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Introduction

How Well Does The US Constitution Work? The United States Constitution has done its job to a great effect in the previous decades and continues to do so to date, despite being written over two hundred years ago. To meet this specific purpose of having an effective Constitution requires having it written in such a way, its tasks are clearly defined for governing a nation and must have the flexibility to evolve to meet new circumstances and worldwide changes without having its founding purpose altered in the progress. However in today's' modern era, there are aspects of the Constitution that some persons strongly believe are not entirely fit in terms of dealing with new complexities facing the US today, that may have not been taken into consideration in the past but now have become topics that must be addressed. The United States now one of the world's most powerful and respected nations of the modern era is no longer an adolescent entity trying to find its way in the world, but has matured over time into a complex nation, whose economy is beyond compare and is known as "the land of the free and opportunity". It is quite clear that a nation of such caliber and size could have only been a dream at the time of the founding fathers. At the time at which the Constitution was written the main purpose was to escape from the European style of government at that age, being ...read more.

Middle

The means by which the Constitution is changed is given by two procedures. This was and continues to ensure that groups or personals could not manipulate the Constitution for their personal agendas and does not affect the liberty of the people. A grand Majority and slow and tedious process ensured this. Both methods require at least a two-thirds majority and at least three quarters of the states to agree before it becomes a law. This tedious process accounts for why only 27 amendments out of over 5000 have ever been passed and continue to be seen today a part of the foremost Constitution. Turning away from specifically the governing aspect of the Constitution to the rights of the people. The Bill of Rights a part of the Constitution protects individual freedoms from the government, faith, speech, movement and assembly, private property and intrusion, proper treatment due to arrest and fair trial and sentencing and also anything not previously covered by the amendments. The Constitution in particular amendments 1 to 10 as summarized above, ensure the rights of the people and that the government is unable to wrongfully intrude on these rights. Further amendments 11 to 27 have been made not only with aspects of the people but also government, so as to ensure the Constitution is kept up to date without breaching its ideals. The 13th to 15th amendments for example, abolish slavery in 1865 and gave African Americans voting rights in 1870. ...read more.

Conclusion

All the factors stated previously provide evidence of the effectiveness of the Constitution in the scope of the modern era and further illustrates, how flexible it has been over the last centuries and continues to be. Neither party follows all of the core principles outlined above perfectly, that is why it is imperative to research each party's policies and ideas regardless of their political affiliation. A person must also question what they believe the role of government to be. One viewpoint promotes individual choice, liberty, and freedom; the other viewpoint seeks to reduce individual choice, liberty, and freedom. One viewpoint benefits lower and middle-income families and workers; the other viewpoint benefits large corporations and the wealthy. Each viewpoint has its pros and cons and neither one is perfect, that is why it is vital to review each viewpoint closely and to decide which one is best. The government originally created focused on ensuring state security both internally and between states, making treaties and ensuring trade between states. Obviously the requirements of this new era and responsibilities surpass the initial focus of the past. Government now must address new needs on a significantly greater scale but the fundamentals continue to remain intact. The Constitution has served its purpose, if not almost entirely. The effectiveness of the Constitution is therefore in the hands of the persons chosen to govern the US and their ability to follow, use and properly understand the Constitution to maximize its effectiveness. FAWWAAZ HOSEIN A3 1 ...read more.

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