The Constitution of USA - Coursework Example

The Constitution of USA May 14, 1787, is a very critical day in the history of the Constitution of the United sof America. In the state house, the then Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, there was a Federal Convention was convened to revise various articles of the federation. However, the meeting was adjourned because only two states were represented. The meeting followed the same patterns on a daily basis until May 25, the same year, when quorums from seven states were availed. Through subsequent meetings that followed, the delegates opted to draft an entirely new Constitution rather than amending various sections during the sittings. They drafted the articles that constituted the new Constitution in debates that were held in closed session. In 19789, the Constitution came into force. This paper seeks to establish democratic aspect of the rule of law or the supreme law of the United States. To understand the democratic aspects of the US Constitution, it is foremost very critical to understand the fundamentals of the nation. The US is constituted on the principles of liberty. The term liberty is used in this instance to strategically imply that not only are the civilian citizens are free from the coercion of the government, but they are also free to participate in the activities of the government. This is particularly important because the no state can be defined in democratic terms unless there is an individual right that allows citizen participation in state affairs. Such form of participation can be seen through elections (Schlesinger 5). The civilian population has the right to choose the leadership of the state. In this way, the inception of the US Constitution can be defined to have had a revolutionary change is leadership of the US. It gave citizens the right to vote. It is evident that citizens had the liberty to choose their leaders. This was an important landmark in the shift from aristocratic leadership to democratic leadership. In the liberal sense, except by the manipulation of the leaders, a Constitutional government has intents to protect the rights of the citizens. The aspect of Constitutionalism in itself is an indication that the leadership does not have absolute power over the people. On the contrary, the US disregards the norms of democracy in significant ways. In this instance, given that slavery went on several years after the Constitution was established as an indication that the initial Constitution was not as democratic as it was perceived. In addition, particular concern over the equality of representation as determined by the Constitution is questionable in democratic terms. According to Dahl (78), the framers of the Constitution intended to elect a president from the popular majority. However, it can be argued that the framers did not understand the operations of the institutions of democracy at the earlier times in history in which they drafted the Constitution. However, it has negatively impacted the representation even to the present times. The rights of the minorities are still not represented equally in the Senate. The Constitution of the US has been subjected to a series of amendments. This led to alteration of various sections of the Constitution to align them with modern day institutions of democracy. Bound by the circumstances of their time such as widespread of slavery, the framers and the founders of the Constitution were not determined to run the US democratically. Foremost, the convention that crafted the draft was not democratically appointed. However, the Constitution has been amended in several instances to revert similar circumstances. The seventeenth amendment for instance redefines the rules that govern election of senators. As mentioned earlier, senators were being the state legislatures. The amendment reversed the situation and transferred the powers of the elected senators to the people of the state. After the ratification of April 8, 1913, two senators elected by the general population represented the people of the states in the Senate. People exercise control over the activities of the government and can demand more from it. Such rights did not exist at the time the Constitution was drafted in the 17the centuries. The implication is that the voice of the people has been empowered to the extent that they influence state decisions. Besides, throughout the history of the US Constitution, it has been altered to limit the powers of the Congress. In this case, the elected leaders and the civilian population can relate on equal terms. These changes could not appeal to the federalists in any sense. The federalists were synonymous or identified with protection of the interests of the privileged classes. In the perspective of the Federalist, this group of individual was highly influential. Subsequently, their interests were assumed to represent the interest of the entire population. For this reason, empowering the ordinary people in the constructs of democracy would instill fear in them. The fear is that the access to power by every citizen would result in the rise of policies that would contradict the views or the interests of the privileged classes. Given the circumstance that surrounds the manner in which the Constitution drafted, it can be defined both as an elitist document and as an expression of political philosophy. The fact that only a few individuals closed themselves in a room and came up with a Constitution that is being used to govern the entire nation is an indication that the Constitution is a product of individuals who believed that the American society should be ruled a group of elites. The wisdom displayed in various articles of the Constitution that has stood various phases of history indicates that the Framers