What It Takes To Have A Constitutional Crisis | Ron's Office Hours | NPR

The constitution is something of an owners manual for taxpayers. But, like many an owners manual, it doesn't necessarily cover all the bases.

A constitutional crisis occurs at a moment when the Constitution is not enough to revolve a question or a conflict.

This could happen for several reasons:

1. Constitiution can be silent on a given issue

2. The Constitution can be ambiguous

3. The Constitution is open to interpretation

But the ultimate constitutional crisis would come if one side or the other were unwilling to budge in search of resolution.

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