Articles of the American Constitution and the Creation of American Normative Acts The Constitution of the United States is a hard-to-change act, but nevertheless, during more than 200 years of its existence, it has made a significant and significant evolution.
This evolution has mainly concerned three areas: improving the functioning of central government bodies, developing electoral rights and developing citizens’ rights. The first line can be traced from the content of five amendments: XII (1804) – on the election of the US President; XVII (1913) – on the election of senators by direct universal suffrage; XX (1933) – on the assumption of office of the President of the country; XXII (1951) – that the mandate of the President can be renewed only once, and XXV (1967) – on the replacement of the President and Vice-President. The original text of the Constitution provided the states with the freedom to organize elections. Each of them was entitled to determine the norms of the electoral right, granting such a right, or excluding from the electoral corps any categories of citizens.
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This freedom of the states was gradually limited to a series of consequential amendments: XV (1870), which prohibited states from limiting their voting rights on the grounds of race, color or former slavery; XIX (1920), which prohibited the denial of the right to vote to women; XXIII (1963), which allowed residents of the federal district of Colombia to participate in elections, and finally, XXIV (1964), which prohibited the contestation or restriction of voting rights due to non-payment of any election tax or other tax. In other words, the XXIV amendment abolished the property qualification that existed in a certain part of the country, and in 1971 the XXVI amendment lowered the age limit for active suffrage to 18 years. The Constitution of 1787 also laid the mechanism of the reverse influence of the subjects of the federation on the legislative activity of the Congress.
Federal laws, applying for ratification to parliaments of the states, come into force throughout the country only after the necessary majority (at that time nine out of thirteen) states ratify it. Despite the fact that the preparation of the concept of separation of powers by the federalists was generally moderately conservative, it also included an important liberal line, thanks to which a powerful and lasting obstacle for the emergence of tyranny was created. This gave the American scheme of the separation of powers an originality: the founders of the constitution laid the basis for the organization, competence and interaction of the supreme bodies of state power – the Congress, the President and the Supreme Court – their own, American version of the separation of powers, which was subsequently transformed into a system of checks and balances. The system of “checks and balances” meant that the branches of power were not simply divided, but they held back and controlled each other. The legal means of influence of the President on the Congress is the right of veto regarding the bills passed by the latter. Three types of this institute are known. First of all, if the project adopted by the Congress does not satisfy the President, then he returns to the parliament with the reasons for this step.
In practice, it often happens that the President addresses the population of the country through the media to explain his decision. Congress can overcome a veto by a two-thirds vote in each chamber, which is a very significant barrier. Since 1789, this overcoming has occurred only in 6% of cases. The Constitution provides the President with a ten-day deadline for signing the bill. If within this period the Congress stops working and goes on vacation, then the ten-day period is not prolonged. In this case, Congress must again adopt the bill at the next session.
The president is not obliged to state the motives for using such a so-called “pocket veto”. The veto can be applied to any bill other than amending the Constitution. However, for the adoption of amendments by Congress (more precisely, proposals for amendments) to the Constitution, two thirds of the votes in the chambers are required, just so much is needed to overcome the President’s veto. Until April 9, 1996, many Presidents insisted on the introduction of a veto that would allow the rejection of certain provisions, rather than the entire bill, and finally passed a law introducing a selective veto that existed in 43 of the 50 states and was in the hands of their governors. Undoubtedly, the President’s systematic use of his veto over various categories of acts can significantly affect the legislative activities of the Congress. The second important legal means of influencing the Congress are the messages of the President.
Through these messages, the President can indirectly direct the work of the Congress, they are also designed to guide the public opinion of the country regarding the policy of the executive branch. The Constitution itself does not name the time of the Congress; so that this body may well be considered a permanent parliament, ieGoogle Translate for Business:Translator ToolkitWebsite Translator