Final answer:
Article II of the Constitution is an outline because it offers a basic framework for the executive powers of the President, designed with intentional vagueness, and follows the Legislative branch in order of precedence.
Step-by-step explanation:
Why Article II of the Constitution Is Described as 'An Outline'
Article II of the Constitution can be described as 'an outline' because it provides a fundamental framework for the executive branch, specifically detailing the role of the President, without exhaustively specifying every aspect of the Executive's powers and limitations. The framing of the Executive powers was intentionally left vague by the Founders in this Article, resulting in a document that is broad and open to interpretation. The fact that Article II quickly follows Article I, which establishes the Legislative branch, indicates the importance and prominence of the President in the federal government's structure. However, compared to the Legislative branch, the details relating to the Executive are less extensive and less specific.
For instance, while Article I, Section 8 comprehensively lists Congress's powers, the equivalent section for the President in Article II is about half that length. This brevity and openness in language means that the roles and powers of the President have often been determined by practice and judicial interpretation rather than explicit Constitutional mandate. For example, the Constitution's Article II grants the president the authority to appoint officers and ensure that laws are executed but does not detail how the burgeoning bureaucracy should be structured or function.