What Is a Constitutional Crisis?
The term “constitutional crisis” has been in the minds of many people for the past two years, but what does it mean? And what could this lead to? Here’s what you need to know.
In fact, the term “constitutional crisis” is somewhat ambiguous and does not have a precise, fixed definition, like the terms “burnout” or “nervous breakdown”, although most political scientists and lawyers know what this term means. A constitutional crisis is any moment when a country’s constitution fails to clearly address a problem, be it a conflict or a legal issue. The causes of constitutional crises fall into several main categories :
- The constitution does not say anything on a specific issue.
- The wording of the constitution is unclear and open to interpretation.
- The constitution says what to do, but it is impracticable or no longer relevant.
Here’s a simple example: suppose you are playing a board game with friends, something strange happens that is not covered by a set of rules, or vague terminology is used to explain. This is what happens in a constitutional crisis. Everyone sits at the table in their own way, and this often leads to heated debates. But it can also lead players to take advantage of others by applying their own interpretation of the rules – at least until all players agree to add their own rules to the rulebook to correct the rule gap and make it fair. for all.
As you may know, the biggest problem with a crisis like this occurs when one side refuses to compromise and seek some form of solution . They either keep using the rules (because “it’s their game”), they stop playing and ruin the game, or worse, they flip the board and / or table in a fit of rage. It’s the same with the constitutional crisis, except that things are obviously much more important and on a much larger scale when they apply to the whole country. The American Civil War was a prime example of this in action. Several southern US states wanted to secede from the Union, and the US Constitution did not explicitly state whether a state could legally secede. But the federal government told them no anyway, so these states turned the table, so to speak.
However, civil war is not the only end to the constitutional crisis. Other possible routes lead to administrative paralysis, where the government is dysfunctional until it eventually collapses; or the gradual loss of political legitimacy, as well as trust and faith on the part of the country’s citizens, in what some call ” constitutional rot .” It is also important to note that a constitutional crisis is not the same as an uprising, revolution, or coup, in which political factions outside the government directly challenge the government’s sovereignty – usually quite suddenly. Constitutional crises are gradual and may not even be obvious to the public. Some have speculated that the U.S. Constitution is now in crisis and it has been for a while, citing events like the 2016 presidential election, travel bans for Muslims, James Comey’s firing, immigrant camps where children were forcibly separated from their parents and rumors of the possible firing of Special Adviser Robert Mueller.