Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Lewis & Clark Law Review
Abstract
Much of the Constitution concerns structural divisions of authority among the political branches. Some of the most significant constitutional commands, such as responsibility for warfare, are also the least likely to be presented for judicial review. This Article addresses how constitutional norms come to be created and enforced in areas relatively untouched by dispositive case law. The examples chosen are the authority for the Louisiana Purchase, the creation of an independent Air Force, and the problem of managing the scope of war. The argument is that the institutional accommodations between the branches take on, over time, the role of “constitutional settlement,” a defined set of expectations about the duties and powers of the Executive and Congress. Although necessarily less settled than judicial resolution of cases, the constitutional settlement informs much of the operational structure of our Constitution.
First Page
649
Volume
12
Publication Date
2008
Recommended Citation
Issacharoff, Samuel, "Meriwether Lewis, the Air Force, and the Surge: The Problem of Constitutional Settlement" (2008). Faculty Articles. 637.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-articles/637
