Answer to Question #167071 in Political Science for Oumou Diallo

Question

• What is sovereignty? What does it “do” in politics?
• What is the difference between pouvoir constituant (constituent power) and pouvoir constitué (constituted power)?
• What is the difference between a legislative approach and a judicial approach to resolving conflict in a federal system, as explained by LaCroix? What are the consequences of opting for one instead of the other?

Answer 1

Sovereignty is the supreme authority within a country and what it does in politics is to designate ultimate genuine power over some political entity.

           Pouvoir constituent is a key concept of the modern constitutional tradition that encounters serious problems when transposed into today’s globalized world. Pouvoir constitue is the extraordinary authority to form a constitution, the immediate expression of the nation and thus the representative.

           According to LaCroix, the constitution did not permit the federal legislation to prevent state constitutions. Judicial approach on the other hand is a means of enforcing federal power over the states. According to LaCroix, rejecting the Madison proposal and adoption of the Supremacy Clause constituted a turning toward a vision of federal authority that dependent on legislature, but judges and courts to mediate among disparate sources of law. Simply put the Constitution drafter’s opted for judicial supremacy as the recognized means to operationalize administrative diversity.