Introduction to American Government: Chapter One
I am interested with chapter one on the United States constitution because its offers a thorough analysis on the content of the America constitution. The chapter analyses the importance of the constitution in American development. Some of the key milestones in the making of the constitution are also clearly described in the chapter. The chapter also takes note of the importance of the constitution in enhancing unity and development in the country. In addition to this, the constitution explains the role and contribution of all the parties in the country’s social and political progress. The analysis of the chapter on American constitutions will be of the great importance in facilitating the understanding of the country’s laws.
According to the chapter, the United States constitution is the country’s most influential and supreme law. The American constitution is composed of several articles, all of which are distinctive. The first three chapters of the constitution highlight the principles of power separation in the country. In these three chapters, the country’s federal government is composed three critical branches, the judiciary executive, and the legislature. The country legislature is composed of the bicameral congress. The congress is responsible for the formulation of the country’s laws and other oversight responsibilities. The country’s executive is composed of the president and the cabinets. The presidency has the role of formulating policies and implementation of the country’s rules and regulations. The United States judiciary constitute of the supreme courts and other federal courts. The main role of the supreme courts is to help in the interpretation of the constitution and other federal laws. The other federal courts have a role of ensuring that all Americans follow the existing policies and laws.
According to the chapter, the fourth and sixth articles of the American constitution describe the doctrine of federalism. The two chapters explains the relationship between the states. The chapter also defines the relationship between the federal government and the country’s states governments. The chapter describes procedures followed in handling possible confusion between the states governments and the federal government. The fifth chapter of the constitutions presents the procedures of amending the existing laws and constitution. Although the Americans are discouraged against making unnecessary changes to the existing constitution, the chapter has offered detailed procedure for the amendment in the event that it is needed. The final article examines the procedures and the regulations followed in ratifying the constitution. In most cases, the country’s constitution is amended in order to integrate the proposed social and political changes in the country.
Chapter 1 presents a clear analysis of the history of United States constitution. According to this chapter, the first American constitution was referred to as Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. The article existed in the years between 1776 and 1777. The formal reification of the article in the then 13 states was completed in the late 1781. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union faced endless challenges since it lacked the required clauses of control the circulation of money in the country. The lack of a clear procedure to regulate the money flow contributed to the minimising of the value and strength of the currency. Although the federal government had the right and obligation of printing money, the existing policies failed to give the required procedure of printing the money. The article also provided poor mechanism of collecting the country’s taxes and other revenues. The endless challenges against the articles attracted a lot of criticism from the country economic and legal experts. The criticism resulted to the formulation f the 1787 constitutional convention.
The convention aimed at formulating a reliable constitution that would facilitate the country’s progress and development. Although the convention aims at making amendment to the existing law, the team of experts had an obligation of coming up with completely new structures that would effectively address all the challenges that affected the country social and political progress. After detailed and lengthy discussion on the most effective policies and rules that could enhance the collective development in the country’ the convention produced a reliable draft that was acceptable by all actors in the country. According to the book chapter, the old congress had the power to speed up or block the ratification and full implementation of the new constitution. The old congress power over the new constitutions resulted to endless criticism among some professionals who were unsatisfied with the work. The conflicts led to the formulation of a body that had the mandate of facilitating the entire rectification process. The new team was composed of professionals and experts from all quotas. The team also presented the interests and needs of all actors in the country.
In 1788, the continental congress committed to a resolution to implement the new constitution. However, although the constitution was operational in most of the states, the full ratification of the law among all states was fully executed in May 1790. Since the completion of the ratification process in all states, the constitution has been amended several times in orders to address emerging social and political challenges. Some factors have played a critical role in facilitating the amendment of the process. Particularly, the need to ensure that the rights of all citizens in the country are fully catered for in the constitutions has played a critical role in facilitating numerous changes in the constitution.
As the chapter highlights, the constitution clearly defines the properties and role of all bodies in the federal and state governments. The election process of the representative leaders and the qualifications of all civil servants are also described clearly in the current constitution. The America constitution overemphasises on the important of bill of right. As the chapter states, everyone one in the country has equally right to live a high quality life free of prejudice and unfair treatments. The interests of all citizens in the country are also addressed in the constitution. The constitution prohibits leaders and institutions from abusing their powers. The American law offers a clear checks and balances in minimising possibility of power misuse. The checks and balances ensure that all leaders are accountable and responsible for their actions.
The United States constitution has undergone several successful amendments that that aim at integrating the interest of different groups in the society. The amendment of United States constitution requires the approval of the majority votes in any sitting legislative body. The legislative body includes duly elected individuals who represent a given group of people or location. The amendment process of the fundamental law in America undergoes two critical stages, the amendment proposal and the ratification process. In addition, the proposal to amend the constitution is made in two selective ways, the proposal by the states or the request by the congress.
At least two-third of the representatives proposes and approves all the amendments in United States constitution. Over 10,000 amendments have been introduced to address the new needs and interest of the current citizens since 1789, when the American constitution was formulated. There are also various other proposals made on amending the constitutions that do not leave the committee stage. Among the over 10, 000 proposal for constitutions amendments only 27 have succeeded. Among the amendments that have succeeded includes the bill of right amendment that included all human rights in the constitution. Some of the bills of rights that are integrated into the constitution include the basic individual rights bill.
In the individual rights, the amendments explore the citizens’ political community in references to voluntary association and individual integrity. As the amendment highlights the congress and other influential state bodies do not have the right of interfering with individual political decisions and rights. The clause on individual rights further states that all Americans hold the right to life. The clause observes that irrespective of individual social and cultural backgrounds, all citizens have the right to own properties in any parts of the country. The right of freedom and religion is also clearly described on the individual bills of rights.
Prior to the introduction of the current amendment of the procedure of sentencing and trial, the United States governments were using illegal procedure to prosecute and sentence its critics and political competitors. However, the current constitution hinders the central government against using the courts against its citizens. The constitution has granted its citizens individual protection against unfair sentencing and trail. Political assassination and other negative vices such as treason are also highly discouraged in the constitution. The constitution also protects the accused against unfair judicial process. The constitution protects the accused against seizures of private properties, unnecessary arrests, and unwarranted searching on private premises. Authorities are required to get the required legal authority for the judiciary before arresting or searching in private properties. The introduction of a systematic procedure for prosecuting crime offenders have proved effective in minimise abuse of power by security agent and the government
In the light of the above evaluation, it is factual to conclude that the chapter on United States constitution is relatively useful in helping learners understand the content of the state constitution. The chapter helps the American citizens understand the history of their constitutions and their individuals’ rights. As the chapter highlights, United States constitutions has undergone critical changes and rectification. The constitutional changes aim at addressing the emerging social and political changes in the country. So far, United States has one of the most attractive and practical constitution in the world. The constitution has covered virtually all aspects in human lives. The procedure of amending the constitution is also inclusive and involves the entire citizens and other interested bodies. The chapter also helps the learner to understand the power and role of all bodies in the country. Subsequently, the chapter one the book is one of the most reliable references materials for enhancing the understanding of American constitution.
