Evolution of the constitution

Evolution of the constitution

1. Amendment

   • process
     • proposed by
       • congress
         • two-thirds majority in both houses
           • ratified by
             • state constitutional convention: three quarters of the states must hold conventions and vote to ratify
             • state legislatures: three-quarters of the state legislatures must vote vote to ratify
       • national constitutional convention
         • called by at leat two-thirds of the states (never used)
           • ratified by
   • reasons for
     • the founding fathers, while realising the likely need to amend the constitution, wanted to make doing so a difficult process. this could be because they wanted to protect the original gonstitution and could have been fueled by their fear of Big government
   • consequences
     • successful amedments
       • 22nd- two term limit
       • 25th- establishes the procedures for a sucessor of the president
       • 26th- reserves the right for citizens 18 and older to vote
       • 27th- denies any laws that vary the salaries of congress members until the beginning of the next terms of office for representatives
     • unsuccessful amendments
       • murkowski proposed an amendment that would provide a representative to the district of columbia
       • senator Jim DeMintpropsed term limits for the U.S congress, where the limit for senators will be two terms for a total of 12 years and for representatives three terms for a total of 6 years.
       • james P mcGovern introuced the People's rights Amendment, a proposal to limit the constitution's protections only to the rights of naturals persons and not corporations
       • Bernie Sanders filed the Saving American Democracy Amendment, which would state that corporations are not entitled to the same constitutional rights as people. it would also ban corporate campaign donations to candidates, and give congress and the states broad authority to regulate spending in elections
     • reasons why it is amended so rarely
   • +
     • Protects the Constitution from political whims- as it takes so long and is so difficult, it is hard to repeal it and thus deters people from changing it based on their own political goals and stops the next President from just repealing it.
     • Protects the Constitution from popular sentiments of the time- this means that something that is popular at the time, may not be later, and thus because it is so difficult to amend it deters from people changing the laws based on this sentiments. For example, the sentiment after 9/11 to introduce measures to restrict civil liberties of terrorists.
     • It works. 27 (techinicially only 17) have been able to get through the system and work, thus proving it is able to work.
   • -
     • It takes too long- some state legislatures have up to seven years to decide, so this means that a proposed amendment may not happen for at least 10 years.
     • Some amendments are now null and void in today's society, and in part because of the lengthy process it is almost impossible to change it. For example, the 2nd Amendment, "the right to bear arms" is not completely applicable to today's society
     • Because of the long and difficult process, some amendments which are needed to protect the minorities fail often and this is, in turn, bad for these minorities. For example. the Equal Rights Amendment for women has often been proposed but not acted upon.

2. federal government

   • how it has aquired power at the expense of states
     • at first the states had autonomous power over its legislation
     • however, with federalism power was taken away from the states
     • westward expansion: the 13 colonies spread west creating new colonies
     • the growth in population: a growing nation required management by a grwoing government
     • industrialisation: need for government regulation- executive departments of commerce and labour were set up
     • improvements in communication
     • the great depression: in the great depression the states looked to the federal gov. the new deal helped the USA back to work
     • foreign policy: exclusive jurisdiction over foreign policy and found itself as a worls superpower
     • supreme court decisions: decisions made by the supremem court enhanced their power through interpretation of the constitution.
     • constitutional amendments: the 14th amendment has been used by the SC to invalidate state laws requiring public school segregation and other forms of racial segregation. the 16th amendment allowed the fed gov to impose income tax.

3. how it corresponds to its original principle

   • it still corresponds
     • the framers intended a rigorous amendment process to keep the constitution protected. This is shown as it has to be voted for by a two thirds majority in each house and then ratified by the states. Also there have only been 27 amendments in history and 10 of those were the bill of rights.
     • But is it relevant and does it work in modern american society?
     • the checks and balances stop one branch from becoming too dominant and some powers like the override of the veto and concurrent powers allow for the system to still work
     • the way representatives are elected is still the same
       • every 2 years by the people of the state, they must be over 25, been a citizen of the US for 7 years and live in the state they represent
   • no it doesnt
     • the supreme court granted itself the power of judicial review which basically allows them to change the constitution through interpretation. this was not set out in the constitution
       • this could also be said for federalism and democracy as they are not mentioned in the original document
     • some pocesses like the war making power and the confirmation process of supreme court judges were not what the framers envisioned
     • there is often compromise at federal and state level. the framers might accuse the federal government as becoming too dominant

4. other ways the constitution is altered

   • judicial interpretation
   • Executive practise
     • signing state books
   • legislative practise
     • necessary and proper clause
       • that congress has the power to pass any law that is both necessary and proper to implement the powers already delegated to it
       • unchecked power to allow congress to enact sweeping regulations
       • The Court invoked the Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution, which allowed the Federal government to pass laws not expressly provided for in the Constitution's list of express powers, provided those laws are in useful furtherance of the express powers of Congress under the Constitution.