The United States Constitution is perhaps the most influential document in all of American history. The Constitution has various functions which serve to protect the citizens of the United States from tyranny and deprivation of the natural rights for which the patriots of the Revolutionary War fought so arduously to achieve. It introduces the separation of powers which divides the government into three branches. Each branch is provided with a set of checks and balances which help to prevent the overreach of power by one section of government. Another vital function of the Constitution is to split power between the federal government and local government. Federalism grants the the people the ability to make their voices heard to their local
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His attack on the electoral college strengthens the argument that the Constitution is certainly not perfect. One only has to look to the 2000 Presidential Election to see that the electoral college is a broken system that requires replacing. In spite of the fact that George Bush carried fewer votes than Al Gore, he won the presidency. No country that calls itself democratic should grant office to a candidate who is less popular with the people. As Levinson would likely say, this goes against the self-governing ideals set in the Preamble. Perhaps Levinson 's most intelligent point was formulated when he attacked the idea of unquestionably venerating the Constitution on the basis that doing so would be almost sacrilegious (pg. 5). He states that when people blindly revere the Constitution, it is free from any critical examination. A Constitution free from critique implies that it is perfect when evidently it is not. In fact, the Constitution has been proven to be imperfect twenty-seven times. A nation can only approach a truly democratic way of governing when its Constitution is open to valid judgement. Furthermore, the Constitution was written over two centuries ago by people who were completely ignorant of the issues that today 's society faces. It is of no doubt that the Framers established a system of …show more content…
There is no doubt that in many ways the Constitution is flawed, but it has served the American people well for two centuries. During desperate times, the Constitution 's inherent flexibility has allowed the people to make slight adjustments to the document without compromising the democratic elements that make it unique. When the Framers decided to abandon the Articles of Confederation in lieu of the Constitution, they were dealing with political disaster. States were divided, the federal government had virtually no power and rebellion became a serious threat. Today 's society features none of these problems. The United States has grown to become an economic powerhouse capable of providing comfortable lives for its 300 million occupants. There is no domestic war, hunger is rare and even the poor can afford various luxuries. Levinson would undoubtedly criticize this statement by claiming that such ideas encourage complacency. He would say that things could be better if the people rejected the Constitution. His judgement may be valid, but to risk everything that this country has built for only marginal improvements would be irrational. The Constitution that currently exists accommodates the needs of the people well enough to warrant keeping it the way it
His attack on the electoral college strengthens the argument that the Constitution is certainly not perfect. One only has to look to the 2000 Presidential Election to see that the electoral college is a broken system that requires replacing. In spite of the fact that George Bush carried fewer votes than Al Gore, he won the presidency. No country that calls itself democratic should grant office to a candidate who is less popular with the people. As Levinson would likely say, this goes against the self-governing ideals set in the Preamble. Perhaps Levinson 's most intelligent point was formulated when he attacked the idea of unquestionably venerating the Constitution on the basis that doing so would be almost sacrilegious (pg. 5). He states that when people blindly revere the Constitution, it is free from any critical examination. A Constitution free from critique implies that it is perfect when evidently it is not. In fact, the Constitution has been proven to be imperfect twenty-seven times. A nation can only approach a truly democratic way of governing when its Constitution is open to valid judgement. Furthermore, the Constitution was written over two centuries ago by people who were completely ignorant of the issues that today 's society faces. It is of no doubt that the Framers established a system of …show more content…
There is no doubt that in many ways the Constitution is flawed, but it has served the American people well for two centuries. During desperate times, the Constitution 's inherent flexibility has allowed the people to make slight adjustments to the document without compromising the democratic elements that make it unique. When the Framers decided to abandon the Articles of Confederation in lieu of the Constitution, they were dealing with political disaster. States were divided, the federal government had virtually no power and rebellion became a serious threat. Today 's society features none of these problems. The United States has grown to become an economic powerhouse capable of providing comfortable lives for its 300 million occupants. There is no domestic war, hunger is rare and even the poor can afford various luxuries. Levinson would undoubtedly criticize this statement by claiming that such ideas encourage complacency. He would say that things could be better if the people rejected the Constitution. His judgement may be valid, but to risk everything that this country has built for only marginal improvements would be irrational. The Constitution that currently exists accommodates the needs of the people well enough to warrant keeping it the way it