Is The US Constitution Too Rigid To Be Effective?
The United States Constitution has served as a vital framework for the government and as a guarantee of the individual freedoms of US citizens since 1788, but from its creation, people have had ideas on how to improve this fundamental document. The vast majority of these ideas have been unsuccessful due to the rigid nature of the Constitution and the lengthy process involved when trying to amend it. Whether or not the inflexible nature of the constitution is an advantage or disadvantage is debatable as there are arguments that suggest the Constitution is made ineffective since it is so hard to change but also points arguing otherwise.
Within 18 months of the Constitutions creation, the Bill of Rights was passed, adding 10 amendments to the brand new document. From 1789 to 1992, the Constitution was amended 27 times, and through judicial review, the meaning of various parts of the Constitution has changed many times. These changes were all relatively small, incremental, and evolutionary. In fact, the Constitution has no provision, directly, for full-scale change. There have been many proposals for substantial change to the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson himself was wary of the power of the dead over the living in the form of an unchanging Constitution. To ensure that each generation have a say in the framework of the government, he proposed that the Constitution, and each one following it, expire after 19 or 20 years. James Madison, Jefferson's contemporary, found comfort in knowing that the populace would not be thrust into political turmoil every 20 years. The ‘founding fathers’ all agreed that America needed to be a ‘beacon on the hill’ and having a strong constitution was part of this, they also needed to ensure that the individual liberties of citizens were not infringed upon. In doing so they created a system with a strong Government, which is checked, by various systems to ensure citizens are protected. The ‘right to bear arms’ protects citizens against a violent oppressive government as they are able to fight back and are also able to form themselves into an impressive militia for whatever purpose.
