This is a big question, because just the scope of this term is absolutely huge. Constitutional law essentially encompasses all the foundational laws that our country is based upon. The creation and execution of laws by the government and the scope of power and authority given to the government is regulated by constitutional law. Just as it sounds, it is based off of the tenets of a constitution and all the elements within the constitution that outline the power of the government, state and people.
For the purposes of this article, we will be discussing constitutional law in the United States and go through a brief outline of what it is and why it exists. The United States constitutional law is the body that governs the implementation and interpretation of the US constitution.
It sets forth of the terms of the Constitution and directly describes the range and use of these terms. It covers areas of law like relationships between states and the federal governments, the rights of individuals and citizens of the US and all other areas concerned with constitutional law.
Because the US constitution lays out so many rules and contains archaic language, many people argue that it is open to interpretation and not meant to be taken literally. For example, in the United Stated courts, judges are often divided by how much they stick to the constitution and how much they interpret it in different ways.
Some say a literal translation of the constitution is best, others say that the terms are far too vague to be used specifically and that the constitution should be treated more as a guideline than anything else.
All other forms of law necessarily fall under the auspices of constitutional law. Because it is so huge, there are many details to go into; enough books have been written about this type of law to render anything but a summary unnecessary. Suffice to say, constitutional law is the law that supersedes all others and one that literally determined the founding of the nation of the United States of America.
