Article I of the Constitution of America - Essay Example

15 December The Significance of Article-I of the American Constitution The constitution of a country, besides providing for various rights of its citizens, also sets forth various branches of the government and stipulates how these are constituted as well as what powers will be bestowed on them. The first three Articles of the Constitution of the US concerns the constitution and functions of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the American government respectively. Thus, Article-I of the American constitution deals with the legislative branch of the country.

In a democratic set up, the governance is bestowed on the people and, therefore, they have the power to choose the representatives to govern them. In this context, Article-I is the most significant of the provisions of the Constitution of the US that vests the powers on the “Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives” and specifies the “unique and limited powers of the Congress” (Ritchie 50). The legislative branch is the most important branch of the government and as such Article-I, which defines their powers, is a very significant part of the US constitution.

Article-I is divided into 10 sections, each defining the constitution, powers and functions of the legislative body of the government. The first section stipulates the bicameral division of the Congress into two houses, such as the “Senate” and “House of Representatives” to ensure a “compromise between the power of the state and the power of the people” (50). Such a balancing of power, through the provision of Article-I ensures that power is not misused. Thus, it can be construed that Article-I of the Constitution facilitates a appropriate rights to the people so that any chances of misuse is obviated, which is important in a democratic set up.

Section 2 of Article-I defines the term and qualification of the House of Representatives and thus plays a key role in determining that only suitable persons are selected for governance. On the other hand, Section 3 stipulates the terms, qualifications and functions of the members of the Senate. Both these sections of Article-I contain important provisions relating to the basic functions of the legislative branch, which is the most significant of the divisions of the American government. Thus, Article-I is very important.

Section 4 of Article-I, prescribes the conditions and procedures of holding the elections Senators and Representatives, which, again, is a highly significant aspect of democratic set up. Section 6 describes the compensation of these delegates and Section 7 stipulates the originating of “Bills for raising Revenues” that are very significant aspects in a country and Section 8 deals with the powers and procedures for collecting taxes (66). Section 9 defines migration of people from other countries into the US and Section 10 bestows Congress with powers on import and export duties.

Article-I describes the selection and functions of the legislative branch, which is the most significant part of the government. Thus, it transpires that Article I of the Constitution of the US contains many vital aspects of the government, and, therefore, is the most important of the Articles of the Constitution. Works CitedRitchie, Donald A. Our Constitution. (n.d.). Justice Learning.Org. 15 December 2012.