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 | 外国法律 → 外国法律 → United States Constitution美国宪法 |  |
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| United States Constitution美国宪法 |
| 发表日期： 2008/4/19 9:19:05 阅读次数： 3696 查看权限： 普通信息 |
Constitution of the United States, document embodying the fundamental principles
upon which the American republic is conducted. Drawn up at the Constitutional
Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, the Constitution was signed on Sept. 17,
1787, and ratified by the required number of states (nine) by June 21, 1788. It
superseded the original charter of the United States in force since 1781 (see
Confederation, Articles of) and established the system of federal government
that began to function in 1789. The Constitution is concise, and its very
brevity and its general statement of principles have, by accident more than by
design, made possible the extension of meaning that has fostered growth. There
are seven articles and a preamble; 27 amendments have been adopted (see the
table entitled Text of the Constitution of the United States).
The wording of the Constitution is general, necessitating interpretation, and
any short summary is only rough and approximate. From its very beginnings, the
Constitution has been subject to stormy controversies, not only in
interpretation of some of its phrases, but also between the “loose
constructionists” and “strict constructionists.” The middle of the 19th cent.
saw a tremendous struggle concerning the nature of the Union and the extent of
states' rights. The Civil War decided the case in favor of the advocates of
strong union, and since that time the general tendency has been toward the
centralization and strengthening of federal power.
The Preamble
The Preamble does not confer power, but its first words, “We the People of the
United States,” describe the source of the powers conferred by the rest of the
Constitution and have been used by the advocates of a strong union arguing
against the proponents of states' rights. The Preamble also states the purpose
of the document. One of the statements of purpose, “to...promote the general
welfare,” has been of great importance in the 20th cent. in upholding social
legislation, for which no warrant could be found in the enumerated powers of
Congress.
The Articles
The first three articles set up the threefold separation of powers, said to have
been modeled on Montesquieu's study, which on this point was incorrect, of the
British government. In actuality this separation has been weakened by the
granting of greater powers to the President and his administrative agencies,
which now have legislative and judicial as well as executive functions.
1: Congress
Article 1 provides for the establishment of the bicameral Congress composed of
the Senate and the House of Representatives. The various powers of the Congress
and the respective houses, together with their methods of election, are
enumerated in the article. The Seventeenth Amendment, passed in 1916, instituted
the direct popular election of Senators and removed the power of their election
from the state legislatures as had originally been provided in Article 1.
Section 4 of Article 1 gives the states power over the conduct of federal
elections but permits the Congress to alter such regulations at any time. In
1842 the Congress imposed the district system on the United States. In 1962 the
Supreme Court dealt with proper apportionment of election districts and in its
decision in Baker v. Carr allowed voters to go into a federal court to force
equitable representation in a state legislature. This decision was, however,
based on the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Later, the
court ruled (1964) that state legislative apportionment must reflect the
one-person one-vote principle.
As a legislative body Congress has certain inherent powers. Among these are the
power to investigate pursuant to legislative needs. Congressional investigations
have led to a great many court decisions concerning the right of a witness
before a Congressional committee to refuse to testify even when granted immunity
from prosecution.
Section 8 of Article 1 lists the enumerated powers of the Congress. The clause
of this section, the “commerce clause,” which grants the Congress the right to
“regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States,” has, in
the 20th cent., been used as a strong argument for the expansion of government
power. Since the historic case of Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), the commerce clause
has been the battleground over which much of the struggle for and against
increased federal regulation of private enterprise has been fought. Until the
late 1930s Congress exercised its powers under the clause solely with reference
to transportation. But after a series of dramatic reversals by the Supreme
Court, Congress began to enter areas that had previously been controlled only by
the states. The commerce clause is now the source of important peacetime powers
of the national government and an important basis for the judicial review of
state actions.
Besides its enumerated and inherent powers, the Congress has implied powers
under Article 1 “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for
carrying into execution” the enumerated or expressed powers. Sections 9 and 10
of Article 1 contain guarantees of the writ of habeas corpus, prohibit bills of
attainder and ex post facto laws, and also improve certain limitations on state
power.
2: The Executive Branch
Article 2 creates the executive branch of government headed by the President,
elected, along with the Vice President, for a term of four years (see president;
electoral college). The Twenty-second Amendment (1951) provides that no person
may be elected President more than twice. The Twenty-third Amendment (1961)
permits District of Columbia residents to vote in presidential elections. Since
the adoption of the Constitution there have been two conflicting views of
Article 2. The first is that the powers of the President are limited to those
enumerated in the article. The opposite view is that the President is given
executive power not limited by the provisions of the rest of the article. Every
President has had to make the choice of interpretations for himself.
