Page 119 - DPOL202_COMPARATIVE_POLITICS_AND_GOVERNMENT_ENGLISH

Comparative Politics and Government

Notes constitutional amendments have effected changes in the governmental system of the United
States as originally established in 1789.
2. Congressional Statutes: The legislative authority of the federal government is vested in the
Congress having Senate and House of Representatives as the upper and lower chambers
respectively. The acts made by the Congress from time to time have done much to cover what
could not be provided by the terms of the original Constitution and subsequent amendments.
But one thing should be noted here: we are not concerned with every act passed by the Congress.
Since the Constitution has set limits to the authority of the Congress, the American national
legislature is not a sovereign law-making body and as there is a distinct difference between the
constitutional law and the ordinary law of the land, our concern is here confined to those
statutes passed by the Congress which have done to cover up the gaps contained in the provisions
of the Constitution. However, since the process of amendment is too rigid, it can not be denied
that the legislative authority of the Congress has done much to keep the Constitution in operation.
For instance, the Constitution says nothing about the organisation of the cabinet, machinery of
elections, composition of the various executive departments, organisation of the subordinate
federal courts, management of national currency and banking, recruitment and working of the
armed forces etc. All these affairs have been regulated by the laws passed by the Congress from
time to time. The organisation and working of the constitutional committees, the requirement
that all bills must be passed through three readings, the various rules for the regulation and
control of debates etc. are governed by the acts of the Congress.
3. Executive Decrees: Likewise, the orders and decrees of the President have greatly contributed
to the growth and expansion of the Constitution. It is observed that Presidents like Washington,
Jackson, Lincoln, Wilson, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Nixon and Bush had an impact on the Constitution
at least equal to that of any of the original framers. By their vigorous use of the Presidential
powers, they made the Presidency an office of executive as well as legislative leadership. The
institution of the cabinet, the practice of senatorial courtesy, the declaration of war and peace,
the making of executive agreements, the use of extra-ordinary powers during the days of
national emergency, the use of veto over Congressional legislation in an unqualified manner
etc. may be cited among the leading instances of the fact that in the exercise of these powers,
strong Presidents have taken and maintained positions virtually settling constitutional questions
with some meaning or application never attributed to it. Some Presidents have even claimed
that the Constitution means what they say and quite often their views have prevailed. Even the
heads of the executive departments and other administrative officers have to act swiftly as per
orders coming from the White House. It is the Supreme Court alone that can place an effective
check on the administrative powers of the President, but it should be taken for granted that
unless the executive orders and decrees are challenged, they remain the part of an ever-
expanding constitutional fabric.
4. Judicial Interpretations: Certainly the judicial interpretations have played a very important
part in the growth and expansion of the American Constitution. The judges interpret the
Constitution and in the course of their interpretations, new meanings are given to its provisions.
Justice Hughes once claimed that ‘although the Americans are under a constitution, the
Constitution is what the judges say it is.’ It is indisputable that the Supreme Court has heavily
contributed to the sphere of constitutional development. By the doctrine of implied powers, it
has vastly increased the authority of the Congress in matters of legislation. By means of various
decisions, it has enabled the federal government to control and regulate commerce, trade,
industry, transport, communications, defence etc. Moreover, by the power of judicial review,
the Supreme Court has made itself the guardian or protector of the liberties of the people and
secured the credit of being a ‘continuous constitutional convention at work.’ It is owing to the
very important part of the Supreme Court that the oldest written Constitution of the world has,
for all its rigidity, shown remarkable elasticity. The truth seems to be that the Supreme Court
“has read into the American Constitution many things which are not there visible to the naked
eye. It has read out of the Constitution other things which are there as plain as print can make
them.”

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