US CONSTITUTION AND EXPANSION OF POWER

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The United States constitutional law clearly defines the scope and application of the terms of the constitution of the state. After the civil war, certain clauses in the US constitution to a greater extent contributed to the expansion of federal power in the country. These clauses are: the federal commerce power, the spending power and the war, treaty and foreign affairs powers.

The federal commerce power

The commerce law in the Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States constitution gives the congress the power and authority to regulate and take control of power of commercial activities with foreign nations, among the several stated and with the Indian tribes. The clause has been a great milestone in granting a congressional authority and power thud boosting on the federal power in the states (Kilman & Costello 2000, 150) it also provides a restriction on the power of the state to regulate commercial activities.

The commerce law has given the congress legislative powers to fully exercise authorities over the activities and operations of states and their citizens. Overtime, this has brought controversial opposing stands with regard to the balance of power between the state government and the federal governments. The commerce clause has been used in the justification of the use of federal laws in issues which on their side do not implicate activities of trade or exchange.

The U.S gets comprehensive powers from the commerce clause over the navigable powers. The commerce clause further gives a special position to the government in connection with navigable waters. The navigable waters are thus a public property of the nation. This means that the property is liable to all legislative acts of the congress. The main purpose of the commerce clause was meant to eliminate trade barriers as a result of the United States giving a chance to the unfettered movement of commerce within the boundaries of the nation. The clause was also meant to give the federal government a position to be able to negotiate a free trade which is beneficial consistent and well enforced agreements between the state and other foreign nations.

The spending power clause

The spending power clause of the US constitution is also referred to as the Taxing and Spending Clause and is contained in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1 of the US constitution. This clause gives the power of taxation to the federal government of the United States. The spending power clause puts into inclusion the General Welfare Clause and the Uniformity Clause.

The power to tax given to the Congress by the constitution gives the mandate to have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises. With relation to the administration of government, the power is thus an essential clause in existence. The government is thuds rendered ineffectual in a situation where it is not able to administer the taxation process. This power provides a channel through which revenue is raised aimed at supporting the activities of the government.

The Congress is given the mandate to impose regulatory taxation, prohibitive taxation and tariffs. Regulatory taxation is aimed at taxing to regulate commercial activities. Prohibitive taxation is taxation meant to discourage, limit and suppress commerce while the tariffs are levied for purposes of protectionism. The clause gives the congress a lot of powers to tax and expand revenue collection within its discretion.

The power to tax also comes with the power to spend the revenues which is raised through taxation. This helps to cater for the objectives and goals of the government. The congress can use the power to tax to punish disfavored conduct. It can also use the power to spend to encourage favored conduct. (Jensen & Henry 2005, 230)

The General Welfare Clause gives a provision to pay debts and provide for the common defiance and general welfare of the United States. The clause promotes the general welfare of the people of the nation also referred to as the public welfare. The general welfare clause is not a grant of the power of legislation but a qualification on the basis of the power to tax.

Alexander Hamilton argued that the spending and tax clause gives the congress a separate and distinct power. In such a scenario, the congress has substantive power aimed to levy taxes and spend the revenue generated for the general welfare. The power of the congress to tax and spend also facilitates enumeration of other powers.

Owen Roberts also argued that the power to taxation and appropriation was made for national matters. This was opposed to issues emanating from within local welfare. This gives the Supreme Court the power to make a decision on what constitutes the welfare of the nation. Apart from just being constitutionally required, the general welfare issue has promoted good policies in the United States. Fiscal priorities have been distorted out by the expansion of the spending power. This has given the local governments encouragement to participate in well formulated spending projects. Such projects would not meet the approval based on the political will in a situation where the local taxpayers’ foot the bill.

The war, treaty and foreign affairs powers

The war power is contained in Article 1section 8. In this clause, the congress is given the power to declare war, raise and give full support to the armies. The clause also provides that the congress should provide for, and maintain a navy, and tax and spend for the national defense of the United States. Article 2 of the same section gives a provision that the commander in chief of the armed forces is the president of the nation.

The treaty and foreign affairs power is contained in Article II, Section 2 of the constitution of the United States. The clause gives power to make treaties calls aimed to give a united effort between the senate and the president of the nation. The clause stipulates that the president of the state shall have powers to make treaties. This will be possible by and with the advice of the senate with a provision that two thirds of the members of the senate agree for such a treaty to be amended. With such a provision, the president is able to chiefly negotiate for agreements between the United States and other countries. Such agreements become treaties between the United States and other nations. This is after the advice and reaching of a consensus of majority of the senate of the states.

In the same clause the president is mandate a unilateral power to appoint ambassadors and other top public ministers and consuls and other top government official of the United States. External effects of a treaty focus on the international relations of the United States and other foreign countries. The internal effects of a treaty on the other hand majorly focus on the domestic law implications of a treaty.

With respect to international effects, most treaties are self executing. Hence they require an implementation by the legislation in order to have an internal effect. The treaties require having procedural and substantive validity. For a treaty to be procedurally valid it should conform to Article II, Section 2, part 2 which gives the president the power to make treaties provided two thirds of the senate approves it. In the case of substantiality validity, a treaty cannot exhibit prohibitory language in the constitution of the United States.

REFERENCES

J.Kilman & Costello, G. The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation, 2000.

Jensen, Erick & Henry Monaghan. The Taxing Power: a Reference Guide to the United States Constitution. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005.