3: The Judiciary
Article 3 provides for a judiciary and defines treason. Besides its enumerated
powers, the judiciary has the inherent authority to interpret laws and the
Constitution with an authority that must be deferred to. Article 3 also
guarantees trial by jury in criminal cases and lays the basis for federal
jurisdiction. The Eleventh Amendment (1798), which prohibits suits against any
state by citizens of another state or foreigners (see sovereignty), was passed
in reaction to the Supreme Court's accepting jurisdiction of a suit against a
state by a citizen of another state.
4: The States
Article 4 deals with the relations of the states (see conflict of laws),
providing that “Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public
acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State.” Section 2
prohibits any state from discriminating against citizens of other states, or in
favor of its own. It also provides for the extradition of criminals. The article
guarantees a republican form of government to every state and provides for the
admission of new states as well as the government of territories.
5: Amending the Constitution
Article 5 provides for amending the Constitution. The supremacy of the federal
Constitution and of federal law over those of the states is the heart of the
federal system and is established by Article 6. Article 6 also provides for an
oath of office for members of the three branches of the federal government and
the states and specifically forbids any religious qualification for office.
Article 7 declares that the Constitution should go into force when ratified by
nine states.
The Amendments
The Constitution has undergone gradual alteration with the growth of the
country. Some of the 26 amendments were brought on by Supreme Court decisions.
However, the first 10 amendments, which constitute the Bill of Rights, were
added within two years of the signing of the federal Constitution in order to
ensure sufficient guarantees of individual liberties. The Bill of Rights applied
only to the federal government. But since the passage of the Fourteenth
Amendment (1868), many of the guarantees contained in the Bill of Rights have
been extended to the states through the “due process” clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment.
The Bill of Rights
The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of worship, of speech, of the press,
of assembly, and of petition to the government for redress of grievances. This
amendment has been the center of controversy in recent years in the areas of
free speech and religion. The Supreme Court has held that freedom of speech does
not include the right to refuse to testify before a Congressional investigating
committee and that most organized prayer in the public schools violates the
First Amendment.
The right to bear arms openly—adopted with reference to state militias—is
guaranteed by the Second Amendment, while freedom from quartering soldiers in a
house without the owner's consent is guaranteed by the Third Amendment. The
Fourth Amendment protects people against unreasonable search and seizure, a
safeguard only recently extended to the states.
The Fifth Amendment provides that no person shall be held for “a capital or
otherwise infamous crime” without indictment, be twice put in “jeopardy of life
or limb” for the same offense, be compelled to testify against himself, or “be
deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” The
privilege against self-incrimination has been the center of a great deal of
controversy as a result of the growth of Congressional investigations. The
phrase “due process of law,” which appears in the Fifth Amendment, is also
included in the Fourteenth Amendment. As a result there has been much debate as
to whether both amendments guarantee the same rights. Those in favor of what is
termed fixed due process claim that all the safeguards applied against the
federal government should be also applied against the states through the
Fourteenth Amendment. The supporters of the concept of flexible due process are
only willing to impose those guarantees on the states that “are implicit in the
concept of ordered liberty.”
The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right of speedy and public trial by an
impartial jury in all criminal proceedings, while the Seventh Amendment
guarantees the right of trial by jury in almost all common-law suits. Excessive
bail, fines and “cruel and unusual” punishment are prohibited by the Eighth
Amendment. The Ninth Amendment states that “The enumeration in the Constitution
of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by
the people.”
By the Tenth Amendment “The powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States
respectively, or to the people.” Powers reserved to the states are often termed
“residual powers.” This amendment, like the commerce clause, has been a
battleground in the struggle over states' rights and federal supremacy.
The Other Amendments
Of the succeeding sixteen amendments, the Eleventh, Seventeenth, Twenty-second
and Twenty-third Amendments have already been discussed under Articles 1, 2, and
3. The Twelfth (1804) revised the method of electing President and Vice
President. The Thirteenth (1865), Fourteenth (1868), and Fifteenth (1870) are
the Civil War and Reconstruction amendments; they abolish slavery, while
guaranteeing civil rights and suffrage to U.S. citizens, including former
slaves. The Sixteenth Amendment (1913) authorizes the income tax. Prohibition
was established by the Eighteenth Amendment (1919) and repealed by the
Twenty-first (1933). The Nineteenth (1920) grants woman suffrage. The Twentieth
(1933) abolishes the so-called lame-duck Congress and alters the date of the
presidential inauguration. The poll tax and any other tax made a requirement for
voting in primaries and elections for federal office was outlawed by the
Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964). The Twenty-fifth (1967) establishes the
procedure for filling the office of Vice President between elections and for
governing in the event of presidential disability. The Twenty-sixth Amendment
(1971) lowers the voting age in all elections to 18. The Twenty-seventh
Amendment (1992), first proposed in 1789, establishes procedures for
Congressional pay increases.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003,
Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All
rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/
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