Does one generation have the right to bind another? Thomas Jefferson pondered this question and said "The Constitution belongs to the living and not to the dead." The Constitution was able to endure for more than 200 years because Thomas Jefferson had an epiphany that some of the laws which governend his time could not govern the people of later generation due to change in circumstances. .
The Constitution can be considered a "living" document because of recurring alteration and reexamination. This allowed Constitution to a set of laws that defined the goals of American government.
The U.S. Constitution Article Five states that, "The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution." There are two ways to propose amendments and another two ways to ratify these amendments. In order to propose an amendment, two-thirds of both houses of Congress vote t propose an amendment or two-thirds of the sate legislatures ask Congress to call a national convention to propose amendments. For the ratification of an amendment, three-fourths of the state legislatures must approve it or three fourths of the ratifying convention of the states approve it. This constitutional provision supported Jefferson's statement. This enables that the Constitution guarantees and support American ideas of rights, defines governmental structures, allows for an increase in governmental growth, and permits the Supreme Court to shape and define public policy through Constitutional interpretation. .
If it weren't for this Article, the basic rights of people in the form of the Bill of Rights would not exist such as freedom of religion, speech, press or assembly. The main purpose of implementing the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution was to safeguard fundamental individual rights against seizure by the federal government and prohibit interference with existing rights.
Viewing themselves as guardians of the United States COnstitution was not a completely accurate view shared by the Jacksonian Democrats. Many Events during Jackson's presidency did not demonstrate dedication to the Consitution. A few of these events were The Corrupt Bargain, The Eaton Affair, and th...
The Fourth Amendment in the Constituion states: the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. ...
What is the Bill of Rights? Do they affect us today? The Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments as written by our founding fathers in 1791. Although they were written to provide rights to the citizens of the United States throughout time they have been infringed upon and taken advantage of. Pol...
THE CONSTITUTION: DEMOCRACY IN THE MAKING The Constitution: Democracy in the Making When America claimed its independence from the royal crown in July 1776, many of America's political elites gathered and began to draw up constitutions for each individual state. Actually, the state constit...
Selective Service: A System of Slavery After the events which took place on September 11, 2001, a new wave of patriotic beliefs swept our nation. Today the revitalized show of patriotism has been expressed in many different ways. Commercial advertisements show American citizens proudly stating ...
A policy is defined as a reletively stable, purposive course of action, followed by an actor or actors, in dealing with a problem or matter of concern. A public policy may be veiwed as a political systems response to demands arising from it's environment. These policies as developed over time, foll...
How would you change the federal system and the Constitution's checks and balances to make the government work better? The framers of the Constitution set it up in a fashion that would free them from the tyrannical rule that they were previously subject to. They set up our government to have three major branches that could handle affairs in just and democratic fashion. In setting up theses three branches, each particular branch is held accountable by the other two in order to ensure the constitution is held up. This system of checks and balances is our government way of making tasks...
Terrorism is defined as " simply the contemporary name given to, and the modern permutation of, warfare deliberately waged against civilians with the purpose of destroying their will to support either leaders or policies that the agents of such violence find objectionable"(Carr 6). One of the biggest known Terrorist groups today is Al Qaeda, founded by Osama Bin Laden. This global terrorist group has been terrorizing various parts of the world since 1988, their first headquartered base in Afghanistan. There hate for the US is justified by Osama's words of their religious jihad. " Al Qaed...
Al Qaeda Terrorism is defined as " simply the contemporary name given to, and the modern permutation of, warfare deliberately waged against civilians with the purpose of destroying their will to support either leaders or policies that the agents of such violence find objectionable"(Carr 6). One of the biggest known Terrorist groups today is Al Qaeda, founded by Osama Bin Laden. This global terrorist group has been terrorizing various parts of the world since 1988, their first headquartered base in Afghanistan. There hate for the US is justified by Osama's words of their religious ji...
