Trey Final
Viability of the American Constitution
Introduction
James Madison was among the founders of the American country. He was also the fourth president of the United States; his term was from1809-1817. He pushed for a federal government and was responsible for the drafting of the US constitution. Madison came to be nicknamed as the “Father of the constitution.” Madison formed his opposition party in 1792and named it the Democratic-Republican party. This party was cofounded with Jefferson, who became the third president of the country. Madison was the secretary for the state during this time. During his time as the secretary of state, he supervised the Louisiana purchase act, which saw the French paid and transferred the land to the American government (Leval 1249). During his time as president is when the war of 1812 with Britain took place.
The constitution was enacted after America attained its independence in 1776. The Articles of Confederation were the first creations of the constitution. This article came to be ratified later in 1781; this move saw the union stripped off most of its power (Hamilton). The states were given the power to be run by their legislatures; this saw the federal government and the congress weakened as they could not perform most of their functions, they now found it hard to manage the debts, or even maintain their military.
Madison engaged in research on the rest of the world governments; he found out that the country needed a powerful federal system of governance, as this would enable the regulation of the state legislatures, and enhance better systems for raising finances to run the country. Madison went on to explain his thoughts on how this federal system would regulate the power of the states.
Madison suggested that the governors, as well as judges, needed to have enhanced duties for them to manage this state legislature (Finkelman 320) effectively. He also explained the structure of the new government, which would consist of the executive, legislature, and the judiciary. This was the base for the US constitution. The united states constitution was not conceived from a single person’s mind but rather from many people’s heads.
The constitution, as well as the bill of rights, came to be ratified later on. The ratification was a very tedious process as various states saw the constitution to be according to a lot of power to the federal government. This process prompted the rise of federalists and the antifederalist. Madison was so much involved in this process and is said to have written several essays that talked about his support for the new constitution (Leval 1249).
Madison was involved in the amendment of the bill of rights, which now incorporated the freedoms of speech and religion. He was seen to disagree with the federalists on issues like how to finance the federal government’s debt.
Moving on, here are some of the reasons why our governance system is not working as expected. The media has become suppressed by the federal government. The media houses now don’t condemn the leaders for bad policies, but instead, they have joined forces with this politician (Finkelman 347). Most of these media houses have gradually been changing, and now they have become more focused on advertising and making money rather than availing information to the public.
The media houses have become more oriented in spreading propaganda and false information since the introduction of the 24 hours news service (Finkelman 301). There is a lot of bias in most media houses as they engage in corruption with politicians to hide reputation-damaging information that is unearthed. Generally, if the media can’t be trusted, then the government too can’t be trusted.
The term limits of politicians are long, and this makes them reluctant to work towards the good of the country or the state (Leval 1249). Most politicians don’t deliver their promises to voters in their first terms, while some deliver in the first so that they may get reelected back, and then afterward, they loot the resources belonging to the people. The term limits should be revisited and reduced in a bid to tame these rogue politicians who are more concerned about personal gain.
The incumbent politicians are seen to amass a lot of financial resources from the government or the states (Hamilton). This resource is used in conducting campaigns. The resources are used for the wrong projects. This has made some states of being less developed as compared to others. New rules and regulations need to enacted in order to reduce the cases of public resources being used to fund campaigns.
United States government has become more concerned with the affairs of the states, and this has made them fail to focus on the main functions delegated to them by the constitution. The federal government should let the state legislatures conduct their duties in accordance with the US constitution. The power that is given to the federal government should be reduced to ensure the states develop themselves (Hamilton).
There needs to be a separation of powers; most power should go back to the states as they deal directly with the citizens of the country. The federal government should concentrate on building roads and maintaining the army. States need to be allowed to enact their own rules that will be used to govern the citizens who are within the borders of the states.
New leadership model.
Three state governments
The new political system should have three state governments; this will unite the states so that they have three chief executives, who will represent the three governments. The new model will see the power of the federal governments reduced and given to the state chief executives. The three governments will consist of state representatives who will be elected by the voters. The three executives will serve a three-year term; then they will resign. The state leaders will vote the executives in each of the three-government sectors.
The congress will remain together with the federal government to ensure these three executives don’t abuse their powers. The federal government will oversee that these three executives are performing their duties as required. The congress will vet the budgets presented by the chief executives. The member states of these governments should be availed all necessary resources required to ensure they develop their regions. The main reason for this type of government is to reduce the power of the federal government. Thus, it means that states will do their functions without much interference from the federal government.
The thing that has changed in this system is the reduction of the federal government’s power. The states will remain, but they will be answerable to the executives who will be a bridge between the two systems. There will be transparency in the undertaking of the functions delegated. The state legislatures will be held accountable for any resources not accounted for.
The new model will ensure that all the states politicians develop their States regardless of the political views of the citizens living in these states. For example, previously, the districts in the congress were engaged in fishy undertakings as some politicians were seen purporting to represent a certain percentage of the district. This act by this politician propelled divisive politics. Under this new system, they will be required to represent their districts or states without bias.
The election of the state legislators will be conducted as always; what has changed is the introduction of the three state governments, which will be headed by the chief executives. This executive will be voted in through the electoral college. The reason for this is because of the issue of the popular vote being controlled by the large cities, which are perceived as more powerful. This would lead to the middle parts of America to be left out as they are not very powerful.
The new system should incorporate the socialism view as it seems the best as compared to the capitalist view. Communism will ensure that all the states are developed, and people are living as one. Capitalist, on the other hand, is self-driven and motivated on personal gains. We have failed as a country for seeing communalism ideology as being foolish. When people like most corrupt politicians are motivated by personal profits, they forget their responsibility in society. The result of the personal gain motives is society lagging. The best ideology that should be adopted is communalism, as it is more concerned about the whole society’s wellbeing.
The amendments to the constitution regarding the bill of rights and civil rights should be included in the new constitution. The reason for this view is that this amendment touch on the rights of the American citizens. Leaving them out may expose the citizens to the oppression from the law enforcement, or the employers in workplaces. New amendments need to be enacted to protect the LGBTQ society from oppression. The issue of racism should also be addressed in the constitution; very stringent measures need to be taken to eradicate any forms of discrimination.
Conclusion
The federal government and the state governments should enact more rules and make amendments in the constitution to ensure the LGBTQ society and other minority groups get equal treatment that is equal with the rest of the citizens. The issue of racism should be abolished entirely, and any people found perpetrating any forms of discrimination need to arrested and judged. We are living in a modern country, and this calls for new policies and regulations.
Works cited list
Finkelman, Paul. “James Madison and the Bill of Rights: A reluctant paternity.” The Supreme
Court Review 1990 (2005): 301-347.
Hamilton, Alexander, et al. The federalist. Hackett Publishing, 2005.
Leval, Pierre N. “Judging under the constitution: dicta about dicta.” NYUL Rev. 81 (2006): 1249.