The U.S. Constitution was written to strengthen the country's government system and replace the Articles of Confederation. The turmoil between federalists wanted to make sure the rights of the minority groups were protected and the anti-federalists feared that the government would catalyze a government that could potentially encroach on personal freedom. Therefore the constitution was written under the condition that a bill of rights was also written. "It is the people who run the government and decide on the powers that the government can exercise. If the government exercises powers beyond those granted to it by the Constitution, it is acting illegally. The idea that no one is above the law, including government officers, is often called the rule of law."(p.38, Sidlow). This led to the principles of a limited government, popular sovereignty and federalism intertwined into the American government system. The federal system, central government and state governments have shared powers that allow them to use the principle of "checks and balances" that promotes each group and branch of government to be accountable to each other. Ideally this would stop one person, group or branch to cease power of the government system. The Constitution however can be openly interpreted and it's important to remember the constitution was written to protect it's citizens which at the time were limited to white men and women. Slaves and natives to the land were not considered nor protected by the constitution. Another example of consequence as a result of the ambiguity of the constitution was during Bush's presidency. Bush attempted to cease power of the executive branch and used the power given to him in the constitution as commander in chief of our armed forces, to bring our country into a war that many citizens felt was wrong. Because the constitution protected Bush's right to lead America's armed forces, no other government branch could intervene and stop him from misusing his power.
The Declaration of Independence was a powerful move made by the colonists to separate themselves from the British rule. Before reading the text, I didn't understand how much the British taxed the colonists and had never considered the issues of representation and inability to be able to afford taxes while building their own militia. The Declaration of Independence was very well written however it has discrepancies that do not align with the current state of 2020. Slavery grew into an industrialized industry, specifically in the south and it seems hypocritical for our declaration to claim all men were created equal. It also should be noted that woman were also not mentioned within this declaration. There are powerful sentiments in this document that I believe people in 2020 are still fighting for. There are many minority groups that are still fighting to be seen as equal to white, males in our country. A few include women, LBGTQ members, people of color and even people of certain religions that are persecuted by our current system. I do not believe hope has been given up; the first pilgrims came here with the American dream of freedom and the American dream today still reflects the hope that there will be freedom for all citizens.
I was born in India; India's constitution was also made to replace the Government of India Act in order to strengthen the government. India's constitution declares sovereignty, secular and socialist principles and promises to uphold the liberty, justice and equality of all citizens. The Indian constitution became effective in 1950 and was influenced by other constitutions that existed in other countries across the globe. The constitution of India is very young, it has similar values to the U.S. constitution but my personal understanding and opinion of the Indian government is that it does not have a good "checks and balances" system. It is widely known that the government system in India is very corrupt, many are motivated by money and there is still an unspoken caste system that leads to many inequalities between citizens.
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