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Yes, that's definitely a tension. The unstated reason is that if you don't write that in specifically, then national government has default unmitigated power.
by inopinatus 5y ago
Yes, that's definitely a tension. The unstated reason is that if you don't write that in specifically, then national government has default unmitigated power. Those clauses are a reaction to that fundamental American expectation of all governments, as informed by the experience vs the British.
And indeed they don't work, they just lead to creative workarounds; in the rare event that it can't find a foothold on any existing or implied power, then national government will enable regional and local government, or private interests, to do what it wanted instead.
- aww_dang 5y agoGiven that mass surveillance and warrantless wiretaps violate even the stated limitations, I'm left with the question of whether constitutional protections can restrain government? Plato's five regimes describe a cycle of degeneration which may be inherent to the human condition. Constitutional protections are only as good as the legislator's and judicial branch's will to honor them. A fig leaf which has little bearing on the underlying incentives.