The Train Wreck - An Invitation to Struggle
Abstract
In his book, The President, Office and Powers, 1787-1984, Edward S Corwin describes the grants of power to two separate bodies affirmed by the Constitution as an `invitation to struggle for the privilege of directing American foreign policy" 1 Because the shared powers of the Constitution cross a broad spectrum of responsibilities, this invitation to struggle is easily applied to any intercourse between the often-at-odds independent branches of our democratic government The framers of the Constitution debated not only the form of government at the Philadelphia convention of 1789, but also how best to avoid the tyrannical government from which they had recently wrested their freedom The difficulty in reaching consensus by the branches of government because of shared powers creates significant tension, especially when the branches are controlled by ideologically different parties The current clash between the Executive and Legislative bodies over the country's budget caused the longest federal government shutdown in our 219 year history Is this confrontation, what Corwin described as an invitation to struggle, really what the enlightened Framers had in mind when drafting the Constitution?
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA441346
Entities
People
- Joseph N. Rogers
Organizations
- National War College