But remember, the rules our legislators follow are the ones we wrote for them. The problem begins with Article 5 of the Constitution. It provides that an amendment may be proposed either by a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate, or by convention established by Congress at the request of two-thirds of the states. These are version A and version B of the first stage. If a change goes through one of the two, then comes the second step: ratification by three-quarters of the states. In other words, an amendment requires a qualified majority twice – the pig has to go through two pythons. In contrast, ordinary legislation requires the consent of a simple majority in each chamber. The Founding Fathers understood that the Constitution should be able to change and grow over time, so they included a way to change the Constitution. These changes are called “changes”. It is difficult to amend the Constitution because it takes two-thirds of the House and Senate OR two-thirds of the states to approve the amendment. Our constitution has only been amended 27 times in over 200 years! The president has many duties listed in the constitution. These duties include: as commander-in-chief of the U.S.

military, appointing the cabinet to advise it on specific issues, and appointing federal judges and other key government officials. And the president also has the power to veto laws passed by Congress. A veto means that the president does not believe that the law passed by Congress should go into effect. In setting the bar so high for change, the drafters did not foresee that it would become harder for people to achieve the near-consensus needed for change as the country became more populous and diverse. The Senate started with 20 members; Now there are 100. The House of Representatives increased from 59 to 435. And the U.S. population has grown from 4 million to more than 300 million. The club atmosphere at the foundation, in which haggling was easy, gave way to an extremely heterogeneous political environment in which mutual distrust reigns. The difficulty of forging coalitions capable of overcoming the strict voting thresholds for Article 5 amendments has increased exponentially. Mitte des 19. In the early 20th century, there was a widespread view that the Constitution was designed to promote the economic interests of political elites.

This attitude triggered important constitutional changes. Today, the Constitution is no longer treated as a fallible legal instrument that must be updated to keep up with the times. It is a totem. The Founding Fathers wanted to make it difficult for any person, party or group to take control of government. To achieve these goals, the Founding Fathers proposed a national government in which power was divided between three different branches of government: the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary. Each branch has its own rules, responsibilities and powers. This is called the “separation of powers.” The legislator enacts the laws. The legislature of the United States is called “Congress”. Congress consists of two distinct groups: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Together, the Senate and House of Representatives have the power to legislate, declare war, raise funds for the military, establish post offices, admit new states to the Union, investigate and supervise the executive branch, and more. 4.

Congress needed 9 of the 13 states to pass legislation. This strong majority made it very difficult to pass laws that would affect all 13 states. In recent years, the court has changed the rules on same-sex marriage, gun rights and campaign finance. Since the Supreme Court rarely overturns its precedents without public support, “we the people” can always indirectly change the constitution in some way. But the focus is on “indirectly”. While sitting judges are not ideologically receptive to necessary changes to constitutional rules, working on changes by the Court means electing presidents and senators who appoint and confirm judges with the desired ideological views, and also mobilizing public opinion against targeted legislation so that challenges can reach the Court. Many Americans feared a strong leader and did not trust the government because they had just gained independence from Britain. After much discussion, the Founding Fathers agreed to be governed under the Articles of Confederation. According to the articles, states (such as Pennsylvania) had stronger authority than the parent federal government, which acted as the central governing body for the states.

This made it difficult for all States to cooperate in tax collection and the unification of the country. The President, the Vice-President and members of the President`s Cabinet form the executive branch. The executive branch implements and enforces laws passed by Congress. The Constitution of the United States is a valuable part of our American history. It was signed by our founding fathers on September 17, 1787, making it the oldest constitution in the world! The constitution is called the “supreme law of the land” because it sets the ground rules of our government and there is no other law above it. 8. States had their own monetary systems. At the time of Confederation, there was no common currency. The central government and states each had a separate currency, which made trade between states and other countries extremely difficult. The House of Representatives, sometimes referred to as the “lower house,” is primarily responsible for drafting laws and raising funds for the government through taxes. The president can veto (or oppose) laws passed by Congress. It is a check on the power of Congress.

But Congress can override a veto if the Senate and House of Representatives pass the bill by a two-thirds majority. The bill then becomes law. Finally, if someone goes to court and challenges a law passed by Congress, the Supreme Court could rule that the law is unconstitutional. If this happens, the law will be removed and will no longer be enforced. The simplest way to look at the problem is to observe that there have been no serious political movements seeking constitutional change for years. Today`s amendments are symbolic; No one takes them seriously. The last constitutional amendment to spark serious public debate was the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s.