intrusion in homes and against unreasonable search or seizure
of persons. They guarantee that no person, rich or poor, will suffer
loss of life, liberty, or property without the due process of law. They
secure the right of trial by jury and provide that, in law, a person shall
be regarded as innocent until proved guilty. They prohibit excessive
bail and fines and cruel or unusual punishment.
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106
The Bill of Rights declares that the Federal Constitution is but a
delegation of power and that the people retain all rights which have
not been enumerated and that the Government has no power to interfere
with these rights. They reserve to the people all power not specifically
delegated to the Federal Government nor prohibited to the states by the
Constitution, and guarantee the powers of the people and states from
encroachment by the Federal Government.
The additional amendments have modified the Constitution to
correct defects, which have arisen and to adapt the Government to
changing conditions. Number eleven exempts a state from suit by the
citizen of another state or any subject of a foreign state. The twelfth
amendment, requiring voters to vote separately for President and Vice-
President, was enacted after a deadlock in the election of a President.
Three amendments, the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth, enacted
after the Civil War of 1860-65, freed the negro slaves and gave them
rights of citizenship. The sixteenth amendment gives the Federal
Government power to enact income-tax laws. The seventeenth amendment
providing for the direct election of Senators was enacted to prevent bitter
contests in state legislatures which formerly chose Senators. The
eighteenth amendment enacted prohibition, but was repealed by the
twenty-first. The ninteenth amendment, in 1920, gave women the
right to vote. The twentieth amendment changes the date of the
inauguration of the President and the opening of Congress and provides
for succession to the Presidency under certain conditions.
No discussion of the Constitution is complete without mention of
three unwritten practices which have become integral parts of the
United States system of government and can, in actuality, be considered
a part of the Constitution. The Constitution did not provide for a
Cabinet. It did provide that the President might require the opinion
" of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon
any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices." In the
course of American history, the heads of the executive departments
have, in actuality, become a cabinet forming the chief core of advisers
to the President. While there is no cabinet responsibility to the
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107
legislature in the British sense, this group is nevertheless important in
the functioning of our government.
The most important principle not enacted in the Constitution is that
judicial review of legislation by the Supreme Court. This in
effect establishes one of the most important of the checks which
balance the triumvirate government of the United States. It was
declared by Chief Justice John Marshall in a famous decision in 1803.
Since that time it has been understood that the Supreme Court has
the power to declare any law enacted by Congress or by any state
legislature to be contrary to the Constitution and, therefore, invalid.
One of the most famous decisions of this kind in recent years was in
the thirties, when the Supreme Court declared the National Recovery
Act unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has also used this power to
expand the Constitution. For example, the power of Congress to
regulate inter-state commerce was. at first, conceived narrowly. Today
through recent court decisions, this power has come to include any
business using or selling material from another state ; in effect this has
brought all business under the authority of the Federal Government.
It is through the expanded meaning of this clause given by the Court
that much of the recent Federal labour and social welfare legislation
has been constitutionally possible.
The third unwritten procedure of great importance not envisioned
by the makers of the Constitution was the system of party politics.
The growth of two - and sometimes three - rival political parties
enforcing party discipline, for example, made the original system of
choosing a President through an electoral college meaningless. In
practice now electors are committed to party candidates and the
system is actually a means of direct election. The amendment requir-
ing separate votes for President and Vice-President was also the result
of the early growth of a two-party system.
There is much that has been omitted in this comparatively brief
review of the United States' Constitution. It is hoped, however,
that out of this review the Constitution's main features will stand out -
its brevity, its balance, and its guarantee of rights to the people of
the United States.
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