미국 건국 초기 연합의회와 연방의회의 비교

초록

During the early phase of the newly-born American Republic, the legislature of a national scale was granted the status of supremacy, because legislative power, rather than executive power, was considered as the highest power and because the national legislature was thought to be the only plural governing organization not violating state sovereignty. The Confederation Congress as too plural an organization to be called a “government,” however, was not able to command a proper level of obedience from the state governments, since it was not able to decide on its own terms. The delegates were bound by the state governments’ instructions; they were selected and recalled by the state legislatures; their terms of office were limited; the Congress itself was not able to impose the laws made within it. On the contrary, the Federal Congress, established by the Federal Constitution adopted in 1787 at the Philadelphia Convention, was granted the status of the national supreme political organization. It was able to impose its decisions on both individual states and their residents. The members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate were not easily removed by the state government, and thus were able to work without worrying about the recall by the state government. Their terms of office were unlimited, and their salary was paid from federal treasury. Created and developed in this way, the Federal Congress was able to work as a supreme legislative organization, keeping the executive in balance and developing its own expertise.

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