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Constitution and Levinson Ideal

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Submitted By mschrock
Words 1561
Pages 7
Matthew Schrock
Dr Bruce Rockwood
Law 331 Sec 01

“Constitution and Levinson Ideal” After the United States gained Independence on July 4th 1776, there was a need for a new rule on law and basic rights. The foundation of our country needed an official document to be established and written for future generations and for concrete reference. The original idea regarding the document, was thought necessary to be drafted from the Articles of Confederation, but later this idea was deterred. The Constitution was created on new precedent and adopted on September 17th, 1787. Our Constitution was written to be the backbone of our established government “for the people by the people”. According to the Independence Hall Association’s website, our country has the second oldest active Constitution in the world, behind the “1600 Statutes of San Marino”.(1) The Constitution has had Amendments conjoining or slightly altering it’s contents. But overall, The Constitution is arguably the same document at it’s core as when it was originally ratified. Sanford Levinson, in his book “Our Undemocratic Constitution”, pushes for the idea of another constitutional convention to revolutionize what he calls “hardwired” defects in the Constitution. These “hardwired” defects are whittled in the constitution’s grain and cannot be solved through even the most farfetched interpretation. A main theme of his book is based on the almost impossible but more than improbable process of amending the Constitution let alone holding his envied convention. Levinson’s defects are about but not limited to; Operation of the Electoral College and other disputed problems regarding the presidency, power being allocated in the Senate, bicameralism and resulting opportunity for the political minorities to block popular legislation. In America, we vote for electors in the Electoral College, who then

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