Why the U.S. Constitution is Unique

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Why the U.S. Constitution is Unique

The Constitution is made up of four main elements: Federalism,

separation of powers, checks and balances, and The Bill of Rights,

these elements make for the strengths of the Constitution that has

allowed it to last over 200 years. To sit and read through all of the

information and history that this one small document has makes it

unique in itself, but I believe the structure and all this one

document has governed is what truly makes it unique.

The structure of the Constitution was set out to establish a national

government that could not be challenged by an individual state. It was

to oversee and govern the nation but with forethought not allowed

absolute power. The Framers obtained this by instituting the

separation of powers among three branches of government: legislative,

executive and judicial. The credence of the Framers' came about after

experiencing the concentration of authority during the Revolutionary

period, when legislature had the authority. By separating the power

and allocated authority, it prevented one section of the government

from overpowering another. This balancing of power is the main

strength of the Constitution that has allowed it to last over time.

Another structure of the Constitution provides each branch of power to

check on the other through "checks and balances". As James Madison

states in The Federalist, No. 51, "…ambition must be made to

counteract ambition." This is where the overlapping of each branch

occurs. This is a major strength that allows Congress, the President,

and the Supreme Court the right and power to oversee each other and

not allow one section to have all the say. Along with the voting

structure, by whom and time of vote, this also allows each branch to

be politically independent from each other.

As for the weakness of the Constitution all that can be said is that

until the placement of a few necessary Amendments, it only protected

the rights of some people, not all the people. However, thankfully,

the Framers realized that things do change and had the futuristic

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