Democracy and the Constitution

In the excerpt from “21 Debated”, the authors discuss their opinions on why the Constitution is such a vital part of our political system. They offer suggestions on how our government could rekindle the passion for the democratic system that was so prevalent during the past century and a half. The authors also acknowledge the apathy displayed by today’s citizens over the democratic process as well as reasons for the discontent. I will examine the articles and discuss their meaning. Although the Constitution is a nearly flawless document, the system that was spawned from its creation has issues that need addressing.

“The Constitution is simply a set of rules about making rules.” It is full of regulations and principles, such as the separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism. Overall, the Constitution is the outline of our government and political processes. It is unbelievable how little the Constitution has changed in over two hundred years withstanding all the political turmoil this country has been through. Jonathan Schnell and Sebastian Mallaby view the Constitution in two different views. Jonathan Schnell believes the Constitution yields too much power to Congress. Sim

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When these proposals fail, cynicism prevails (pg.

Democracy is when ordinary people have a say in government issues and how they are conducted. ” Those who desire the impeachment cannot be expected full and bias judgment. Certain requirements should be made in order for citizens to be allowed to cast votes. Whereas Nixon was accused of using government forces to work for him, Clinton’s crime was more self-disrespecting. They are direct democracy and representative democracy. Americans also think that democracy is good because the alternatives are worse.

The final segment I read compared our system to that of the Swiss, who allow its citizens to vote on nearly every law they have. Alexander Hamilton suggested this idea because the judges will “be too often the leaders, or the tools of the most cunning or the most numerous faction; and on this account can hardly be expected to possess the requisite neutrality towards those, whose conduct may be the subject of scrutiny (pg. The forefathers knew what they were doing. But, that’s the only advantage to electronic voting.

Jonathan Schell notes the difference between the impeachments of President Nixon and President Clinton as abuses of power in the office.

Sebastian Mallaby discusses how Americans are unified in everything except democracy. First and foremost, they must be able to get to the polls.

Approximate Word count = 1094
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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