Constitutional Change by Other Means

DeAndrea Cassell, Lindsey Thomas, Kara Quinlan, Joseph Garlenski

Basic Legislation

0Congress has been a major agent of constitutional change in two important ways:

01st, it has passed a number of laws to spell out several of the Constitution’s belief provisions.

0As another example, the constitution deal with the matter of presidential succession, but only up to a point.

Cont. Basic Legislation

025th Amendment says that if the presidency becomes vacant, Vice president automatically succeeds to the office.

0The Constitution gives to Congress the expressed power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce.

Executive Action

0Acting under authority, several Presidents have made war without a declaration of war by Congress.

0Presidents have used their powers to the growth of the Constitution :

0The document states that only Congress can declare war but the Constitution also states that the President ( Commander in Chief) of the nation’s armed forces.

Cont. Executive Action

0Presidents have used the armed forces abroad in combat without such a declaration on several hundred occasions in our history.

0Executive agreement – is a pact made by the President directly with the head of a foreign state.

0Treaty – is a formal agreement between two or more sovereign states.

Court Decision

0Nation’s courts, most tellingly the United States Supreme Court, interpret and apply the Constitution in many cases the hear.

0Such as ( Marbury v. Madison)

Party Practices

0Electoral college – is the group that makes the formal selection of the President and Vice President.

0Political parties have also been a major source of Constitutional change over the course of political history.

Cont. Party Practices

0 In 1796, George Washington warned the people against what he called “the baneful effects of the spirit of party”

0Washington feared the divisive effect of party politics. They have played a major role in the shaping of government.

0Both houses of Congress are organized & conduct much of their business on the basis of party.

Custom

0Cabinet – an advisory body to the President , traditionally made up of the heads of the executive departments and other officers.

0Made up of 15 executive departments.

0Senatorial Courtesy – custom that the Senate will not approve a presidential appointment opposed by a majority party.

Cont. Custom

0The written words of the Constitution did not provide for the practice of adopting the 25th Amendment in 1967.

0Until then, the Constitution states that only the

powers and duties of the presidency but not the office itself should be transferred to the Vice President.