constitutional crisis

is a situation exemplified by when Nixon and Congress disagreed about the contours of presidential authority, including executive privilege.

Congress was paralyzed for a few months, but the government as a whole was not-not even the War Department, which managed to function despite the constitutional ambiguity about Stanton's status. Franklin Roosevelt's inaugural address-in which he made a veiled threat to act unilaterally if Congress failed to give him authority to respond to the banking crisis and Depression-and his court-packing plan both posed serious threats to the constitutional order, but did not cause a constitutional crisis. Congress gave him the powers he sought in the first case, and blocked the court-packing plan, and Roosevelt acquiesced. Watergate seems (at least, in hindsight) like a minor constitutional crisis. The president and Congress disagreed about the contours of presidential authority, including executive privilege, but all the disagreements were resolved-by the Supreme Court's ruling on executive privilege, and by Nixon's resignation under threat of impeachment.

is a situation exemplified in 1868 when Johnson and Congress disagreed about whether Johnson had violated the law by trying to fire the secretary of war, Edwin Stanton.

A few other examples will round out the discussion. Johnson's impeachment in 1868 was at most a minor constitutional crisis. Johnson and Congress disagreed about Johnson's powers, and hence whether he had violated the law by trying to fire the secretary of war, Edwin Stanton. But they resolved their disagreement with the constitutionally prescribed procedure of impeachment.

is a situation that could also be said to exist whenever there is deep and persistent dissatisfaction with a constitutional system.

Thus, the idea of crisis as disruption in governance quickly bleeds into a more general notion of persistent disorder. A constitutional crisis might be said to exist whenever there is deep and persistent dissatisfaction with a constitutional system. The term "crisis" may underline the seriousness of the stakes rather than be used to imply a period of normalcy from which deviation is a matter of special interest.

is a time in which normal politics is pushed into the background. In extreme cases, government officials may not be able to take routine actions or make ordinary decisions because of uncertainty about lines of authority and government powers.

But from time to time, a constitutional crisis, like a medical crisis, intrudes and grabs attention that would otherwise be paid to other things. While the constitutional crisis prevails, normal politics is pushed into the background. In extreme cases, government officials may not be able to take routine actions or make ordinary decisions because of uncertainty about lines of authority and government powers.

is a time when ordinary governance by the national government becomes impossible.

The greatest constitutional crisis in American history was, of course, the impasse over slavery, which flowered into a civil war. Slavery was a political problem from the founding era, but political and government officials were able to prevent a constitutional crisis over slavery through a series of compromises that limited the spread of slavery but did not eliminate it. As it became clear to southern states that compromise with the North was no longer sustainable, they seceded, while the national government and northern states denied that the Constitution permitted secession. When the states seceded, government was thrown into disarray since it was no longer clear as a legal matter, for example, whether a federal agent could enter the territory of a southern state. Ordinary governance by the national government became impossible- first in the southern states, and then nationally, as martial law was imposed over large areas and a full-scale state of war prevailed.

is an event demanding some change to the Constitution. If constitutional reform is not needed, or at least not urgently needed, then it is normal politics.

edited by Mark A. Graber, Sanford Levinson, Mark Tushnet

is best understood by analogy with financial crisis, economic crisis, military crisis, or political crisis, where the system in question freezes up into an impasse, generating uncertainty about the nation's capacity and possible consequences.

CRISIS-AS-Disruption We can get some leverage on the meaning of a "constitutional crisis" by distinguishing it from other kinds of crises. A financial crisis, such as the mortgage crisis, of 2008, occurs when the financial system freezes up. Creditors stop making loans, assets lose value rapidly, and firms topple into bankruptcy. "Crisis" is the natural word because the system will collapse quickly unless the government intervenes. An economic crisis occurs when large-scale unemployment persists beyond a normal range, raising questions about whether the economy has been permanently damaged and whether the government can pull the economy out of its downturn. The Great Depression remains the paradigm. A military crisis, such as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, exists when a surprising turn of events pushes the nation from peace to war or nearwar, generating uncertainty about the nation's capacity and possible consequences.

is closely related to a political crisis, which occurs when normal political bargaining and compromise are replaced with an impasse with no obvious end.

The idea closest to a constitutional crisis is a political crisis, which occurs when normal political bargaining and compromise are replaced with an impasse with no obvious end. The deadlocked election of 1800 provides a good example. Because of the peculiarity of the electoral college system at the time, the Republicans' preferred president, Thomas Jefferson, and their preferred vice president, Aaron Burr, were technically tied. The Federalist-controlled House was therefore required to select among the two candidates. Many Federalists voted for Burr because of their dislike of Jefferson and disinclination to respect the wishes of their political opponents. The House deadlocked for seven days before finally choosing Jefferson in an atmosphere of barely suppressed violence. The 1800 election might be interpreted as a constitutional crisis because the constitutional rules were defective, enabling the outgoing party to engage in strategic behavior that was inconsistent with the underlying constitutional norm of popular sovereignty. Those rules would be later corrected through the Twelfth Amendment-an event that itself could be interpreted as contemporary evidence that people believed that a constitutional crisis had occurred.

constitutional crisis, n.Definitions

constitutional crisis