15 April 2008
The Supreme Law of the Land
U.S. Constitution sets up a federal system of government
(The following article by J.W. Peltason is taken from the U.S. Department of State publication, About America: The Constitution of the United States of America with Explanatory Notes.)
The Supreme Law of the Land
By J.W. Peltason
The Constitution consists of a preamble, seven articles, and 27 amendments. It sets up a federal system by dividing powers between the national and state governments. It also establishes a balanced national government by separating powers among three independent branches – the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. The executive branch, the President, enforces national laws; the legislative branch, the Congress, makes national laws; and the judicial branch, the Supreme Court and other federal courts, applies and interprets laws when deciding legal disputes in federal courts.
Federal powers listed in the Constitution include the right to collect taxes, declare war, and regulate interstate and foreign trade. In addition to these delegated, or expressed powers (those listed in the Constitution), the national government has implied powers (those reasonably implied by the delegated powers. The implied powers enable the government to respond to the changing needs of the nation. For example, Congress had no specific delegated power to print paper money. But such a power is implied in the delegated powers of borrowing and coining money.
In some cases, the national and state governments have concurred powers – that is, both levels of government may act. The national government laws are supreme in case of a conflict. Powers that the Constitution does not give to the national government or forbid to the states, reserved powers, belong to the people or to the states. State powers include the right to legislate on divorce, marriage, and public schools. Powers reserved for the people include the right to own property and to be tried by a jury.
The Supreme Court has the final authority to interpret the Constitution. It can set aside any law – federal, state, or local – that a majority of the justices believes conflicts with any part of the Constitution.
[ J.W. PELTASON is professor of Political Science Emeritus, University of California, Irvine, as well as President Emeritus, University of California.]
About America: The Constitution of the United States of America with Explanatory Notes adapted from THE WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA (c) 2004 World Book, Inc. By permission of the publisher (www.worldbook.com).
