Article Five, clause two of the United States Constitution
             states, "under the Authority of the United States, [the Constitution]
             shall be the supreme law of the land." As a result of the fact that
             the current activist government is pursuing inconsistent policies,
             many believe the Constitution has become irrelevant because no guiding
             principles seem to exist. Thomas Jefferson once said, "The
             Constitution belongs to the living and not to the dead." Accordingly,
             it is often referred to as a "living" document because of its regular
             alteration and reexamination; therefore, the Constitution has not
             become irrelevant in defining the goals of American government. This
             will be shown by examining how the Constitution ensures and upholds
             American ideas of rights, defines governmental structures, allows for
             an increase in governmental growth, and permits the Supreme Court to
             shape and define public policy through Constitutional
             interpretation.
             Through years of research on court cases, political scientists
             are in agreement that most people favor rights in theory, but their
             support diminishes when the time to put the rights into practice
             arrives. For example, a strong percentage of Americans concur with
             the idea of free speech throughout the United States, but when a court
             case such as Texas vs. Johnson (1989) arises, most backing shifts away
             from complete freedom of speech. In the case, a Texan named Gregory
             Johnson set fire to an American flag during the 1984 Republican
             National Convention in Dallas in order to protest nuclear arms
             buildup; the decision was awarded to Johnson in the midst of stern
             opposition (Beth 68).
             Lockean philosophy concerning the natural rights of man also
             serves amajor role in an American's idea of rights. Many citizens
             feels that it is the task of the state to preserve such birthrights as
             life, liberty, and property. The juristic th...