The Formation Of The US Constitution or The Shaded US Constitution - Research Paper Example

THE FORMATION OF THE US CONSTITUTION – A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE FEDERALIST VIEWS THAT SHAPED THE US CONSTITUTION Contents Introduction 3 Basic Structure US Constitution 3 Background of Constitutional Framing 4 Divergent Views 5 Choice of Federal Constitution – The Federalist Papers 6 Devolution of Power to Smaller Government Authorities 7 Maintaining a Balance 8 Minimizing the Risks of Monarchy by Government Counter-Balance 9 Inclusion of All Men in Governance 10 Transparency and the Elimination of Anarchy by Keeping Citizens Informed 10 Conclusion 11 Bibliography 13 Introduction The United States is ran by a federalist constitution that is structured to have a federal system that runs alongside local state-level legal provisions. This paper examines the history of the US constitution and assesses the reason for the choice of a federal constitution rather than a unitary constitution that was used in Britain. The paper will critique the basic structures of the federal constitution, the background of the framing of the constitution and provide the different schools of thought that existed at the time of framing the constitution. The reason for the choice of a federalist constitution will be critiqued and analyzed. Basic Structure US Constitution The United States is one of the most popular federal countries in the world. Internally, it is the highest law of the land that provides the basic rules and tenets that defines the scope of power and authority in the United States as a unified entity and regulates affairs of the states through a federalist model1. The Constitution was adopted in 1789 and it contains two fundamental elements, which include: 1. The acceptance of a Bill of Rights which guarantees the rights of all people in the United States and; 2. The creation of three separate and equal branches of government: Executive, Legislature and Judicial2 The three arms of the US constitution is meant to refer to a federalist system that is to devolve to the various state levels in application. Articles Four, Five and Six of the US Constitution defines the federal system and the role of the states and state governments in relation to the federal government. Prior to that, federalism was not a very common thing. Britain where most of the citizens of the United States had emigrated from had a unitary government that was ran as a monarchy with a unicameral system. There are a number of questions that comes with this choice. Why did the Founding Fathers of America consider a federalist system? Why did they want a bicameral system of governance? Was it necessary to set up a system where efforts in governance could be duplicated? What was their motivation and why did they choose it? Background of Constitutional Framing The basic element of the framing of the constitution had to do with ensuring that the Rule of Law and the Civil Liberties of the American people were preserved and protected in all situations and matters3. This has roots in the Albany Congress and Albany Union where the loyal colonies under Benjamin Franklin created the Articles of Confederation that was to help resolve local problems4. This led to the needs to address various strengths and weaknesses in their circumstances and situations. The process gave rise to various forms of disobedience of the King’s authority and the presentation of important discussions and debates to provide important guidelines for the formulation of a system for self-government by the colonialists. After independence was declared in 1776, a committee was set up to debate on the power of the confederate government and what they should do5. The articles were finally drafted and presented for further debating amongst members on what a government of the newly independent country could be. The next decade witnessed numerous wars and other situations that added up to the debates relating to the creation of a constitution for the country. By 1789, James Madison and his colleagues had narrowed down the scope of the discussions and the main elements of the Articles of Confederation which included: 1. Establishing the Confederacy; 2. Asserting the independence and sovereignty of every state; 3. Defining the rules on Common Defense; 4. How states were to raise funds through taxation; 5. Independence of the Executive function from the Legislature to eliminate the mistakes of Britain; 6. Separation between the Executive and Judiciary at the state level to avoid patronage and corruption; 7. The independence of the Judiciary at the “federal” level6. These provided the impetus for discussions on how to formulate the constitution and implement it. This culminated in various divergent views and ideas. Divergent Views In 1787 and 1788, there were various front-level discussions and analysis that were conducted on how to create a government and how to maintain the elements of governance in the United States. There were the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists who had different views on how the United States should be ran7. The Federalists favored a strong central government and the new Constitution and this was to also grant some form of decentralized power to the states that were to work within the Constitution8. On the other hand, the Anti-Federalists were a group of people who opposed the acceptance of the new Constitution and they were also opposed to the formation and maintenance of a strong central government9. The debates between the two parties were on-going and there were different views and concepts put forward to defend each group’s case. This led to many kinds of matters and issues. The Federalists were however viewed in a favorable light because they were presenting a new form of governance that will create a new country. This was to score a point against the British who were seen as oppressors and negative people. The Anti-Federalists were seen as people who did not have any definite plan, but were seeking to oppose people trying to do something positive for the United States – ie the Federalists. Some accounts call the Anti-Federalists “Old Patriots” this is not to be confused by the “Democratic-Republicans” which was formed later to handle other issues and included figures like Thomas Jefferson10. The ongoing debates gave rise to the creation of the Federalist Papers which provided absolute guidelines on how the country was to be run. This was to create an absolute framework for the conduct of various talks and discussions on the formulation of the constitution. Choice of Federal Constitution – The Federalist Papers The argument forwarded by the Anti-Federalists was that the constitution was all-empowering and it could create a system where the Legislature and the Executive could expand their power and override the basic laws of the United States including the Bill of Rights11. They argued that the Supremacy Clause and Necessary and Proper Clause were a recipe for the abuse of power by the Legislature because they could potentially use it to limit the power and authority of the government12. This was meant to avoid excessive taxes and promote various forms of nationalism that will help to protect the interests of farmers and other property owners in the United States. The fundamental element of the Federalist arguments was to formulate and attain certain ends like correcting the perceived weakness in the Articles of Confederation13. They also supported the promulgation of a constitution that gave the central government power that allowed them to control affairs as well as state powers that were interpreted to prevent the abuse of the Bill of Rights. There were other arguments that came with the adoption of various ideas and concepts that ensured that a federal constitution was put in place. Authorities like Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay wrote various articles that shaped the choice of the federalist view rather than the anti-federalist position14. They