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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2002
ALTHOUGH government in New Jersey is essentially the same in general pattern as in each of the other 47 States, there is an amazing
number of important differences. In this treatment of the constitutional
and political structure of the State, emphasis is placed on these differences
as well as on the antiquities and the innovations of which New Jersey citizens are especially proud.
At the outset of the Revolution the fourth Provincial Congress of New
Jersey transformed itself into a constitutional convention and on July 2,
1776, adopted a constitution which contained a declaration of independence. New Jersey was the fourth Colony to take this step; and although
the work was done hastily and was not intended to be permanent, the constitution was retained for 68 years.
Reflecting the antagonism of its framers to executive interference with
the legislature, the constitution was a strange document in that it violated
the "separation of powers" principle in a great variety of ways. The Governor was to be elected by the legislature every year; yet he was granted
both judicial and legislative powers. At the same time the legislature reserved a large measure of executive and judicial power for itself.
In the case of Holmes v. Walton in 1779, New Jersey set the first precedent after the Revolution for exercise of the power of judicial review -- the
right of courts to declare legislative acts invalid.
The Constitution o f 1844 Despite obvious inefficiencies and inequalities in the original constitution and bitter attacks on it, it continued in
force until 1844. Then popular sentiment, stirred by democratic Jacksonian tendencies, demanded further revision. Lacking any machinery for
revising the original constitution, the legislature of 1844 simply went
ahead and called a convention. The work of the convention was ratified
at a special election on August 13. The new constitution abolished property qualifications for voters and legislators, recognized the principle of
separation of powers among the three departments of government, and
(unlike the document of 1776) included a formal bill of rights and provision for amendment.
Only three times (1875, 1897, and 1927) in the period of nearly 100
years since its adoption has the New Jersey Constitution been amended --
not because few amendments have been proposed but because the process
is extremely difficult. Amendments must be passed by two successive legislatures and then approved by the people, with the restriction that amendments may not be submitted to popular vote more often than once in five
years.
For more than 60 years attempts have been made to revise the document as a whole. But the legislature has never consented to a constitutional convention, largely because the senate, which is based upon equal
representation of the counties, has feared that a convention might revise
this system, thus shifting the balance of power from the less populous
counties. Industrial New Jersey therefore continues to live under a constitution designed for an essentially agricultural population.
Aside from its age and inflexibility, the New Jersey Constitution is distinguished as one of the briefest in the country, containing only the bare
outlines of a frame of government. It embodies little regulatory law, and
the legislature is left with full responsibility for setting up administrative departments, most of the courts, and practically the entire system of
local government. This situation somewhat compensates for the difficult
amending process.
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