4.3 - Worldwide Connections to the Constitution The United States Constitution was signed on September 17th, 1787 by the Constitutional Convention and from there on out, dictated the future of American government and politics. The Constitution is a written document that defines the basic law of the country and how power is dispersed through the people and the government. As per the Constitution, American government is divided into three branches: the Legislative Branch, Executive Branch, and Judicial Branch. The Legislative Branch, composed of the United States Congress, makes the laws. The Executive Branch, lead by the President, executes the nation’s laws. Lastly, the Judicial Branch, made up of judges and the court, interprets the …show more content…
Article I of the Preamble states that he nation declares itself to be an "indivisible, secular, democratic, and social Republic.” Just like the United States, the political system of France consists of a Legislative Branch, an Executive Branch, and a Judicial Branch. The French government consists of the Prime Minister and other appointed ministers. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, while Parliament is comprised by the National Assembly and the Senate. A system similar to the United States’ “checks and balances” lies within the Constitutional Council which are members appointed by the President of the Republic, the President of the National Assembly, and the President of the Senate. Furthermore, the independent judiciary is divided into the judicial branch and the administrative branch, each with their own independent supreme court of appeal: the Court of Cassation and the Conseil d'Etat, respectfully. Voting in France in similar in the way Americans cast their ballot. In France, an initial vote is cast and counted and the top two are announced where then a second election, “round two,” will take place between to top two nominees until a winner is elected into office. Although France is a unitary state, a state governed as a single power, there is still a right of protection from government intrusion on personal matters within the sub-divisions of
After the American Revolution, America had earned it’s freedom from Britain. In order to govern this new country the Articles of Confederation was created. This document was flawed by the colonists fear of putting too much power into a central government. Knowing the document needed to be fixed a constitutional convention was called. The document created at this convention has been our constitution ever since. But even the Constitution was meet with criticism. One major concern when writing the constitution was how to protect the citizens rights. The Constitution did this through the preamble, the legislative process, the limit of presidential terms, the judicial branch, and the bill of rights.
The United States Constitution is a national government that consist of citizen’s basic rights and fundamental laws. This document was signed on September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia by the majority of representatives. Today, the United States Constitution’s purpose is to supply a strong central government. However, before the United States Constitution was developed, many citizens did not support the constitution due to the fact that they found it contradicting and detached from the original goals of the Declaration of Independence. These citizens were known as anti-federalists. Fortunately, George Washington was a supporter of the constitution and had an enormous impact in the public support of the constitution. With a few adjustments, some
The Articles of Confederation was America’s first constitution. The Articles of Confederation failed to create a strong central government, however. With the demise of the states in sight, the need for a stronger and more structured central government became apparent. An invitation was sent to all thirteen states in February 1787 by the Confederation Congress to resolve the matter. The events that took place over the next several months would create the United States Constitution. Going down in history as a revolutionary form of government, the U.S. Constitution would give life to a country that is still running strong over 200 years later.
September 17, 1787, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; during the heat of summer, in a stuffy assembly room of Independence Hall, a group of delegates gathered. After four months of closed-door quorums, a four page, hand written document was signed by thirty-nine attendees of the Constitutional Convention. This document, has come to be considered, by many, the framework to the greatest form of government every known; the Constitution of the United States. One of the first of its kind, the Constitution laid out the frame work for the government we know today. A government of the people, by the people, and for the people; constructed of three branches; each branch charged with their own responsibilities. Article one established the Congress or Legislative branch, which would be charged with legislative powers. Article two created the Executive branch, providing chief executive powers to a president, who would act in the capacity of Commander in Chief of the Country’s military forces. The President of the United States also acts as head of state to foreign nations and may establish treaties and foreign policies. Additionally, the President and the departments within the Executive branch were established as the arm of government that is responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws written by Congress. Thirdly, under Article three of the Constitution, the Judicial branch was established, and consequently afforded the duty of interpreting the laws, determining the constitutionality of the laws, and apply it to individual cases. The separation of powers is paramount to the system of checks and balances among the three branches; however, although separate they must support the functions of the others. Because of this, the Legislative an...
The constitution was a document that embodies the fundamental laws and principles by which the U.S is governed. The constitution states basic rights for its citizens. Delegates signed the constitution on September 17, 1787. There is a total of 27 constitutional amendments. The reasoning for writing it was for a stronger federal government - legislative, executive and judicial. The constitution was a break with a past of ‘unfair’ taxes, wars and ‘unfair’ treatment.