include important pointers that will be discussed below: Devolution of Power to Smaller Government Authorities The federalist papers indicated that smaller government processes and smaller government sizes provides the highest and best possibility of protecting individual civil liberties of citizens. This is because the creation of state-level authority provided a small framework within which rights and responsibilities could be protected and at that level, there could be the separation of powers and in cases where there was further need for more protection or interpretation, an individual could move to the federal level to claim some kind of protection at the highest levels15. This is because smaller government authorities provide a better access to Due Process. This also helps to maintain better system of checks and balances because it allows the states to develop their own versions of rule of law and separation of powers. This ensures that there are better checks on the federal government and the Bill of Rights is protected to the highest levels possible. Unlike Britain where the maintenance of a bicameral system was to ensure that the ruling class was protected from the demands of the commoner, the federalists argued that it will be better to get both levels of governments to pursue the best interest of citizens. This is because the Bill of Rights was a fundamental end and the main focus of the federal and state levels of government. Hence, traditional interests and desires could be conserved in a better way and manner. Maintaining a Balance Another fundamentalist argument for the federalist is that there was the need for a bipolar system which was to ensure that the desires and expectations of all Americans were met in a critical manner. This is because there was a system whereby federal power could commence where state power ended and vice versa and this was to ensure that the best forms of governance and discharge of individual rights in America were maintained16. This is because the federalists believed that a two-way system could ensure that there could be checks and balances as well as the protection of human rights on two fronts. Therefore, in situation where there was some kind of conflict, the two legal streams could be brought together to achieve the best and most optimal results. The fundamental interest was to balance the rights of citizens with the need for the creation and maintenance of a good and successful system that protected the rights of the entire public or the wider society. This was to ensure that two streams of laws were running side-by-side and protecting each other. This was to ensure that the best system was to be chosen in order to meet the best and most appropriate ends of running the United States of America. Minimizing the Risks of Monarchy by Government Counter-Balance The United States was formed on the basis of numerous issues and problems that were encountered in Britain. This includes the abuse of power by the monarchy and the abuse of powers by various government authorities. Notable amongst them is the government’s use of arbitrary powers to force citizens to pay very high taxes that led to the American Revolution in the first place. Therefore the idea of having a federal constitution was to ensure that all public sector entities were subject to thorough oversight and thorough critique by various constituents of the government. This was to prevent them from abusing their power and authority and focus on meeting the civil liberties of the citizens. Therefore federalism provided a system through which the various arms and levels of governments could be subjected to two democratic forms of reviews and checks. This was to guarantee improved and enhanced services that were discharged on the basis of what citizens really needed and what was best for the society. This eliminated issues of parliamentary sovereignty which could cause arms of parliament to exceed their authority and also eliminate the abuse of power by the monarchy or the Executive. Hence, the federalists argued for a system whereby the country could utilize various forms of checks and balances that will run through all arms of government and ensure that all units of the state were meeting their best results and expectations. Inclusion of All Men in Governance The fundamental premise of the federalists was that “all men are fallible and it is important that all men contributed to governance”17. This implies that there was the need for the institution of various systems that will ensure that citizens were actively involved in the governance and the control of the authorities. Therefore, the federalists argued that there was the need for the institution of the Bill of Rights and the promotion of measures to ensure that the most basic rights of all citizens were protected and guaranteed in all situations and in all circumstances. Thus, the maintenance of the Bill of Rights as the fundamental source of authority in the United States and the institution of two arms of government means that the United States was going to have important checks and appropriate corrective measures that will ensure that all members of the country are protected. This was to promote the engagement of citizens who had access to a bundle of rights that they could claim and demand at all points in time. This was to keep the government under scrutiny by the ordinary American people and prevent the abuse of power by any single arm of government. The provision of abundant rights to Congress was to enable ensure that there was the segregation of duties and this was to attain the fundamental end of protecting the basic civil liberties of citizens of the United States of America. Transparency and the Elimination of Anarchy by Keeping Citizens Informed Another aspect of the argument of the federalists was to ensure that citizens were given equal rights and good protection. This was to ensure that the ordinary citizen could have a universal and inalienable right to information and access to challenge public institutions. This was the only way to ensure that citizens could play a role of safeguarding the running of the state. This implies that citizens could easily gain access to the appropriate quarters and channels and also make demands. There was also a constitutional duty that will demand state and federal authorities to make appropriate disclosures. Once these disclosures were being made, there was the opportunity for citizens to make demands for better services and better care. This is because they had rights that could enable them to make demands as and when they are necessary. This protected the society from anarchy and revolutions and helped all citizens to pursue happiness and the best standard of life within an appropriate context. Conclusion The US Constitution was borne out of the Article of Confederacy. This involved a series of ideal standards on how to run the newly-independent country which sought to protect the civil liberties and rights of citizens and avoid discrimination and other forms of challenges that were experienced under British Rule. Therefore, the architects of the constitution sought to promote the Bill of Rights which was to maintain the fundamental rights of citizens in the United States. In addition to that, the federalists maintained a set of arguments that promoted the institution of a two-tiered government system that will ensure that the states maintained their sovereignty and also ceded part of it to the federal authority. This was also to be achieved through the institution of the Separation of Power as a means of ensuring that there was Rule of Law in the United States. The federalists argued for the two-tiered system as a means of protecting human rights through the institution of more checks and balances to ensure that the rights of citizens were protected. This is to avoid the mistakes of Britain and also eliminate anarchy by promoting transparency and inclusion by ordinary citizens of the country. 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