were educated and very intelligent. However, it is trustworthy to observe that the circumstances that surround the adoption and amendments of the Constitution cannot be limited to the intellectual elites who founded it. The Constitution is characterized by political philosophies that were widespread by the time it was being structured. Constitutionalism and republicanism are some of the political ideologies that dominated the exercise (Ketchum 94). The liberty of the contemporary American society is significantly threatened by the tyranny of the majority. The Constitutional ideas that have seen the historical transformation of the American Constitution throughout the years can be argued to be the result of the influence of the majority. However, the entire processes of liberation were characterized two opposing forces. The two opposite forces were the voice of the majority who were advocating for democracy on one hand and the federalist on other hand (De Tocqueville 114). From this point of view, it is evident that the tyranny of the minority is the major obstacle that challenges American democracy. To defend their position, the founders staged various arguments to discourage empowerment of the civilian population. One argument that Madison and other founders staged was that empowering the national government and giving it absolute power over people and states would be an efficient way to control factions and conflict (Rositter 93). One the major flaws of the American Constitution that the framers failed to notice was its failure to provide a declaration of rights. The failure to acknowledge rights at the time the Constitution was being drafted resulted in a subsequent series of state ratifications of the Constitution. Another weakness that the founders failed to anticipate was the issue of political parties. Separation of power is one of the political doctrines of the various sovereign states. It is arguably true that the separation of power in the as stipulated in Article I of the US Constitution made various government services accessible to the civilian population. For instance, devolution of some powers to the States can be viewed as the efforts that the national government is undertaking to provide crucial services to the ordinary US citizens. Such powers include provision of health and ensuring welfare of the citizens, the powers to provide fire protection and policing services, the power to control domestic relations such as adoption, divorce and marriage and powers to manage interstate commerce. Literally, given the geographical vastness of the US, accessing all these services would be difficult if they were to be offered solely by the central government. The separation of power limits the powers of the national government to significant level instances. For example, the national government cannot make significant appointments to the judicial systems is limited by the influence of the Senate. In case one of the Supreme Court Judges steps down for any reason, the national government has the President has the authority to step in and appoint a new Justice to fill the empty slot. However, the appointments are subjected scrutiny of the Senate or Congressional approval. Constitutional amendments in the US are procedurally difficult. Article V of The Constitution of The United States specifies that at any given time that any time there is intent to amend the Constitution, one must seek the approval of two thirds of both houses of the Congress or two third of the legislatures of the several states must approve the amendments. In this instance, the Constitution can then be ratified by three fourths of the legislatures of several states, or by a similar quantity of the Congress. It can be extremely difficult to get to ensure that an amendment bill passes through this large number Congress and States Legislators. The high level of difficulty associated with amendment of the Constitution can perhaps explain the reason why there have been only 17 amendments since the Constitution came into force in 1789. The Constitution should not be procedurally easy to amend. One of the reasons for this stance is that when Constitution is made too difficult to amend, this can prevent them from being manipulated by corrupt individuals who would want to twist various clauses to meet their interests and expectations. The US Constitution has existed for more than 200 years. Part of this is because it could not be changed easily. The ease to change Constitutions has been the reason why Constitutions of several governments around the globe have collapsed. The American Constitution is not just the oldest Constitution in the world, it is also the most difficult to amend. It has only undergone 17 amendments in over 200 years of its existence. This article has explored various aspects of the American Constitution and has established its significance in the liberation of the majority. The historical journey the Constitution, threats to democracy and separation of power some of the elements that have been explored. Works Cited Adams, Willi Paul. The First American Constitution. (2nd Ed). Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001. Print. Dahl, Robert. How Democratic Is the American Constitution? New Haven, London: Yale University Press. 2001. Print. De Tocqueville, Alexis. Democracy in America. New York: George Dearborn & Company, 38 Gold Street. 1840. Print. Ketchum, Ralph. Framed for Posterity: The Enduring Philosophy of the Constitution. Lawrence: The University Press of Kansas, 1993. Print. Rossiter, Clinton. The Federalist Papers of Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. New York: New American Library, 1999. Print. Schlesinger, A. Meier. The Imperial Presidency. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004. Print. Read More