The Constitution As A Democratic Document

Robert Dahl's book How Democratic is the American Constitution, reminds us that the American Constitution wasn't the only possible base for a democratic system in America. In this book Dahl explains some of the democratic and undemocratic aspects of the American constitution. He also explains what should be changed to improve it.

As citizens of America, how free are we? Yes essentially, we can make our own decisions but at what cost. It seems like in order to uphold structure and stability within while securing the wellbeing of every citizen of a nation us to have a government. However, if the establishment of government is essential, there are certain sacrifices one has to make to ensure one’s protection. Therefore, the battle between freedom, equality, and security comes into play when you’re trying to construct a “perfect” government”. In which we are inbounded by our constitution that has been in effect for two centuries.

In two world wars, Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf, Americans fought and died so that democracy would prevail around the world. In the minds of many Americans, America is the bastion of democracy. But how democratic is America? Today’s America was “born” with the signing of the constitution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There, it was determined how democratic America would be. And every American should ask himself how democratic America was made at that constitutional convention in Philadelphia.

The United States Constitution was an important document that changed history and a flexible document that could adapt to future challenges for many reasons. This important document replaced the Articles of Confederation, which had many problems from the beginning. Over time, the Constitution has also been amended to meet the challenges in the future.

On July 4, 1776, the United States of America declared independence from England because England’s king, King George III, was a tyrant who was abusing his power. Tyranny is brutal and repressive power by one person or few people in charge such as a king or queen. The Articles of Confederation represented the first written constitution for the United States of America. A new constitution was needed because with the Articles of Confederation, each state was independent and not united. The states ruled like individual countries instead of one united country. In Philadelphia 1787, a gathering called the Constitutional Convention was held where 55 delegates from 12 out of the 13 states (Rhode Island was not there) met discussed and wrote our constitution that we know and love today. The constitution guarded against tyranny through federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and The Great Compromise.

The Constitution is the backbone of our country. First written in 1787, and since then, the Constitution has been amended twenty seven times

When the Constitution was written in 1787, the founding fathers had no clue what America would be like in 2017. The Constitution was written in vague language so it could be used for years and years to come. The founding fathers meant for the Constitution to be interpreted as the times change. Words mean different things now than what they meant decades ago, peoples opinions on things, like slavery, have changed as well. Although there are ways to change the Constitution, the amendment process, they aren’t the most efficient ways of changing things. Amendments take a long time to go through the process and have two thirds of the states vote on them. If there were an Amendment for everything that people wanted to be changed, there would be tons and tons of amendments, that’s why there are court cases, and modern interpretations of the

Throughout American history, the U.S Constitution has always been an especially important document. Ratified in 1789, it still continues to be an important document to the lives of Americans everywhere today. As times change, so does the document throughout each generation of technology, people, and the world in general. The U.S Constitution is a living, breathing document, and here’s why. The first focus is the Elastic Clause (and Delegated Power).

The Constitution remains as relevant today as it did over two hundred years ago. Americans have lived their lives through the law of the Constitution of the United Staes of America for several years. The Constitution has kept our nation together and has kept us strong. “The Constitution defines the United States of America. This greatest of American documents not only establishes our system of government; it limits the power of that government, specifying our irrevocable rights and privileges as individuals” (Bernstein). The Constitution was created to help Americas government from collapsing. The need for the Constitution started with the failure of the Articles of Confederation.

The United States Constitution is a document that has been able to withstand over two hundred years of use because of its elasticity. For something to be elastic it needs to be able change and adapt. This ability created a government that has survived for more than two centuries. The amendment process has allowed The Constitution to stay in place because the document is difficult to alter. The strictness of the amendment process insures a flexible government because it prevents any amendments that are not imperative to the well being of the nation from being passed. The Supreme Court’s ability to interpret The Constitution has allowed for The Constitution to last longer because it reflects the views of the citizens. Having a document that is hard to change, but not impossible to change protects the constitution from being altered constantly over and the government from being changed drastically. The

When the founding fathers crafted the Constitution I believe they intended it to be a starting point by which we would build a successful and sustaining society. The core values that were and are enshrined within the Constitution still exist. What has changed since its inception however, are the types of issues and challenges the nation has faced, both then and now. This is not the first time, Legislators or the Supreme Court has had to intervene on behalf of a specific portion of the population in order to ensure that those core values could be applied to all not just equally, but, equitably. It is not just the duty, but the responsibility of the elected officials to re-interpret a law that would in some way violate the rights citizens.

The Constitution was signed in 1777 that marked a very important time in our history. It marked when a young America started to set up their own organized Government. In America no one can control what you think or do, they might influence you, but you have an independent mind and no one can take that away from you.

In all nations of the world, there is a Constitution that is suppose to be a guide on all the aspects of life. The Constitution guarantees and protects the rights of citizens. The United States of America is one of many nations that have tried in the past to try to uphold democracy through the Constitution. The main question that has been a major area of concern is whether the Constitution upholds a “true” democracy or created more of a republic system. Although our government now is trying to become more towards a democratic system, when the Framers created the Constitution they had the intentions in building a more republican democracy. According to an article written by Alan Keyes, the word “democracy” is not even stated within the Constitution and this is because a democracy did not stand for what the Founding Fathers wanted for our constitutional government “democracy does not achieve what America’s Founders understood to be the essential purpose of constitutional government” (Keyes, 2016).

issue, if a person has a right to life and self-determination, do they have a

Hello Annita, I strongly agree with you on this. The creation of constitution was a very important event in the U.S. History. It was also the cause to end slavery, Women empowerment as well as granting equal voting rights to all the citizens regardless of any color. There have been so many amendments because of the flexibility of the supreme law of the country. It has not only been able to adapt with the new generation of people but also have been effectively put into practice by the government officials without being biased.