In this excerpt from Democracy in America Alexis Tocqueville expresses his sentiments about the United States democratic government. Tocqueville believes the government's nature exists in the absolute supremacy of the majority, meaning that those citizens of the United States who are of legal age control legislation passed by the government. However, the power of the majority can exceed its limits. Tocqueville believed that the United States was a land of equality, liberty, and political wisdom. He considered it be a land where the government only served as the voice of the its citizens. He compares the government of the US to that of European systems. To him, European governments were still constricted by aristocratic privilege, the people had no hand in the formation of their government, let alone, there every day lives. He held up the American system as a successful model of what aristocratic European systems would inevitably become, systems of democracy and social equality. Although he held the American democratic system in high regards, he did have his concerns about the systems shortcomings. Tocqueville feared that the virtues he honored, such as creativity, freedom, civic participation, and taste, would be endangered by "the tyranny of the majority." In the United States the majority rules, but whose their to rule the majority. Tocqueville believed that the majority, with its unlimited power, would unavoidably turn into a tyranny. He felt that the moral beliefs of the majority would interfere with the quality of the elected legislators. The idea was that in a great number of men there was more intelligence, than in one individual, thus lacking quality in legislation. Another disadvantage of the majority was that the interests of the majority always were preferred to that of the minority. Therefore, giving the minority no chance to voice concerns.
The scenes in creation being intellectual, the put together of constitutional democracy was very empirical. The Constitutional Convention was convened to formulate the constitution. What had to be clear was that the only way to assure a functioning constitutional democracy was the public's discussion. In philadelphia the delegates compromised. The outcome was to integrate states with large populations and states with small populations with a bicameral legislative branch. Also compromises that guaranteed say from both slave owning states and non-slave states could be listened to. The Bill of Rights
What does the Constitution mean to me? Well the Constitution has many meanings to me, because in my family we are taught to respect the Constitution and the people that serve our country day and night. To me the Constitution can be interpreted many ways, isn’t that why we have nine Supreme Court Justices. Let me tell you what the Constitution means to me.
Before the adoption of the United States Constitution, the U.S. was governed by the Articles of Confederation. These articles stated that almost every function of the government was chartered by the legislature known as Congress. There was no distinction between legislative or executive powers. This was a major shortcoming in how the United States was governed as many leaders became dissatisfied with how the government was structured by the Articles of Confederation. They felt that the government was too weak to effectively deal with the upcoming challenges. In 1787, an agreement was made by delegates at the Constitutional Convention that a national judiciary needed to be established. This agreement became known as The Constitution of the United States, which explicitly granted certain powers to each of the three branches of the federal government, while reserving other powers exclusively to the states or to the people as individuals. It is, in its own words, “the supreme Law of the Land” (Shmoop Editorial Team).
The Articles of Confederation, adopted in 1781 represented the former colonist’s first attempt to establish a new government after the Revolutionary War. These Articles provided a weak political document that was meant to keep the states united temporarily. The states had all the power, so any changes made to the Article of Confederation would take every state to approve it or amend it. In February 1787, Congress decided that a convention should be convened to revise the Article of Confederation (Constitutional Rights Foundation, 2009). Congress felt the Article of Confederation was not enough to effectively deal with the young nations issues. Congress knew it was time for the country to move forward, and to do that, there would be some big changes ahead, and that was the end of the Articles of Confederation, and the beginning of the created US Constitution.
The U.S. Constitution was established America’s national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. It was signed on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, presided over by George Washington. America’s first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, was ratified 1781. Soon after, America won its independance from Great Britain with it 1783 victory in the American Revolution.
The constitution of the Fifth Republic has retained many traditional features of France's governmental structure while significantly enhancing the powers of the presidency in a mixed presidential-parliamentary system. The president, originally chosen by an electoral college but now directly elected in accordance with a 1962 constitutional amendment, holds powers expanded not only by the terms of the constitution itself but also by President de Gaulle's broad interpretation of executive prerogative. In addition to having the power to dissolve the National Assembly with the advice (but not necessarily the concurrence) of the premier, the president may hold national referenda on some issues and is granted full legislative and executive powers in times of emergency. A partial check on th...
The Constitution is responsible for establishing and distinguishing the powers of the presidency, Congress, and the court system. It says that each state must acknowledge the laws of other states and that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land. The Constitution is made of seven articles and twenty-seven amendments
France is a republic; the institutions of governance are defined by the Constitution, more specifically the Fifth Republic. The Fifth Republic was established in 1958 and was formed from the workings of General De Gaulle and Michel Debre. It has since been amended 17 times; although the French constitution is parliamentary, it gave relatively extensive powers to the executive (President and Ministers). The Constitution of the Fifth Republic thus sets up a bicameral system in which two assemblies coexist: a National Assembly which represents the citizens and a Senate which represents the territorial units of the Republic. The French bicameralism is an unequal system as the National Assembly has more responsibility and power than that of the Senate.
The Constitution or “the supreme law of the land”, as stated in article six in the constitution is very complex. It is complex not only in its actual text full of ambiguities and vagueness, but it becomes more complex when used in practice and interpreted. Constitutional interpretation is significant because it is what decides what the constitution actually means. Constitutional interpretation is a guide judges use to find the legal meaning of the constitution. The interpretation of the constitution and amendments can make a big impact on outcomes. In our government and Judiciary, we see commonly see originalism being used to interpret the constitution and amendments, but there