Should the United States Constitution be rewritten - Research Paper Example

Yet, history itself reveals that the US Constitution has been partially rewritten on a number of occasions, and rewriting the US Constitution has been a part of its history. To begin with, the Bill of Rights which forms a fundamental part of the US Constitution was not a part of the original document. The Bill of Rights contains inalienable fundamental rights and freedoms that further guide the state and federal system of government. The US Constitution was amended nearly two years after its ratification to define and articulate these basic human liberties (Shain, 2007).

It has been argued however, that the addition of the Bill of Rights to the original US Constitution does not represent a rewriting of the US Constitution. Instead, the addition of the Bill of Rights represented a mere completion of the original US Constitution. As Zuckert (1992) explains, the purpose of the Bill of Rights was to “complete the constitution” not “reform it” (p. 69). History informs that the US Constitution has been amended 27 times since its inception (Bardes et al, 2010).

Indeed Article V provides the formula for amending the US Constitution and thus gives some support to advocates in favor of amending the US Constitution. The argument thus directs that Article V is an enabling clause and takes account of the fact that the US Constitution can be and probably should be rewritten when necessary. It has been argued too that the US Supreme Court is constantly rewriting the US Constitution (Napolitano, 2006). However, when the contents of Article V and the manner in which the US Supreme Court purportedly rewrites the US Constitution, it becomes increasingly clear that the original language of the US Constitution prior to any and all amendments are substantially preserved.

Article V of the US Constitution mandates a two-step process