by Xiaohong Wei
The Constitution of the United States of America, written well over 200 years ago, has been the foundation for building one of the great nations. It is the central instrument of American government and the supreme law of the land. For more than 200 years, it has guided the evolution of U.S. governmental institutions and has provided the basis for political stability, individual freedom, economic growth and social progress.
However, the birth of the Constitution is not accidental, but has complicated economic and political backgrounds. The period after the Revolutionary War was characterized by economic depression and political crisis on the grounds that the Articles of Confederation just devised a loose association among the states, and set up a central government with very limited powers. The central government could not get the dominant position in the country’s political life while the individual states could do things in their own ways. In this chaotic situation, the central government was incapable of paying its debt, of regulating foreign and domestic commerce, of maintaining a steady value of the currency, and worst of all, incapable of keeping a strong military force to protect the country’s interests from foreign violations. As time went by, the old system became more and more adverse to the development of the young nation, and political reform seemed to be inevitable. The best solution was to draw up a new constitution in place of the Articles of Confederation.
The Constitution was drawn up by 55 delegates of twelve states (all but Rhode Island) to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787 and ratified by the states in 1788. That distinguished gathering at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall brought together nearly all of the nation’s most prominent men, including George Washington, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin. Many were experienced in colonial and state government and others had records of service in the army and in the courts. As Thomas Jefferson wrote John Adams when he heard who had been appointed: “It is really an assembly of demigods.”
Despite the consensus among the framers on the objectives of the Constitution, the controversy over the means by which those objectives could be achieved was lively. However, most of the issues were settled by the framers’ efforts and compromises, thus the finished Constitution has been referred to as a “bundle of compromises”. It was only through give-and-take that a successful conclusion was achieved. Such efforts and compromises in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 produced the most enduring written Constitution ever created by humankinds. The men who were at Philadelphia that hot summer hammered out a document defining distinct powers for the Congress of the United States, the president, and the federal courts. This division of authority is known as a system of checks and balances, and it ensures that none of the branches of government can dominate the others. The Constitution also establishes and limits the authority of the Federal Government over the states and emphasizes that power of the states will serve as a check on the power of the national government.
Separation of Powers in the Central Government
One important principle embodied in the U.S. Constitution is separation of powers. To prevent concentration of power, the U.S. Constitution divides the central government into three branches and creates a system of checks and balances. Each of the three governmental branches, legislative, executive and judicial, “checks” the powers of the other branches to make sure that the principal powers of the government are not concentrated in the hands of any single branch. The principle of separation of powers and the system of checks and balances perform essential functions and contribute to a stable political situation in the United States.
1. Theory of Separation of Powers
The principle of separation of powers dates back as far as Aristotle’s time. Aristotle favored a mixed government composed of mon