Idealism v. Reality
            
            
            
             It is commonly stated that the Constitution, as drafted in 1787, departs from the democratic principles set by the Declaration of Independence. However, both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United were documents created to serve necessary purposes for specific situations that were presented to our untested nation and must be viewed in their historical contexts.
             A long history of abuse by the British government led to the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. It was the document that officially declared war against Britain and was designed to assist the Second Continental Congress in obtaining the foreign aid and support needed for a revolutionary war, and must be viewed in this light. Consequently, this document can easily be seen as propaganda, grounded in deep emotion-invoking language and utter resentment for the British government. It proposes to the world that "all men are created equal," and that the purpose of government was to protect the people's unalienable rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
             On the contrary, the United States Constitution was drafted eleven years after the Declaration of Independence and after the failed Articles of Confederation. It was time for a document that provided a pragmatic and realistic method for governing what was to become a vast nation. A complete democracy was simply not a plausible option.
             The framers looked to great thinkers such as Aristotle while forming their new governing document. Aristotle believed that a good government was one in which whatever group was in power ruled for the benefit of all citizens. In essence, the form of government or how it was established was not relevant. What mattered was how the government was used. However, he did stress that the most efficient and enduring form of government would be a mixed government, consisting of elements of a ...