Paper 3: Comparative Politics | Component 3A: The US Constitution and Federalism | Specification reference: 9PL0/3A
“But no language is so copious as to supply words and phrases for every complex idea, or so correct as not to include many equivocally denoting different ideas.”
James Madison, Federalist No. 37 (1788)
Madison wrote those words while trying to persuade sceptical states to ratify (formally approve) the new Constitution in 1787 and 1788. He was defending, not apologising for, the fact that a written constitution could never spell out every rule with total precision. Almost two and a half centuries later, that same vagueness is still doing real constitutional work.
This setion introduces the nature of the US Constitution: its vagueness, its codification (being set out in a single written document) and its entrenchment (being deliberately difficult to change). It then covers the constitutional framework of powers given to the three branches of federal government, and the formal amendment process set out in Article V.
Contents
The main sections are set out below.
- Overview of and background to the structure of US government
- Vagueness, codification and entrenchment
- The constitutional framework: powers of the branches of government
- The amendment process: Article V
- Key amendments and the Bill of Rights
- Extension activities
- Reaching a judgement: how effective is the constitutional framework of the USA?
