The unwritten constitution are those processes of our government that
are considered an essential part of the system yet they are not
actually in the Constitution. These are customs and precedents that
have been doing for so long that many citizens think these are, in
fact, laws yet they are not.
Parts of the Unwritten Constitution:
- The Cabinet - George
Washington's first task as President of the United States was to
appoint Secretaries (heads) of each of the executive departments.
He appointed Alexander Hamilton Secretary of the Treasury, John
Jay Secretary of State until Thomas Jefferson returned from Europe
and Henry Knox was made Secretary of War. John Adams was the Vice
President. Washington took things a step further when he called
regular meetings to get the advice of these men. He therefore
created what became known as the Cabinet. The formation of a
cabinet to advise the president is a precedent set by George
Washington. The Constitution neither required nor suggested
Washington do this. Since then every president has had one. The
today the cabinet is much lager and is comprised of the heads of
the various federal agencies and departments as well as key
advisors.
- The Electoral College Promise -
When the Electoral College originally voted it was on its own. No
one would tell the college how to vote. This was a rather
undemocratic method of electing a President. In 1824 the nation,
for the first time, took a popular vote. The electors then voted
based upon the popular vote of each state. The fact that the
electoral college votes by state according to the majority of the
popular vote of that state is not in the constitution. In fact it
is merely a promise and historical precedent.
- Judicial Review - The power of
the Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional is not in the
constitution yet it has become one of the basic tenants of the
checks and balances system. As previously discussed judicial
review is a result of precedent set in the Marbury v Madison
decision.
- Political Parties - While today
we rely on political parties to help us choose candidates for
president and all other offices there is no mention of this in the
constitution.
- Congressional Committees -
Congress uses a committee system to wade through and made
reccomendations on bills. Each Senator and Congressman belongs to
several committees and develops expertise in that area. Committees
have enormous power because if a committee chairman pigeonholes
(refuses to allow debate or a vote) a bill or the committee makes
a negative recommendation then the bill dies in committee. There
is no mention of this committee system in the constitution. It was
developed because it is a more efficient way to run the
legislative branch.
- Term Limits for President
(**Note - This is no longer a part of the unwritten
Constitution, it is now a written part of the Constitution!)As
an example of how important the unwritten constitution has become
one might cite the example of the two term limit. Our first
President George Washington refused to run for a third term. He
felt that to rule for longer than that might give one man too much
power and influence. In doing so he set a precedent that was
followed until Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt also followed the
precedent set and when he was finished with his second term did
not run again. A young man (50) Roosevelt continued to be active
in his political party. When Taft was President (Roosevelt's
choice by the way) Roosevelt became enraged at the way the new
President did things. In response he ran for President under a new
third party named the "Bull Moose Party." Roosevelt split the vote
with Taft and a Democrat, Woodrow Wilson, was elected.
It took another Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), to
violate the precedent a second time. FDR ran for, and won a third
and a fourth term. FDR died before serving his fourth term and his
Vice President, Harry S. Truman, took office. Many Americans,
while loving FDR, recognized that the two term limit should be
protected. FDR was President for over a decade. In 1951 the 22nd
amendment was ratified setting a two term limit. In doing this we
made a part of the unwritten constitution a part of the written
constitution.
Imagine what life would be like in America if these customs and
precedents were not used. If the President did not have a cabinet
would he be an effective leader of the executive branch? Would he be
able to make the right decisions? If the electoral college ignored
the state popular votes would the American people accept their choice
of President? How could our political system operate without
political parties and how efficient would Congress be if committees
did not exist? Could we reasonably expect all members of Congress to
be knowledgeable about all aspects of government? The committee
system lets them develop expertise in certain areas.
As an example of just how important these customs and precedents
are, look at the term limit issue. When a President violated the
precedent set by Washington the nation thought it was so important
that we created a Constitutional Amendment to make that portion of
the unwritten Constitution into a part of the written Constitution.
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