A Key Principle for Rule by Law

By Ian Cox

Power of the Scoreboard

A lot of power in any field is lost when there isn’t a scoreboard to check against. How do you know who is winning and who is losing? How do you know when to play harder in order to beat the opponent?

Montesquieu says that having a written constitution gives you that scoreboard on government. You can read the constitution and check it against the government’s actions. The Federal Government must abide by Constitutional Law checked against the scoreboard of the written constitution.

This means that to centralize and expand powers in the government is much more limited, it takes longer, and the debate is usually over specific words and clauses, and any major change must be justified—or else blatantly ignored.

The written scoreboard is always there for everyone to review and ensure that the actions of the government and the system of laws are done by law and not the “whims of men” as John Adams said.

Key Concept

There are many powerful and great aspects in the Constitution of the United States that ensure our nation is a nation of law: the intricate system of checks and balances, the division and separation of powers, the amendment process, the very process of ratifying the constitution, among others.

One of these seems especially pertinent in solidifying the culture and principle of “a government of laws” for our nation. It is a process that is often referenced, hard to use, and rarely accomplished. The last time this key principle of “a government of laws” as opposed to a government “by the whims of men” was last used in 1992.

In and of itself the amendment process may not be all that fancy and strategic like the checks and balances or separation of powers, but the principle found here truly is key.

The Principle

The Amendment power teaches us many things. First and foremost, the Constitution as it stands is not perfect, there may be unforeseen needs, there may be more or better constitutional measures that come to the surface as the constitution itself is put into practice over the years.

The ability to change the constitution is separated, checked, and balanced. It leaves the majority of the constitutional writing power to the states, as it was with its original ratification. This again suggests that we are a Federal Republic form of government, several states united for greater success.

Change should not be arbitrary, but a systematic and deeply analyzed process governed by law and not the whims of the people or government officials.

This simple process of amending the constitution can be seen mirrored in every other part of the constitution. This one constitutional power holds in itself most of the vital principles and processes of law, if not all of them, that the American Founders studied in history and wanted to guard against any possible tyranny—or in other words, rule by law and not the whims of men.